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Public Impact Research Awards

 

 

 

 

UPDATE: The deadline for the Public Impact Research Awards has been extended to February 27, 2023.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

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Important Dates

  • Nominations Open: October 2022
  • Nominations Due: December 14, 2022  February 27, 2023
  • Announcement of Awards: Winter/Spring Quarter 2023

Sponsors

  • Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities
  • Centennial Celebration

Purpose of the Award

In honor of UCLA’s Centennial Celebration, 2019-2020, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities established a new award to recognize faculty whose research or other creative work has had a significant beneficial public impact, where such benefit has been achieved in part through the efforts of those same faculty to bring their research or creative activity into the public arena. For this purpose, the term “public impact” is defined broadly to include scientific, social, cultural, artistic, political and other forms of public benefit that may be local, national or global.

Five awards were made for the inaugural cycle of the Public Impact Research Awards.

The rationale for establishing theses awards is twofold:

  • These awards are intended to demonstrate that the university recognizes and values the extra effort required to translate or transfer specific research findings into public benefit.
  • The awards provide a platform for UCLA to highlight and publicize the ways in which our local, state, national, and global communities are benefitting from UCLA research and creative activities. This goal is consistent with UCLA’s mission statement which is the “creation, dissemination, preservation and application of knowledge for the betterment of our global society.”

Award Details

Four awards annually in the amount of $15,000 each. The awards will reflect the importance of public impact research across all disciplines. At least one award will be made to recipients from North campus and one award made to recipients from South Campus.

Review Criteria

Review of the nominations will primarily be focused on the following criteria:

 

Public Impact

The nominee has undertaken a concerted effort to bring their research/creative activities into the public arena. These endeavors are characterized by a deliberate effort to translate or transfer their research/creative activities for the benefit of the broader public. “Public impact” is defined broadly to include scientific, social, cultural, artistic, political, and other forms of public benefit that may be local, national, or global in scale.

 

Evidence of Public Impact

The nomination materials (including the letter(s) from community beneficiaries of the work) demonstrate that the nominee’s research/creative activities have had a clear and sustained public impact.

 

Extent of Public Impact

Taking into account the area of the nominee’s research/creative activity, they have exceeded expectations for the typical public impact in their field and have striven to push the boundaries of how their work may benefit the public. The scale and scope of their public impact is exceptional in the context of any challenges and difficulties they have encountered. For individual nominations, the extent of the public impact is exceptional for the nominee’s career stage. For teams or centers, the extent of the public impact is exceptional for the length of time the collaboration or center has existed.

 

Sustained Commitment to Public Impact

The nominee has demonstrated a continuing commitment across a significant period of time to ensuring that their research/creative activities are of benefit to the wider public. Public impact has been a central component in the conception of their research/creative activities. 

 

Alignment with Program Goal

These awards are intended to provide a platform for UCLA to highlight and publicize ways in which our local, state, national, and/or global communities are benefitting from UCLA research. Recognition of the nominee’s work would align with this program’s goal by underscoring how the nominee is promoting UCLA’s mission of the “creation, dissemination, preservation and application of knowledge for the betterment of our global society.”

Eligibility

Nominations may be made for an individual or a team (e.g. project team, center, institute, etc.). 

  • For individual nominations, members of the Academic Senate of any rank are eligible. (See Academic Senate membership: UC Regents Standing Order 105.1.)
  • For team nominations, at least one of the project leaders must be a member of the UCLA Academic Senate of any rank. (See Academic Senate membership: UC Regents Standing Order 105.1.). There are no eligibility constraints for other team members. 

A nomination may be made by any member of the UCLA campus community.

Self nominations are not permitted.

Past recipients of the Public Impact Research Award are not eligible for re-nomination. However, an individual past recipient may be part of a nominated team that is being nominated for distinctly different work.

Starting with the current cycle, nominations will be valid for two award cycles (i.e. the current cycle plus one additional cycle). Nominators will have the opportunity to update nomination packages for the second nomination cycle.

Submission Instructions

If you would like to submit a nomination for this program, please be prepared to submit the materials outline below at the application portal by February 27, 2023 (at 11:59pm).

To be entered into the appropriate fields of the nomination form:

  • Nominator Information
    • Including name, email, affiliation, title
    • NOTE: Per our system constraints, the nominator is labeled as the “Applicant” and the nominator’s information should be entered in the “Applicant” sections. 
  • Nominee Information
    • Select Nomination Type:
      • Individual Nomination 
      • Team Nomination 
    • Proposal Title - For this field, either the name of the individual nominee or the name of the group should be entered as it would appear in an award citation
    • For Individual Nominations
      • Basic nominee information (name, affiliation, title, email)
    • For Team Nominations
      • Team title
      • Up to five project leaders (name, affiliation, title, email)
  • Nomination Rationale (200-word maximum): This text should succinctly state the reason for the nomination, including the significant beneficial public impact of the nominee’s work, as well as how the nominee has endeavored to bring that impact into the public sphere.

To be uploaded in the nomination form:

  • Letter of nomination from the nominator (no more than 2 pages). This letter should describe how the nominee/team’s research or creative activities translated into public benefit and the nominee/team’s contribution to that translation.
  • Personal statement of the nominee/project leader(s) (no more than 1 page)
    • For team nominations, a joint statement from the project leaders may be uploaded.
  • Support letter(s) from a member of the public/community who benefited from the nominee/team’s contribution or can speak with personal knowledge of the community benefit.
  • CV(s) of the nominee or project leader(s) (for team nominations)
  • Optional: Additional materials for the review committee to consider such as news articles and other publications in external lay media regarding the research/creative activity. For digital media, a page with links to the items can be included.

QUESTIONS?

For questions regarding the program, please contact orcafunding@conet.ucla.edu.

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