Internal funding and award opportunities (those managed by UCLA or other UC campuses) are one resource for the campus community to support and recognize engagement in research and creative activities.
Internal Funding & Award Mechanisms Managed By ORCA
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities (ORCA) supports a number of internal funding and award mechanisms (click title for full information):
Faculty Research Lecture (Nominations Due: July 21, 2023 July 28, 2023)
The annual Faculty Research Lectures recognize two Academic Senate members with records of exceptional achievement in research and/or creative activities. Nominated and selected by peers, the distinguished recipients of this award are exemplary of UCLA’s commitment to research excellence. The lecture format of this honor provides the recipients a platform to share their scholarship broadly with faculty, students, and the UCLA community and is a recognition of the importance of the wide dissemination of knowledge generated by UCLA faculty.
DataX Collaborathon - Working Group Microgrants (Proposals Due: March 20, 2023 April 5, 2023)
The Working Group Microgrants are the initial phase of funding for the DataX Collaborathon, a $1 million commitment from ORCA designed to catalyze long-term interdisciplinary research collaborations centered around broad themes in data, data justice, and data science. This funding mechanism is aimed at incentivizing new, interdisciplinary collaborations through researcher-initiated working groups. The small award provides resources for the researchers to launch interdisciplinary discussions that foster collaboration.
Latinx Studies Seed Grants (LSS) (Proposals Due: March 27, 2023)
As part of the HSI Infrastructure Initiative, the Chicano Studies Research Center in collaboration with the Office of Research and Creative Activities (ORCA) will administer $250,000 in seed funding (up to $30,000 per award) designed to help launch and support research projects on and/or involving Latinx populations in the United States. Successful LSS projects are expected to advance the goals of the HSI Initiative by enhancing UCLA’s commitment to supporting scholarship with implications for diverse Latinx communities.
Racial and Social Justice Seed Grants (RSJ) (Proposals Due: March 27, 2023)
As part of the Rising to the Challenge initiative, the Institute for American Cultures in collaboration with the Office for Research and Creative Activities (ORCA) will administer $250,000 in seed research grants (up to $30,000 per award) on racial inequities and racial justice. The grants are designed to help launch and support research projects demonstrably centered on exploring the sources and consequences of racial inequities and social justice.
ORCA Acceleration Grants (OAG) (Proposals Due: March 27, 2023)
The ORCA Acceleration Grants are seed funding intended to support research and creative activities that expand our knowledge in meaningful ways and drive positive change in society through clear public impact. For the purpose of these grants, the term “impact” is defined broadly to include any research and/or creative activities positioned to have a demonstrable effect and/or influence on the betterment of society.
The UCLA Chancellor's Arts Initiative (Proposals Due: December 5, 2022 Deadline extended to January 9, 2023)
The Arts Initiative was established in 2006 as an annual program designed to foster the advancement of the arts and arts-related scholarship at UCLA. To date, more than one hundred projects across the arts and humanities have been supported by Arts Initiative funding. The purpose of Arts Initiative funding is to support UCLA faculty’s arts-based research, recognizing and supporting the value of creative activities in the arts, both for the university and for communities beyond academia.
Public Impact Research Awards (Nominations Due: December 14, 2022 Deadline extended to February 27, 2023)
To recognize faculty or teams whose research or creative activities have had a significant scientific, social, cultural, political, or other form of public benefit (locally, nationally, or globally). Multiple awards from across the campus will be made in the amount of $15,000 each.
Opportunities from Previous Cycles:
Collaborative Research Mobility Awards between UCLA and the University of British Columbia (Proposals Due: February 3, 2020)
Funding up to $15k is available to establish or enrich interdisciplinary research collaborations between faculty at UCLA and University of British Columbia (UBC). The purpose of the awards is to foster deeper linkages between the two universities through collaborative workshops, trainings, and short-term visits, aimed at developing grant proposals for joint project funding and/or joint research outputs.
Transdisciplinary Research Acceleration Grants (Proposals Due: March 23, 2022)
Seed funding is available to catalyze transdisciplinary research and creative activities by supporting early stage projects (up to $30,000 per award) with the specific goal of facilitating investigators’ chances for attaining extramural funding. Proposals must represent a research collaboration from at least two distinctly different disciplines, with preference given to projects led by a “north campus” PI and/or projects that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion within the research enterprise.
View Archived Internal Funding Mechanisms
Internal Funding Database
The Research Enhancement Office (REO) maintains a collection of funding opportunities managed by UCLA and other UC campuses that are open to members of the UCLA campus community. If you notice that we are missing an internal funding opportunity, please let us know by filling out this form.
