School of Natural Sciences

COSMOS Expands to UC Merced, Opening Doors for California’s Brightest Young Scientists

December 11, 2025

High school students will have a wider array of research opportunities through COSMOS starting next summer.

Starting next summer, UC Merced will join an elite group of University of California campuses hosting COSMOS — the California State Summer School for Math and Science — giving some of the state’s most talented high school students a new destination for exploring advanced STEM...

Participating in research activities through UROC enriches their undergraduate experience and prepares them for graduate study and beyond.

Undergrad Research Fuels Opportunities for Grad School, Careers

The opportunity to participate in cutting-edge scientific research as an undergraduate is one of the most exciting aspects of a UC Merced education. One of the best preparation opportunities for...

Field Station Planned for UC Merced's Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve

At the northern tip of the UC Merced campus, an unremarkable aluminum gate leads into a field that extends, seemingly, into infinity. Perpendicular to the gate, the LeGrand Canal, drawn from Lake...

Pre-Health Advising Program Prepares Future Health Professionals

Hundreds of students join the UC Merced campus each year intent on health-related careers. What they might not know, though, is that there are resources on campus that can be critical in helping...

Researchers stand near a large solar collection panel.

UC Solar Projects Bringing Lower Costs, Renewable Energy to Industry, Commerce and Homes

Three big UC Solar projects are poised to be the next big breakthroughs in low-cost, accessible sustainable commercial and residential energy in California and far beyond. Researchers are building...

Jason Castillo ('09), now a dermatologist and surgeon in Southern California, gives the alumni speech to the schools of Natural Sciences and Engineering at the spring 2019 commencement.

Older and Wiser: 2009 Graduates Reflect on Instrumental UC Merced Education

A decade has passed since Sam Fong (’09) crossed the stage to get his diploma and walked through Beginnings for the first time as part of UC Merced’s inaugural graduating class, and a lot...

Lengthy Study Shows Value of Soil Health and Forest Restoration after Damaging Events

A nine-year experiment by a UC Merced Department of Life and Environmental Sciences professor and his colleagues is illuminating the importance of soil carbon in maintaining healthy and functioning...

Conference attendees and faculty members share math discussions

SIAM Student Chapter Conference Unites Valley Regional Applied Mathematics Community

Oscillatory traffic patterns, the dynamics of micro swimmers and the use of deep neural networks in image reconstruction were just a few of the topics at the fourth annual Central Valley Regional...

Largest Graduating Class in Campus History Celebrated At Commencement

Clouds loomed over the Carol Tomlinson-Keasey Quad last weekend, but nothing was going to rain on the parade of the more than 1,300 Bobcats who walked the stage at UC Merced’s commencement....

Commencement student speakers Victoria Arias and Cydney Caradonna

Class of 2019 Student Speakers Leave UC Merced with Messages of Gratitude

Undergraduates Victoria Arias and Cydney Caradonna entered UC Merced through different doors. Arias was a freshman impressed with the campus and community. Caradonna was a transfer student and...