Undergraduate Students

Student Finds Community and Purpose Through Culture and Literature

March 12, 2026

Student stands outdoors on the UC Merced campus holding a notebook and pen, looking off into the distance near a campus walkway lined with leafless trees.

Between classes at UC Merced, you will often find Padme James under the trees outside the Leo and Dottie Kolligian Library. What she studies there isn’t directly correlated to her classwork, but it connects her roots to where she hopes her future is headed. Instead of reviewing notes for a...

Systemwide Climate Justice Course Debuts This Fall

Undergraduates will have a new, one-of-a-kind class they can sign up for this fall — Climate Justice — a hybrid course that features lectures by faculty from all 10 UC campuses....

UC Merced Returns to In-person Commencement

For the first time since spring 2019, UC Merced will honor the achievements of spring graduates with a traditional in-person commencement weekend this month. “We are proud of all these young...

Sign Up Now to Attend This Spring's I2G Events

Innovate to Grow (I2G), the biannual showcase of innovative engineering design projects developed in partnership with industry and nonprofit partners, continues in-person and virtually this spring...

UC Merced's partnership with the initiative 1300 Campaign announcement

UC Merced Joins Partnership to Increase Enrollment of Students of Color in College

UC Merced continues to pave the way to success for students of color to thrive at a four-year college. To continue to support these efforts, the campus, in collaboration with Stanislaus State,...

GAMWS Hosting Spring Events in April and May

Just in time for spring, the Department of Global Arts, Media and Writing Studies (GAMWS) is sponsoring several events over the next few weeks. The fourth annual GASP Faculty Concert ...

Professor David Strubbe and student Elsa Vazquez pose for a photo at UC Merced.

Cottrell Award Giving Undergrad a Grad Student Experience

Physics undergraduate student Elsa Vazquez and her faculty mentor Professor David Strubbe have won a prestigious Cottrell Postbaccalaureate award that allows Vazquez to continue her research...

Students with a drone in a field with cows

Apply Now for a Paid Summer Internship with Real Research Experience

The May 1 deadline is fast approaching for students to apply for the San Joaquin Valley Food and Agriculture Cyberinformatics Tools and Science (FACTS) bridge program, a paid summer research...

Kurtz Earns Highest Status in International Electrical Engineering Organization

In recognition of her contributions to photovoltaic devices and systems reliability, Professor Sarah Kurtz has been elevated to a Fellow in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (...

Plan to Attend Innovate to Grow or Volunteer as a Judge

Now is the time to register to attend this year's Innovate to Grow (I2G) competition and see some of the 66 student engineering teams present their solutions to real-world engineering...