The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities (ORCA) supports a number of internal funding and award mechanisms, some of which are collaborations with other UCLA units.
For information about funding opportunities from other sources, please visit our page dedicated to finding funding opportunities.
Faculty Research Lectures
Applications due May 23, 2025
The annual Faculty Research Lectures recognize two Academic Senate members with records of exceptional achievement in research and/or creative activities. The lecture format of this honor provides the recipients a platform to share their scholarship broadly with faculty, students, and the UCLA community.
Racial and Social Justice Seed Grants
Application deadline forthcoming.
As part of the Rising to the Challenge initiative, ORCA, in collaboration with, the Institute for American Cultures offers seed grants for research on topics related to racial inequities and social justice.
Latinx Studies Seed Grants
Application deadline forthcoming.
As part of the Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) Initiative, ORCA, in collaboration with the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, offers seed grants to help launch and support research projects related to topics relevant to Latinx populations in the United States.
ORCA Acceleration Grants
Previous deadline: June 20, 2024
Funded by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities (ORCA), this grant program provides 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.
ORCA Acceleration Grants Special Cycle: Wildfire Research Rapid Funding
Previous deadline: February 18, 2025
ORCA is launching a special call through its ORCA Acceleration Grants program to provide flexible, time-sensitive funding for projects specifically focused on wildfires in Los Angeles.
Public Impact Research Awards
Previous deadline: January, 20, 2025
These awards recognize faculty or teams who have made a concerted effort to translate their research or creative activities for public benefit.
The UCLA Chancellor's Arts Initiative
Previous deadline: February 24, 2025
The Chancellor's Arts Initiative supports UCLA faculty’s arts-based research, recognizing and supporting the value of creative activities in the arts for the university, Los Angeles communities, and beyond.
View Archived Opportunities
Previous deadline: March 23, 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.
Previous deadline: March 23, 2022
The purpose of these grants is to catalyze transdisciplinary research and creative activities by supporting early stage projects with the specific goal of facilitating investigators’ chances for attaining extramural funding.
Previous deadline: 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).
Previous deadline: February 15, 2017
The purpose of these grants is to catalyze new lines of research and new interdisciplinary collaborations with the potential for solving important and challenging problems that can have profound benefits for society.
Previous deadline: October 17, 2016
The Sustainable LA Grand Challenge (“SLA”) is pleased to announce our second request for proposals for research grants in furtherance of achieving the goals of 100-percent renewable energy, 100-percent locally sourced water, and enhanced ecosystem health and human health and well-being by 2050 in Los Angeles County as described in detail in the Sustainable LA Five-Year Work Plan (“Work Plan”).
Previous deadline: May 6, 2014
The UCLA Research Initiative for Diversity and Equity (RIDE) seeks to harness the scholarship and creativity of the UCLA community to stimulate research that promotes a diverse, inclusive and equitable campus climate at UCLA.
The mission of the Shared Resources Consortium (SRC) was to distribute funds on a competitive basis to support instrumentation for existing and proposed Shared Resources (SRs) located on the UCLA campus.
