Research Excellence

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

January 5, 2026

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.

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 results show that while some of these ultramassive galaxies, or UMGs, had already shut down star...

COVID-19 More Likely to Impact Smokers and People Exposed to Secondhand Smoke, Report Finds

Smokers and former smokers are not only more susceptible to COVID-19, they are far more likely to see their conditions worsen over time and to require intensive respiratory assistance, according to a...

Whiting Fellowship Will Help Build Refugee View into High School Curricula

The Whiting Public Engagement Program has awarded a $50,000 fellowship to Professor Ma Vang for her efforts to integrate the experiences of refugees into education for high school students in...

Research Reveals Collective Dynamics of Active Matter Systems

Flocks of starlings producing dazzling patterns across the sky are natural examples of active matter — groups of individual agents coming together to create collective dynamics. In a study...

New Tech Will Change How People Use Mobile Devices

Two projects from a UC Merced engineering lab are making interactions with mobile devices easier and quicker, especially for blind people. Computer science Professor Ahmed Arif and his students...

Researchers Forge a New Weapon to Fight Parasites and Other Infections

Breakthrough collaborative science by an interdisciplinary team of researchers brought together by computational biology Professor David Ardell promises a new approach for treating all types of...

‘Research Week’ Celebrates UC Merced Innovation

UC Merced celebrates Research Week from March 2-6 to highlight the ground-breaking work taking place at the University of California’s newest campus. The annual week of events, sponsored by...

Leily Kiani (’16) is one of 21 former Bobcats who currently work at LLNL, strengthening the bond between the university and national lab.

‘Yes, You Can’: UC Merced Students Learning, Growing at Livermore Lab

Just 90 miles from the future of higher education — UC Merced — lies one of the epicenters of the future of technology, innovation and national security. Regardless of the route you...

Professor Eric Walle with Penelope and her mom, Jessica Mohatt, in a scene from the new Netflix docu-series "Babies."

New "Babies" Series on Netflix Features UC Merced Professor's Research on Development

Psychology Professor Eric Walle found something interesting when he studied babies who were walking compared to those who were crawling: Babies who walk are not only more mobile, they have...

‘E-Week’ Shines Spotlight on Engineering Field, Students

Competitions, showcases, career success stories and more highlight the work of the School of Engineering and its students at UC Merced’s annual celebration of National Engineers Week, Feb. 18...

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