Awards

UC Merced is abuzz with celebration as students, families, friends, staff and faculty finish last-minute preparations for the largest commencement in university history.

Across three outdoor ceremonies, 1,649 undergraduates and 112 graduate students will walk the stage at Spring Commencement 2026, marking a record-setting milestone for the university. This year’s celebrations are especially meaningful as the university awards its 1,000th Ph.D., highlighting just how far the institution — and its graduates — have come.

Two UC Merced graduate students and an alum from the School of Natural Sciences were recently awarded fellowships from the highly competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

This year, NSF awarded 1,000 GRFP fellowships compared to about 2,000 in previous years.

Let There Be Energy-Efficient Light

The University of California is spearheading a statewide effort to advance the purchase of 1 million high-quality, energy-efficient light bulbs for campus buildings and residences across the state.

In 2013, UC Merced’s Alumni Relations staff proposed an idea: Invite alumni back to campus to talk to current students about their post-graduation careers and experiences.

That idea became UC Merced’s Alumni Career Chat Employment Success Series (ACCESS). And when Alumni Relations Specialist Jessica “JaeJae” Julian (’10) joined the department, she took that good idea and turned it into gold.