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Research Excellence

February 11, 2026

AI-rendered of hand emerging from a box, holding a pen pressed against paper
Written words can do more than communicate. They can also unlock the writer’s ability to process distress, identify hurtful feelings and take control of personal conflict. Emily Johnston, a writing studies professor at UC Merced, has researched how the act of writing rewires the brain to...
Professor Roger Bales
Professors Roger Bales and Martha Conklin arrived in Merced in 2003, the first non-administrative faculty members at UC Merced. They came with a vision: to create a research university that would...
Professor Henrik Larsson
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...
Professor Oviedo
The same cellular renewal that keeps our bodies healthy might also fuel the growth of cancer. A UC Merced biologist has found that the brain could hold the key to stopping it. Professor Néstor...
An example showing a chiral molecule and 'handedness.'
A team of scientists led by UC Merced is embarking on a project to understand how the twisted shapes of specific molecules can influence the spin of electrons — a phenomenon that could...
UC Merced Juan Sanchez Munoz
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...
Photo depicts Professor Erin Hestir boarding a plane with a NASA logo on it in South Africa.
BioSCape, a multinational research project co-led by UC Merced, the University at Buffalo and the University of Cape Town, which monitored Earth’s biodiversity from the air, has received a...
Photo depicts a firefighter battling a blaze at a Southern California home during the Palisades fire in January 2025.
Nearly half of the world’s worst wildfire disasters have occurred in just the past decade, new research from UC Merced’s Fire Resilience Center shows. A study published Thursday in the...
Following recognition as a Top 25 university by U.S. News & World Report, UC Merced has once again earned national acclaim, this time from the Wall Street Journal. In its 2026 report of the Best...
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...

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