News, events, and recordings older than 6 months 
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​2018 NSF GRFP Fellowship
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Shayna Bennett

​Shayna Bennett was awarded a GRFP Fellowship in applied mathematics, which she will use to develop mathematical models for predicting the spread of invasive species. Her work will explore how diffusion equations can be used to understand the influence of landscape features, such as rivers and roads, on species spreading rate and extent. ​

Spring 2018 Annual Conference

The 2018 NRT-IAS Annual Conference group picture

​The 2018 NRT-IAS Annual Conference was held on March 26th and 27th at Chaminade Resort & Spa in Santa Cruz, California. Sixteen students and eleven faculty members across six disciplines attended the conference. All the students did marvelous presentations. All the faculty members provided valuable feedback for the students to guide them to success. The discussions were interesting and exciting. This was a great opportunity for the students and the faculty to put everything else aside and focus on their research. 
Visit our Photo Gallery to see event photos.
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​Fall 2017
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​Jordan Ackerman received GRFP Fellowship
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​Jordan was awarded a GRFP Fellowship in Natural Language Processing which he will use to model improvisational and written rap for both computational and pedagogical purposes. (There is no good system for learning how to rhyme improvisationally!)
Read more about Jordan's projects in education and language technology: www.wordsurge.com
* Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.
Are Animal Sounds Speech Or Music? Researchers Trying To Find Out (Sammy Caiola, Capital Public Radio. November 8, 2017)
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We know lots of animals talk to one another, but how close are their howls and calls to human language? Or are those communications more like music?
Researchers at UC Merced dug into those questions in their latest paper, published this fall. They created a new method of sound comparison that they say lays important groundwork for future language study across species.
Cognitive science professors Christopher Kello and Ramesh Balasubramanium, along with graduate student Butovens Médé, scoured more than 200 animal, human and music recordings in search of patterns. Read more .....
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Chris Kello (left), Butovens Médé (middle) and Ramesh Balasubramaniam (right) 
​​have found a new way to analyze animal sounds, human speech and music.
CIS Hosting New Summer School 
August 18th, 2017
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CIS faculty, led by Prof. Ramesh Balasubramaniam, have secured NSF funding for the next CHASE (Center for Human Adaptive Systems and Environments) Summer School. This will be the second such summer school, organized by UC Merced faculty affiliated with CHASE. The first, held in 2014, was on the Dynamics of Language and Music. To be held in 2018, the second summer school will be on the topic of Dynamic Interaction of Embodied Human and Machine Intelligence.  
​Read more....

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​​Prof. Balasubramaniam showcasing the Kinarm, newest addition to the tools of CIS.​​

​NRT-IAS Past Seminar Series  

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Fall 2017 Seminar Series

Video Recordings: COB 127 Thursdays 1:30-3:00 PM

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Sep   7. Suzanne Sindi. Mathematical Modeling of Yeast and Language ​​
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​Sep 14. Ajay Gopinathan. Flocking of Heterogeneous Groups: Can birds of a different feather flock together? 
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​Sep 21. Emilia Huerta-Sanchez. The genetic underpinnings of human adaptations
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Sep 28. Stefano Carpin. Spatial Modeling in Robotics
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Oct   5. Michael Spivey. Brain, Body, and Environment 
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Oct 12. David Ardell. Origin and evolutionary maintenance of complex adaptive systems in biology        
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Oct 19. YangQuan Chen. Fractional calculus view of complex adaptive systems
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Oct 26. Emily Jane McTavish. Reconstructing the tree of life
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Nov  2. David Noelle. Computational Models of Prefrontal Cortex
​           Nov  9. No class

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Nov 16. Paul Smaldino. Modeling the Population Dynamics of Scientific Discovery
           Nov 23. Thanksgiving (no class)

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Nov 30. Chris Kello. Human foraging in vision, memory, and space 
              Readings: Spatial Memory in Foraging Games; The Evolutionary Origins of LeÂvy Walk Foraging
           Dec  7.  No class

