News

New Collaborations Designed to Increase Access to Data Science for All Students

November 20, 2023

UC Merced is part of several new initiatives aimed at increasing the accessibility and inclusivity of data science studies and opening new opportunities for historically underserved students after graduation. New grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE) and...

Research Team Explores the Effects of Climate Catastrophes on Different Species

November 15, 2023

How different species of animals respond to extreme weather events — which are increasing because of climate change — appears to be related to body size and habitat preference, a new study shows. When extreme weather causes widespread flooding, smaller species and those living in low-elevation...

ARCS Scholars Work to Advance STEM Research

November 13, 2023

Four UC Merced graduate students can focus fully on their research and academic studies this year thanks to a generous gift from the Northern California Chapter of the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation. ARCS, a national organization established and operated entirely by...

UC Merced Well-Represented at California Sociological Association Conference

November 9, 2023

Nearly a dozen UC Merced graduate students and graduate alumni participated in the annual California Sociological Association (CSA) Conference in Sacramento on Nov. 3-4. The theme of this year’s CSA conference centered on “Sociology and Praxis: The Labor and Obligations of Creating a More Just...

UC Merced Team Picked for Federal EV Battery Competition

November 8, 2023

A team from UC Merced has been selected to participate in the Department of Energy (DOE) "BattChallenge," a three-year competition to develop a battery for an electric vehicle. Mechanical engineering Professor Ricardo Pinto de Castro is leading a team of students that will design, build, test and...

An Exploration of Music's Role in Children's Brain Development

November 7, 2023

Music can be entertaining, moving and, when played too loud, infuriating. It also plays a vital role in the development of children's brains, one researchers are just beginning to understand. UC Merced cognitive sciences Professor Heather Bortfeld recently edited a special issue of the...

Cognitive Science Professor’s First Book Released by Princeton University Press

November 6, 2023

Cognitive science Professor Paul Smaldino has astronomically high hopes for his first book. “I hope literally everyone reads this book,” Smaldino said. “Modeling Social Behavior” is a textbook, so it probably won’t make the New York Times bestseller list any time soon, but it is definitely going...

Labor, Community-based Groups Key to Addressing Climate Challenge, Study Shows

November 2, 2023

One of the major challenges of this century is democratically engaging institutions and large numbers of people with strategies to mitigate global warming by minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. A new study by sociology Professor Paul Almeida and colleagues in the Nature Portfolio’s journal npj...

Film, Poetry, Philosophy the Subjects of Three Foundry Pieces by Humanities Community

October 30, 2023

The new issue of Foundry, a digital platform similar to a magazine, assembled by the University of California Humanities Research Institute (UCHRI), features works by three members of the UC Merced campus community. The issue features an interview with Global Arts Studies Professor Yehuda Sharim...

Students Compete Against Thousands in 24-Hour Hackathon

October 26, 2023

UC Merced computer science and engineering teams are again taking part in the IEEExtreme Hack-a-Thon, a 24-hour challenge in which teams respond to one or more prompts to solve a problem by developing software. More than 14,000 people, in 6,300 teams and representing 65 countries, will compete in...