Graduate Students

UC Merced Receives $1 Million Award to Support Postdoctoral Fellows

March 11, 2026

UC Merced has received a $1 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to strengthen postdoctoral fellowships and expand research in the natural sciences. Awarded through the foundation’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Commitment, this distinction places UC Merced...

Preparing Ph.D. Students for the Qualifying Exam

Navigating Ph.D. programs is notoriously challenging, and the qualifying exam stands as a major milestone all students must achieve. To support Ph.D. students in this critical checkpoint, the...

Researchers Find Unexpected Cellular Residence for Protein Vital in Neurodevelopment

In Professor Xuecai Ge ’s lab, where UC Merced researchers study how cells talk to each other to develop and differentiate, a recent surprise discovery is lending insight as to how erroneous...

Students, Alums Awarded Prestigious NSF Graduate Fellowships

Three UC Merced graduate students and two undergraduate alumni were recently offered fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). “I am...

Graduate students from UC Merced’s three schools will take the stage to compete in the Graduate Division’s 10th Grad Slam finals on April 8.

Graduate Division Hosts 10th Grad Slam Competition

Who will UC Merced’s Grad Slam champion be? Cheer on the finalists on April 8 and find out. Graduate students from UC Merced’s three schools will take the stage to compete in the...

Riverside City Manager and UC Merced grad student Mike Futrell

Ph.D. Student Juggles Academic Demands with Managing a City

Glancing at Mike Futrell’s resume, one might ask, “What hasn’t he done?” He is a retired United States Navy captain with two submarine tours under his belt and 26 years of...

Current students holding signs welcoming new students

UC Merced: Another Double-digit Rise in Applications

Nearly 33,000 prospective first-year and transfer students applied to UC Merced for the fall 2024 semester — a 12% increase from last year’s applicant pool. “It is clear that the...

Mother and daughter conduct a science experiment.

Mother Daughter Science Camp Offers Girls Insight into Future Pathways

Merced area fourth- and fifth-grade girls and their mothers recently participated in hands-on scientific projects in a UC Merced classroom laboratory that was transformed for one day into an exciting...

SICB Awarded Funding for Major Cultural Change Initiative

The National Science Foundation recently awarded nearly $500,000 to the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) to help develop an internal culture that fosters inclusion, diversity...

Education Council and Fidelity Honor Transformation at UC Merced

The American Council on Education (ACE) and Fidelity Investments this week presented the 2024 Award for Institutional Transformation to UC Merced and to Florida Atlantic University. The award,...