Skip to content

News

Is a Great Lecture Better Than Active Learning? Students May Think So But Study Says Otherwise

November 9, 2021
Students who take part in active learning — engaging directly with the instruction process — learn more than they would from an excellent lecture, though they think they learned less, according to a study co-authored by a UC Merced lecturer. The study, originally published in Proceedings of the...

NSF Grant to Help Grad Students Find Solutions to Environmental Challenges

November 1, 2021
Graduate students and a convergence of physics, engineering and environmental science could result in not only the next generation of solutions to pressing environmental challenges, but a new group of diverse and globally competitive nano-engineers, as well. A nearly $2 million grant from the...

Hirst Selected for Prestigious Fellowship in the American Physical Society

October 25, 2021
Physics Professor Linda Hirst has been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) by the APS Council of Representatives at its most recent meeting. This is the second consecutive year the Department of Physics has had a faculty member elevated to an APS fellowship. The number of APS...

Space Telescope Time and Data Analysis Boosting Astrophysics Studies This Fall

October 12, 2021
Dark matter and the life cycles of star clusters will come into focus as UC Merced’s astrophysicists get resources from the two space telescopes soon to be exploring the universe. NASA has granted Professor Anna Nierenberg observational time with the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) when it’...

Researchers Unraveling Mysteries of Electrosensory Gel in Sharks, Skates

September 28, 2021
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 and mates and to navigate the oceans. A cross-disciplinary group of researchers at UC Merced is making new discoveries...

Hands-on, Handmade Instruments Boost Engagement for Remote Physics Class

August 3, 2021
With her students spread to the four winds by COVID-19, a UC Merced professor discovered she could build engagement in a virtual classroom with cardboard, painter’s tape and a child’s toy. For the 2021 spring semester, Professor Jing Xu sent students in her Modern Physics Lab course kits with which...

From Earth to Space and Back Again: Solar Samples Show Surprising Results

June 17, 2021
When physics graduate student William Delmas made samples of solar energy harvesting perovskite films two years ago, he had no idea that this summer, he’d be analyzing those same samples after they made a round trip to the International Space Station (ISS). “It’s really cool to see this come full...

Physics seniors succeed on multiple fronts

May 11, 2021
The graduating class of Physics seniors this year have won several accolades and scaled some new heights. Please join us, the faculty, staff and students of the Physics department at UC Merced, in congratulating this exceptional class and wishing them all the best for their future endeavors. ...

UC Merced Alums, Students Earn Prestigious Fellowships

May 5, 2021
A half-dozen UC Merced students and alumni are recipients of significant fellowships to help support their graduate education. “We’re extremely proud of our undergraduate and graduate students and alumni who have earned prestigious fellowships,” Vice Provost and Graduate Dean Chris Kello said. “...

$2.2M NIH Grant Designed to Produce Highly Trained, Diverse Ph.D. Workforce

April 28, 2021
A five-year, $2.2 million training grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will assist UC Merced with the development of diverse cohorts of doctoral students in interdisciplinary biomedical disciplines. Twelve trainees each academic year will benefit from NIH’s longstanding Graduate...

Pages