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Dec 14. Justin Yeakel. Population Dynamics & Community Dynamics

​Past Events

​2018 spring and summer, Campus events

February
  • GradSLAM! Effective Visual Presentations Workshop. 2:00 – 3:00 PM Wed Feb 21 SSB 250
  • Graduate Billiards Night. 6:00 – 8:00 PM Thu Feb 22. Cue Spot
  • Graduate Visitation Weekend (2/23 – 2/24). All day UC Merced Campus and Yosemite
  • Grad Visitation Reception. 4:00 -6:00 PM Friday 2/23. Kolligian Library 355
  • Día de Ciencias (Science Day for the Community). 9:00am to 3:30pm Sat Feb 24. COB2 130
  • GradSLAM! Effective Oral Presentations Workshop with Playhouse Merced. 4:30 – 6:30 PM Wed Feb 28. COB2 110
  • Registration Deadline. Feb 28
March
  • Research Week. Monday, March 5, 2018 - Fri , March 9, 2018 (all day). UC Merced Campus
  • GRAD-EXCEL Peer Mentorship Program brownbag lunch. 12:00 – 1 :00 PM Wed, March 7. Bobcat Lair
  • Nomination due. Summer Bridge 1. Fri, March 9.
  • Qualifying Round PowerPoint Presentations due to Graduate Division by 10 AM Monday, March 12
  • 2018 SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference application period begins. March 13 - June 5.
  • GradSLAM! Qualifying Rounds. 1:30 - 5:00 PM. Fri March 16  COB2 130
  • March Madness. A Tea & Chat event hosted by the Office of International Affairs to connect international students, scholars and their families to UC Merced and the greater Merced community, and to provide resources through programming activities. 2:00 PM Fri March 16. Bobcat Lair
  • Persian New Year celebration: 6:00 - 10:00 PM. Sat March 17. California Room
  • ​Spring Recess. March 26 - 31.
April
  • Spring Grad Fair. 10AM - 5 PM, April 3 - 5. California Room 
  • Graduate Student Appreciation Week. April 9 – 13. Student Service Building
  • Final Round PowerPoint Presentations due to Graduate Division by 10 AM Monday April 9
  • GRAD-EXCEL Peer Mentorship Program brownbag lunch. 12-1:00 PM Wed April 11. Bobcat Lair
  • GradSLAM! Final Round. THU April 12 TBD. California Room
  • 2018 SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference application deadline. April 13
  • NRT-ICGE students visit Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.11:00 AM - 4:00 PM  April 19
  • UC Merced Data Science Summit (With Center for Career and Professional Advancement). Fri April 20 all day. California Room
  • Nomination due. Summer Bridge 2. April 20
May
  • GradSLAM! UC Systemwide Competition. UCOP Finals - LinkedIN SF, see the main UC Grad Slam website. THU May3  
  • Final exams will be administered Sat May 5th through Fri May 11th
  • Graduation & Awards Celebration Thu May 10  
  • Innovate to Grow. Fri May 11th. Various locations on UCM campus
  • Commencement for School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts students. 9AM Sat May 12   UC Merced Quad
  • Commencement for School of Natural Sciences and School of Engineering students. 9 AM Sun May 13 UC Merced Quad
  • Summer Dissertation Bootcamp. May 14 - 18 All day. Kolligian Library
June
  • Summer Bridge. June 18 - Aug 10.
  • Summer BBQ. 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Tue June 26. S&E2.
August
  • ​Graduate Research Orientation Week (GROW). Aug 15 - 21. Sessions running from 8/15 - 8/17/18 are mandatory for all incoming students and the remaining sessions are ​dependent upon school and graduate group. Register by 12 PM (noon) July 27, 2018.
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Fall 2017
​First Year Project Meeting: Students met, formed groups, and participated in discussions. Location: SSM 117. Time/date: 5:30 - 7:30 PM, Oct 25th, 2017​

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