Grants

UC Merced Chemist Wins DOE Award to Simulate Electron Motion at Quantum Speeds

November 5, 2025

Chemistry Professor Henrik Larsson has received a prestigious Early Career Award from the U.S. Department of Energy, becoming the first faculty member from UC Merced’s School of Natural Sciences to earn the honor. The award includes more than $878,000 in funding over five years to support...

Scientific equipment for making solar cells

UC Merced Reaches for Stars with Solar Cells

Two UC Merced physics groups are totally spacing out this year. Professors Sayantani Ghosh and David Strubbe and their students in the Department of Physics are working on a NASA initiative to...

Hellman Family Recognizes Young UC Merced Faculty Projects and Careers

Six faculty members have been named this year’s Hellman Fellows — two from each of UC Merced’s schools. The 2019-20 winners are: • Professor Anna E. Beaudin, Department...

A grant from the Henry Luce Foundation is already making an impact on the Merced area through humanities community-engaged scholarship.

Humanities Grad Students Drive Community Engagement, Public Understanding Through Research

Since his undergraduate days in Environmental Studies at Humboldt State University, Ivan Soto has aspired to produce research with a positive impact on the public — not just to benefit the...

Grant Helps University Ramp Up Food Rescue Efforts

UC Merced’s desire to fight food insecurity in Merced County and on campus got a big boost recently after being awarded a $492,000 grant from CalRecycle. The university — along with...

Professor Strubbe stands in front of a research poster.

Physicist Researching Materials Chemistry to Build Better Solar Cells

Durable, reliable, affordable solar power is the future of energy, and UC Merced computational physicist Professor David Strubbe is diving into a new area of science to answer the call. Strubbe...

Stands of brown, dead trees throughout Sierra Nevada forests

Multiyear Drought Caused Massive Forest Die-off in Sierra Nevada

The most extreme drought event in hundreds of years caused a catastrophic die-off of the Sierra Nevada’s mature trees in 2015-2016. A study published today in Nature Geoscience details how...

Computational Chemist Improving Modeling for Complex Processes

Professor Hrant Hratchian, with the Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology in the School of Natural Sciences, has received a National Science Foundation CAREER award, the 24th recipient...

Overdose, Suicide Among Leading Reasons for Postpartum Maternal Deaths

Overdoses and suicides were among the most common reasons for mothers dying within a year of giving birth in California, according to a new study published this week. Psychiatric epidemiology...

Professor Im stands before a mathematical equation.

Scheduling Algorithms Earn Computer Science Researcher an NSF CAREER Award

Professor Sungjin Im, with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering, has received a National Science Foundation CAREER award, making him the 21st recipient...