Students

UC Merced Named Top 25 Public University by U.S. News & World Report

September 22, 2025

UC Merced’s upward trajectory shows no signs of slowing as the university has cracked the Top 25 of U.S. News & World Report’s best public schools in the nation. The annual survey, which evaluates nearly 1,700 national public and private colleges and universities, also placed UC...

New Swarth Fogel NRS Undergraduate Research Scholarship to Support Student Field Research

UC Merced undergraduates interested in pursuing field research and mentorship opportunities at one of the University of California Natural Reserve System (NRS) sites will now have access to vital...

Scholars Bridge Crossing Returns: 'Finally, We're Here Together'

Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz stood at a podium framed by blue and gold balloons and smiled at the throng of students who had come for the Scholars Bridge Crossing. “Finally, we’re...

From left, professors Linda Hirst, Chris Amemiya and Valerie Leppert.

Researchers Unraveling Mysteries of Electrosensory Gel in Sharks, Skates

Cartilaginous fishes such as sharks and skates have a sixth sense, but it’s not ESP — it’s electrosense. Such fishes use hundreds or thousands of specialized organs to sense prey...

Incoming freshman Kyle Chun (mechanical engineering), third-year Daniel Baerwaldt (chemistry) and first-year Alejandro Lopez-Vaca (engineering) in front of their presentation.

USDA-funded Internship Program Introduced New Bobcats to Agriculture Research

Shortly before the fall semester kicked off in person, 11 students were wrapping up their first summer on campus as part of the FACTS summer bridge program. FACTS stands for San Joaquin Valley...

Professor Thomas Harmon shows students how to use Topcon Positioning Systems equipment on campus.

New Civil Engineering Major Designed for a Sustainable Future

Civil engineering usually brings to mind bridges and skyscrapers, but at UC Merced the engineering program extends far beyond that. This fall, UC Merced is launching a new civil engineering...

Professor Joel Spencer (far right) and members of his lab at UC Merced.

Spencer Lab Publishes New Technique for Live Imaging

Some scientific discoveries are a happy accident (think: penicillin). Others have been there all along, they just take a keen eye to notice, which was recently the case in Professor Joel Spencer...

Professor Shahar Sukenik, center, with graduate students Eduardo Flores and Karina Guadalupe, investigate intrinsically disordered proteins.

Chemistry Lab Receives NSF Funding to Study How Proteins Protect from Dehydration

Like many people this summer, Professor Shahar Sukenik has dehydration on his mind. But it’s not the soaring outside temperatures prompting this focus. Dehydration has been a theme of his...

From left, UC Merced faculty Lei Yue, Keith Thompson, Changho Kim, Professor Zenaida Aguirre-Muñoz and Mayya Tokman work on planning the new calculus effort with their teammates. Photo by Jim Chiavelli

New Collaboration Aims to Help Students Understand the Hows and Whys of Calculus

More than a few students have probably asked themselves why they have to take calculus — the course is notoriously difficult for some. “People haven’t been taught math the way it...

The exterior of the Leo and Dottie Kolligian Library at UC Merced is seen on the evening of Jan. 27, 2014.

After 18-Month Closure Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, UC Merced Library Reopening Its Doors

Since opening its doors in August 2005, the UC Merced Library has served as the hub of the campus. That all changed when the coronavirus pandemic hit and the building was forced to close in...