Materials Sciences

UC Awards Support Tackling Big Questions in Health, Physics, Agriculture and Climate

February 5, 2025

A fluorescence microscope image of one kind of active matter being studied. Image courtesy of Amanda Tan, UC Merced

Faculty members at UC Merced are taking the lead on four Multicampus Research Program Initiatives (MRPI), working with colleagues around the University of California system to address challenges around labor and agriculture, active matter, Indigenous health and fusion energy. “The MRPI...

Raindrops, Red Wine Inspire Solar Tech Advancements

In recent publications, Professor Vincent Tung proves that inspiration for advancements in materials science can come from anywhere — even the merging of raindrops on a windshield or the sheeting of...

Scientists Build Synthetic Cell-Sized Membranes Out of Paper

Scientists have been synthesizing lipid membranes from a variety of materials, making them as lifelike as possible to learn more about how cells work and how they can be manipulated. UC Merced...

Computational Training Expanding at UC Merced Through New Grants

Graduate students at the University of California, Merced, will benefit from extensive new research, funding and training opportunities, thanks to two National Science Foundation (NSF) grants...

MACES Focuses on Tiny Particles, Broad Horizons

Researchers at UC Merced are making a big deal out of a piece of equipment that lets them look at really tiny things. And they should — the new Zeiss Gemini SEM 500 scanning electron microscope is...

Event Connects High School Girls with Female Scientists

While many young women her age are thinking about their favorite shoes or who they’ll go with to the winter formal, Callie Nance, 15, is thinking about her favorite science organizations and her...

New Nanomaterials Taking Research to Mexico, Possibly into Space

Professors Linda Hirst and Sayantani Ghosh are combining liquid crystals with nanoparticles such as gold and quantum dots to come up with a new platform that could have applications in fields such...

Engineering Programs Earn ABET Accreditation

UC Merced’s undergraduate degree programs in environmental engineering, materials science engineering and mechanical engineering have been accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of...

Korean Students Get UC Solar Experience

They traveled nearly 20 hours by plane and bus across 5,700 miles to spend three weeks in the Central Valley sun. Fifteen engineering students from Dankook University in Yongin, Gyeonggi, South Korea...

Engineering Professor Looks to Make an Impact

Professor Ashlie Martini was looking for the chance to make a difference when she took a post at UC Merced. Martini, now a professor in the UC Merced School of Engineering, was most recently a...