Research Enhancement Office

• Nominations Open: April 2025
• Nominations Due: May 14, 2025
• Awardees Announced: June 2025 (estimated)

The purpose of the annual Faculty Research Lectures is to 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.

Previously administered by the Academic Senate, the Faculty Research Lecture is now a program of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities (ORCA).

Two lecturers are named every year to deliver public lectures; one in the Fall and one in the Spring quarter of the succeeding academic year. One lecturer is chosen from the natural sciences or engineering, and the other from the humanities, social disciplines, or the creative arts. For this cycle, awards will be made for the:

• 139th Faculty Research Lecture for Fall 2025
• 140th Faculty Research Lecture for Spring 2026

• Nominees must hold the rank of Full Professor.
• A nomination may be made by any UCLA faculty member, as well as department chairs.
• Self-nominations are not accepted.
• Resubmissions from previous years are encouraged.

Primary consideration is given to:

• Extraordinary achievements in research and/or creative activities.
• Ability to present a lecture of interest to a broad community of scholars and to a general audience. 

A committee will be formed consisting of at least five Academic Senate members from a variety of disciplines across campus. The committee will also include representation from previous Faculty Research Lecturers. After reading all nominations, the committee will convene to discuss the merits of all candidates and select the two awardees for the upcoming academic year.

All nominations are due on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, and must be submitted through the online nomination portal. When considering who to nominate, please keep in mind that this award is one of the highest honors conferred on a faculty member from UCLA and recognizes the recipient's lifetime achievements in research and/or creative activities. The nomination submission requires the following elements:

To be entered in the appropriate fields in the application form in the portal:

• Nominator information, including name, email, school/division, department, and primary appointment title
• Nominee information, including name, email, school/division, department, and primary appointment title
• Award category (e.g., select from natural sciences or engineering and humanities, social disciplines, or the creative arts)
• Examples that help demonstrate the nominee's ability to present information to a broad audience (e.g., links to papers or links to videos of lectures/talks)
• Brief nomination rationale (3-4 sentences)
  • The rationale should describe the nominee's exceptional achievement in research and/or creative activities.
  • This brief statement may be used in announcing the awardees.

To be uploaded in the application form in the portal:

• Nomination Letter: The letter should include the following:
  • The rationale for the nomination, emphasizing the faculty member's accomplishments in research/creative activities.
  • A description of how a lecture by the nominee for a wider audience would promote UCLA's mission of creating and disseminating knowledge.
  • NOTE: This letter is a critical component of the application, as it is the place to make the case for why the nominee should be selected.
• CV and Bibliography: These materials are intended to provide the reviewers with the full scope of the candidate's qualifications and achievements, including education, research achievements, lectures, awards, publications, and other significant contributions.