Research and Economic Development

UC Merced Injects Over $1 Billion in Economic Vitality into San Joaquin Valley, State

January 20, 2026

UC Merced, a beacon of academic achievement in the San Joaquin Valley, is also a powerful driver of economic growth and prosperity in the region it was created to serve. UC Merced generates $1.12 billion in economic production per year in the Valley, according to an...

Spectroscopy at the UC's W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii helped the researchers interpret complex data about ultramassive galaxies. Photo courtesy of the W.M. Keck Observatory.

Astronomers Reveal Hidden Activity in the Early Universe’s Most Massive Galaxies

An international team of astronomers has studied ultramassive galaxies - galaxies containing more than 100 billion stars - as they existed when the universe was less than 2 billion years old. The...

20 Years In, UC Merced Celebrates Achievements, Looks to Future

Only 20 years since undergraduate instruction began, UC Merced is a recognized leader in conducting academic research, developing young minds for career success and driving economic growth, the...

UC Merced Launches Distinguished Speaker Series with World-Renowned Bioengineer David Kaplan

The Health Sciences Research Institute (HSRI) at UC Merced is preparing to launch its long-envisioned distinguished speaker series on Oct. 6 with a visit from David Kaplan, a Tufts University...

Gift Creates UC Merced’s First Endowed Chair in Agricultural Technology

A new endowed chair will significantly enhance UC Merced’s work to advance research and innovation in the agricultural technology sector. Housed in the School of Engineering, the Christine...

Wilson Among This Year’s AAAS Fellows, Recognized for Science and Outreach

Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Economic Development Gillian Wilson has been named a 2024 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’...

UC Merced Achieves R1: Highest Tier of Research Classification

UC Merced has assumed its place in the top echelon of research institutions in the nation by earning R1 status from Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The announcement was...

AI generated illustration for UC Merced Tobacco Summit

UC Merced Hosts Tobacco Control Summit

The community is invited to an all-day summit where researchers will present cutting-edge information on the latest efforts to stem tobacco use in the San Joaquin Valley and surrounding foothills...

Campus and Academic Growth Highlighted in UC Merced State of the University Address

Distinguished rankings, new academic offerings, world-class research and campus expansions were among the highlights of the UC Merced State of the University address delivered by Chancellor Juan...

Most of the Universe Composed of Dark Energy, Researchers Show

A UC Merced researcher and her teammates around the world have succeeded in measuring the total amount of matter in the universe for the second time. A new paper in the Astrophysical Journal,...