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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED
Preparing for Success
Preparing for Success
The Competitive Edge Summer Bridge program provides selected incoming grad students the tools to be succeessful at UC Merced. Find tips and resources available to ease your...
Graduate Orientation Week (GROW)
Graduate Orientation Week starts Aug. 15!
Graduate Orientation Week (GROW) offers incoming graduate students a variety of important workshops, programs and events to learn about UC Merced and the Merced community.
QSB’s Portia Mira Places Third at GradSlam Finals
QSB’s Portia Mira Places Third at GradSlam Finals
Graduate student Portia Mira earned third place in the University of California’s 2018 Grad Slam competition, marking UC Merced’s first appearance as a top-three finalist during the...
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Applications

Start your application for graduate education at the University of California, Merced!

The graduate program application is currently closed and will open for Fall 2019 in early September.

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Dreamers Welcome

UC Merced supports undocumented students and and stands by Dreamers. 

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Graduate Orientation Week

Graduate Orientation Week:

August 15 - 21, 2018

More Information

Summer Bridge

 

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Featured News

Three summer programs offer high school students the opportunity to spend time on a college campus and learn subjects ranging from mathematics and technology.

Summer Programs Enhance Students’ Success in High School and Beyond

August 13, 2018

Araceli Hernandez could have been playing video games, swimming or sleeping in over summer break, but instead she was doing math. And she’s happy about it. Hernandez took part in one of three summer...

A kneeling woman holds the skull of a saber-toothed cat in front of a chest of drawers containing fossils.

CAREER Award Will Help Professor Predict How Species Respond to Climate Change

August 10, 2018

Paleoecology Professor Jessica Blois recently became the campus’s 19th recipient of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award. The NSF describes as...

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Graduate Division Videos

Applied Mathematics

Biological Engineering & Small-Scale Technologies (BEST)

Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Cognitive and Information Sciences

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Environmental Systems

Interdisciplinary Humanities

Mechanical Engineering

Quantitative and Systems Biology

Physics

Political Science

Psychological Sciences
“There’s so much academic freedom here; it’s a tremendously unique opportunity.”
 
David Ando
Physics
“The fact that this is a smaller school was very attractive to me. You can get to know everyone in your graduate cohort, and it’s a great environment for research.”
 
Edwin Shen
Biological Engineering and Small-Scale Technologies
“Many other options for graduate school seem to come prepackaged with a defined future, or to create only a specific type of graduate. UC Merced has encouraged me to forge my own path and has provided an opportunity to expand and contrast my interests at my own pace.”
 
David Vinson
Cognitive & Informations Sciences
“I chose UC Merced because I liked the idea of being part of a smaller group where the faculty knew who I was and were excited to work with me.”
 
Neama Alamri
Interdisciplinary Humanities
“Our sociology graduate program is so diverse - it makes such a difference in the overall experience of being a student here.”
 
Wendy Puquirre
Sociology
“Research is founded on being able to figure out problems - our groups are so close that we all talk and know about each other’s projects, which really helps to inject interesting ideas and methods into our work.”
 
Bridget Martinez
Quantitative & Systems Biology

Faculty Profile

Kara McCloskey

Associate Professor

kmccloskey@ucmerced.edu

Dr. McCloskey is the founder and first chair of the Biological Engineering and Small-scale Technologies (BEST) graduate program and serves as the university liaison for the UC Systemwide Bioengineering Multicampus Research Unit.

Zulema Valdez

Zulema Valdez

Associate Professor and chair of the Sociology graduate group

zvaldez@ucmerced.edu

Thomas G. Hansford

Thomas G. Hansford

Associate Professor and chair of the Political Science Graduate Group

thansford@ucmerced.edu

Harish Bhat

Associate Professor and chair of the Applied Mathematics Graduate Group

hbhat@ucmerced.edu

Anna Song

Assistant Professor, Psychological Sciences

asong5@ucmerced.edu

Dr. Song's primary research interest is adolescent and young adult decision-making as it pertains to risk behaviors.

Peggy O'Day

Professor

poday@ucmerced.edu

Dr. O'Day is the chair of the Environmental Systems graduate group. She studies the chemistry, reaction, and transport of inorganic contaminants and species, primarily metal and metalloid elements, in surface and subsurface systems.

Marc Beutel

Associate Professor and Graduate Chair of Environmental Systems

mbeutel@ucmerced.edu

Linda S. Hirst

Professor and chair of the Physics Graduate Group

lhirst@ucmerced.edu

Paul Brown

Professor

pbrown3@ucmerced.edu

Dr. Brown is the Chair of Public Health and the Director of the  Health Sciences Research Institute at UC Merced. His research interests include Public Health Systems and Services Research (PHSSR), cancer prevention and control, discrete choice experiments, and behavioral economics. 

Dave Ardell

Assistant Professor

dardell@ucmerced.edu

Dr. Ardell is the chair of the Quantitative & Systems Biology graduate program. His research focuses on computational biology and evolution of gene expression mechanisms. 

Arturo Arias

Professor and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Chair

aarias26@ucmerced.edu

Ashlie Martini

Associate Professor

amartini@ucmerced.edu

Dr. Martini is the chair of the Mechanical Engineering graduate group. Her research focus is application of atomic-scale models and micro-scale friction measurements to understand fundamental mechanisms underlying tribological phenomena.