Science

UC Merced Sees Strong Gains in U.S. News Grad School Rankings

April 7, 2026

Top 100 Best Graduate Schools ranking, two students in a lab

UC Merced saw broad gains in the U.S. News and World Report 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings with graduate programs rising in national standing, reflecting the campus’s growing academic and research profile. UC Merced’s School of Engineering broke into the top 100 in the rankings...

The sign reads University of California, Merced

Two UC Merced Researchers Among This Year’s AAAS Fellows

Professors Asmeret Asefaw Berhe and Ming-Hsuan Yang have been named 2025 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society and...

UC Merced graduate student Reo Maynard studies a carpenter ant from one of his many ant colonies.

Ants, Endurance and a Ph.D. at the Finish Line

On most days, Reo Maynard’s life swings between two ecosystems: the microscopic world inside an ant’s gut and the sprawling one that stretches from Fresno to the Sierra Nevada mountains...

A sign on a southern California beach indicates it is unsafe to swim because of human-caused contamination.

Ocean Chemistry Now Substantially Shaped by Humans

Although the oceans are the least explored places on the planet, even their depths are not untouched by humans. Drawing on more than 2,300 seawater samples collected across the Pacific, Atlantic...

UC Merced Receives $1 Million Award to Support Postdoctoral Fellows

UC Merced has received a $1 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to strengthen postdoctoral fellowships and expand research in the natural sciences. Awarded through...

Four student standing in front of their poster at the Data Science Challenge

UC Merced Students Invited to Tackle Real-World AI Challenges in 2026 Data Science Program

Applications are open for the 2026 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Data Science Challenge, a two-week summer internship that gives students a firsthand look at national lab research through...

Blue-green algae in flasks are used by researchers at UC Merced and UC San Diego to further the understanding of circadian clocks. Image courtesy of UC San Diego.

Researchers Rebuild Microscopic Circadian Clock That Can Control Genes

Our circadian clocks play a crucial role in our health and well-being, keeping our 24-hour biological cycles in sync with light and dark exposure. Disruptions in the rhythms of these clocks, as with...

Unlocking the Secrets of Tiny, Living Clocks Could Revolutionize Science

Biochemistry Professor Andy LiWang has spent much of his career studying how life keeps time. His work on the circadian clock of cyanobacteria — tiny, ancient organisms that share the planet...

UC Merced Scientists Among Global Elite Shaping AI, Climate and Health

UC Merced continues to demonstrate its growing influence on the global stage. Several faculty members landed on Clarivate’s 2025 list of the world’s most‑cited researchers. The honor...

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

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

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...