Consistent with Office of Research goals to spur interdisciplinary research and establish new partnerships within and beyond the institution, the Collaborative Research Advancement program is meant to encourage both internal and external collaboration; enable new teams and/or new lines of research; and stimulate research that embraces intellectual diversity and addresses issues of increasing societal significance. This program has been modified and will now follow a two-stage application/evaluation process. The first stage involves submission of a 2-page concept paper. Up to fifteen finalists will then be invited to submit a full proposal and agree to a 10-minute presentation/Q&A to discuss their proposed activities. This program is open to all UC faculty. Application budget limit: $25,000. Total Program Budget: $200,000; Up to 8 awards will be made. RFA Released: December 9, 2020.

Associate Vice President for Research, Jennifer Krivickas, will be hosting a webinar to discuss the opportunity, RFA details (e.g., application materials, white paper/concept paper components and review criteria) and answering applicant questions on December 11, 2020 at 12:00 pm (noon). Interested applicants to this program are encouraged, but not required, to attend this webinar. Registration details for this webinar can be found here.

As part of UC’s Research2030 “Invest to Advance” strategic plan, we seek to support and enhance the competitiveness of our research enterprise for major funding opportunities. As a result, the Office of the Vice President for Research is pleased to announce the 2020-2021 RFA for the inaugural Major Proposal Support Program, which will provide internal and external expert support for UC faculty who are targeting major, multi-year, competitive and prestigious funding opportunities.* Awardees will receive up to two waves of pre-submission review and editing of full proposals. Services include project management; expert coaching on program officer outreach and funder expectations; and proposal support in the form of hands-on review and revision services. Research, tenured and tenure-track faculty or Staff (with at least 80% FTE) are eligible to apply. Awardees will be encouraged to begin drafting proposals upon receiving and accepting the award, however, this program is targeting external funding opportunity submission dates that fall within the window of August 15, 2021 through February 1, 2022. The Office of Research intends to re-release this RFA again in the spring to target major funding opportunities in the time period of February 1, 2022 through August 15, 2022, and then repeat this program every 6 months thereafter.

*The Office of Research appreciates the fact that what is considered a ‘major, highly competitive’ opportunity varies from field to field. Our aim is to increase competitiveness of UC faculty for significant external funding across all STEMM and AHSS disciplines.

Total Awardees: Depending on the number and quality of applications received, up to 6 applications will be selected for proposal development support. RFP Released: December 1, 2020.

The Associate Vice President for Research: Strategic Initiatives & Signature Programs hosted a zoom meeting (to discuss the opportunity) and answer applicant questions on December 3, 2020 at 12:00 noon. The recording of this session can be found here.

Following in the Teacher-Scholar model of graduate education, this URC program provides summer stipend support to outstanding graduate students plus funds to support related research costs working in collaboration with a UC faculty member. A total award of up to $7,500 is available to each applicant. Stipend support of up to $6,500 will be provided to the graduate student plus up to $1,000 for research costs payable to the department. Applications will only be accepted through graduate programs. The number of applications submitted through each graduate program is limited, and there is a requirement for a pre-review by the department/college of the applicant. Total Program Budget: $187,500; Up to 25 awards will be made. RFP Released: October 28, 2020.

Expanding upon previous investments in arts, humanities and social sciences (AHSS), the Office of Research seeks to incentivize novel research, exceptional scholarship, and the production of creative and performing art works that address issues of increasing societal significance. This program will follow a one-stage, full proposal/application process. This program is open to UC faculty whose proposed activities fall within the areas of the arts, humanities and social sciences. Application budget limit: $10,000. Total Program Budget: $100,000; Up to 10 awards will be made. RFP Released: October 28, 2020.

Building upon the rich legacy of the URC, UC’s oldest and most prestigious internal funding program, the URC Faculty Scholars Research Awards are meant to recognize promising UC junior faculty who are proposing transformative ideas that will shape our future. This program will follow a two-stage application/evaluation process. The first stage involves submission of a 3-page concept paper. Up to five finalists in each area will then be invited to submit a full proposal and agree to a 10-minute presentation/Q&A to discuss their proposed activities. This program is for tenure-track UC faculty who have not yet been awarded tenure. Awards will be $25,000 in essentially unrestricted funds. Total Program Budget: $200,000; 8 awards will be made. RFP released October 28, 2020

There will be an informational session (via Zoom) about this grant program on November 5, 2020 at 12pm. Please click here to register.