Each year, UC Merced dedicates a week to highlight some of the significant research being conducted at the university. Research Week is an opportunity for the wider campus and the public to see projects in various subjects.
The 2025 Research Week celebration has special significance because UC Merced recently earned R1 status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
The university is one of only 187 accredited doctoral-granting universities in the United States - out of nearly 4,000 - with "very high research spending and doctorate production."
"Earning the highly coveted Carnegie R1 benchmark exemplifies UC Merced's status as a comprehensive research university and our unwavering commitment to discovery, innovation, access and academic excellence," Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said.
A celebration of the R1 milestone is among the events planned for this year's Research Week, set at sites on campus and in downtown Merced from March 10-14.
Monday's events kick off with a research symposium in the Dr. Vikram and Priya Lakireddy Ballroom of the Conference Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. To celebrate achieving R1 designation, the symposium will showcase presentations by faculty and graduate fellows, whose research pushes the boundaries of knowledge, ranging from space exploration to the human psyche.
A poster showcase on Tuesday in the Lakireddy Ballroom will feature research posters from undergraduate and graduate students, and research centers, celebrating the diverse research community on campus. The event will include three poster sessions and networking opportunities to foster engagement across disciplines. Tours of the vivarium and the Borg Cube computational research facility will be offered that day.
On Wednesday, a tour of the university's Experimental Smart Farm will be offered. The annual Grad Slam competition will be held that day as well, in which graduate students explain the methods, results and significance of their research via three-minute presentations to a non-specialty audience and panel of judges. The winner will go on to compete at a UC-wide event.
A campus celebration of the R1 designation is planned Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at the Conference Center patio.
Tours continue Thursday, and a career and internship fair will be held in the ballroom from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A reception for community-engaged research is planned Thursday evening at the Merced Multicultural Arts Center.
The week concludes Friday with a symposium on demystifying AI in academia, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Room 316 of the Leo and Dottie Kolligian Library.
More information is available on the Research Week website .
