Monday 30 March 2026
Ten UC Merced graduate researchers are gearing up to deliver the most intense three minutes of their academic careers.
Each spring, master’s and Ph.D. students across the campus’s three schools are invited to participate in Grad Slam — a fast‑paced competition that challenges scholars to distill their cutting‑edge research into a crisp, engaging presentation for a general audience.
Physics Ph.D. candidate Arabi Seshappan added two prestigious fellowships to her curriculum vitae: the Chateaubriand Fellowship in Science, Technology, Engineering Mathematics & Biology-Health and the UC President's Pre-Professoriate Fellowship.
UC Merced researchers are collaborating on a two-year research project to develop effective composting methods for cotton textiles.
The project explores manufacturing cotton waste scraps from clothing into compost to demonstrate efficient composting with the right recipe, and the compost’s ability to nourish soils without introducing pollutants, according to UC Merced’s project lead, Biyensa Dubiwak, a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences.
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.
Adekunle “Kunle” Adewole isn’t a stranger to the spotlight, having grown up singing at family functions and performing in theater productions. He also has fervently watched “The Voice,” a singing reality competition television series, envisioning himself performing on stage.
“’The Voice’ is part of my singing journey. I've always wanted to do it, and maybe at some point I'll get the chance to perform there,” he said. “I’d probably sing ‘Jealous’ by Labrinth, or ‘Get to You Again’ by Mac Ayres.”
UC Merced was the site of the 22nd Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate computational chemistRY (MERCURY) Conference held in mid-July.
Persistence has paid off for UC Merced doctoral candidate Arabi Seshappan.
The graduate student from Fremont, about to start her sixth year, was selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program's Fulbright-Université Paris-Saclay Doctoral Research Award, which is only granted to three U.S. students each year.
As a young institution in the University of California system, UC Merced has placed a strong emphasis on serving students who are the first in their families to pursue graduate education.
With its strong commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, UC Merced’s Graduate Division has created a supportive environment for students from all backgrounds by implementing several programs and policies, including a peer mentoring initiative designed for incoming graduate students.
Earlier this month, Ambarish Varadan competed in UC Merced’s Grad Slam finals and seized the title of Campus Champion.
This was the second time the Quantitative and Systems Biology (QSB) Ph.D. candidate from Fremont vied for the top prize. Last year, he placed second among the top 10 contenders.
UC Merced Foundation Board Trustee Robert Bernstein, M.D., and his wife, Diplomat Jane Binger, Ed.D., have made generous donations to support Grad Slam.
