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Doctoral candidate Carla-Cristina “CC” de Melo Edwards of the lab of medical entomologist-geneticist Geoffrey Attardo, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is the newly selected recipient of the 2026 Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology (MUVE) Student Recognition Award in Medical Entomology for a PhD Student from the Entomological Society of America (ESA). 

Graduate Studies and Graduate Council are thrilled to honor two extraordinary faculty members with this year's Distinguished Graduate and Postdoctoral Mentorship Awards. These awards shine a light on the power of mentorship in shaping the academic and professional journeys of UC Davis graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

We are thrilled to announce Anusha Bishop, Erin Huiting, and Jeremy Yeaton, have been selected as three of the 33 early-career postdoctoral researchers from UC Davis for the Life Sciences Research Foundation (LSRF). This record-breaking class is the largest in LSRF’s history, making 2026 a truly historic year for the Foundation. This milestone was made possible through the extraordinary generosity and continued partnership of LSRF’s sponsors, whose investment in exceptional early-career scientists is helping shape the future of biomedical research.

From smartphones to solar panels, today’s technology relies heavily on silicon. The next generation of electronics, like wearable sensors and foldable screens, may depend on an entirely different class of materials: organic semiconductors. 

On June 5, 2026, Walker Hall was transformed into a comprehensive exhibition of graduate student art, research and scholarship to culminate a yearlong celebration of 100 years of graduate education in Davis. 

Congratulations to the UC Davis Graduate Class of 2026! More than 1,000 graduate students were honored at Graduate Studies Commencement on Thursday, June 11 at the University Credit Union Center on campus. In order to celebrate these graduates more personally, two distinct ceremonies were organized by degree type. The Master's Ceremony began at 10 a.m., and the MFA and Doctoral Ceremony began at 3 p.m. 

Here at UC Davis, there are endless opportunities for students to make a global impact. A living testament to this is Judi Eppele, a current graduate student in the Community Development Graduate Group. Most central to Judi’s character and pursuits is her passion for climate and environmental education and community sustainability.

Fourth-year Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. candidate Eden Winslow won first place at the UC Davis Grad Slam Semi-Final round on Friday, April 3, 2026. Her winning presentation "Born Without a Hand: Changing the Narrative of Children's Prostheses" earned her a $5,000 first prize.

Winslow's presentation and research examined how children born without a hand use the muscles in their arms, with the aim of showing that they're capable of using advanced prostheses.

The UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine took the No. 1 spot in the nation for veterinary medicine in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of professional and graduate programs.

U.S. News updated rankings for the disciplines of business, education, law, engineering, medicine and nursing as well as some specialties in its 2026 edition of the Best Graduate Schools.

Spending entire days — or longer — trying to find meaning in a single poem is the opposite of quick, online activity many students might be used to, but that type of slow study is something that still resonates with them, Professor Archana Venkatesan said.

Grad Slam is almost here! (Register to attend in-person Friday, April 3, 2026).

Few people know the challenges for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars better than Ellen Hartigan-O’Connor.

As a professor of history and UC Davis associate dean for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, she teaches and coaches them through both common challenges, like how to connect with a faculty advisor, and very thorny ones that don’t always have clear solutions.

In assessing stroke patient rehabilitation, clinicians have largely relied on their eyes to measure how well a stroke patient can move, grasp and let go. But what if a pocket-sized tool could capture every motion, quantify progress and provide new insight — all in the time it takes to open an app?

The buildings at Nike's world headquarters — the Philip H. Knight Campus in Beaverton, Ore. — are named after the likes of Serena Williams, Jerry Rice and Mia Hamm. But the company doesn't recognize only sports superstars as athletes.

"If you have a body, you're an athlete," said Mike Yonker, who heads up the team developing Project Amplify — Nike's new bionic sneaker.

In 1925 — before there was a chancellor on campus or bicycles pervading pathways — 12 individuals quietly made history at the institution now known as University of California, Davis. They were the very first graduate students studying agriculture at what was then the University Farm for UC Berkeley.

And while much has changed over the last century, one question still lingers like the Central-Valley Tule fog: 

Who were the 12?