Research

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...

UC Merced Becomes Drone Use Policy Hub

The drone research lab at the University of California, Merced, has catapulted the campus to the leading edge of the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) field, and now the campus has been chosen as the...

For GradSLAM Champion, Research Is Personal

Arturo Durazo, winner of this year’s UC Merced GradSLAM! competition, has a personal connection to his research. The fifth-year Ph.D. candidate studies the psychological effects of debilitating...

Symposium Features Faculty Research on the ‘Developing Child’

UC Merced will host its third annual Symposium on the Child and Family on April 30, offering hours of talks by researchers on the theme of “The Developing Child in a Developing World.” The symposium...

Bobcat Day Brings Admitted Students to Campus

Students from across California and their family members will converge on the UC Merced campus April 16 for Bobcat Day. The day is an opportunity for admitted students to visit campus, and talk with...

Sociologist Shows Human Side of Deportation in New Book

A single mother in Guatemala works at a factory owned by a U.S. company, but doesn’t make enough money to support her family. She immigrates to the U.S. and finds a low-paying job with no benefits...

Ancient Textile Discovery Suggests More Southern Route for Silk Road

Cloth remains found in the Samdzong tomb complex in Nepal by UC Merced Professor Mark Aldenderfer suggest the village might have been part of the long-distance trade network of the Silk Road. Textile...

Study: In-Home Parent Training Levels Field for Low-Income Kids

Home-based interventions that teach parents to engage children in playful interactive learning activities can close the cognitive development gap between disadvantaged children and higher-resource...

Study Shows How Plants Could Adapt to Changing Climate

If you want to understand how plant populations will respond as the climate changes, just examine the plants in different locations. That’s one of the conclusions drawn by UC Merced School of Natural...

Pine Bacteria Getting a Closer Look From Scientists

Professor Carolin Frank’s research into the nitrogen-fixing properties of bacteria inside the needles of some high-elevation pine trees is the topic of a new paper in the journal New Phytologist....