Engaging Humanities Grant, 2025–26

The Engaging Humanities Grant supports UC faculty in pursuing thoughtful engagement with diverse publics beyond the academy. California’s communities represent a rich resource for UC faculty interested in pursuing collaborative, public-facing projects that will impact people beyond their campuses. Recognizing that off-campus outreach can produce transformations in knowledge, this grant encourages scholars to develop innovative projects that weave together humanities research and/or pedagogy with community engagement, strengthening ties between UC campuses and California communities through partnerships with community organizations, museums, NGOs, or other public-facing groups. 

All topics relevant to the humanities are welcome, but UCHRI is particularly interested in supporting projects broadly related to its new theme, Entanglement. The initiative offers grant opportunities for University of California researchers interested in following the trail of entanglements great and small in order to better understand both the human condition and our planetary predicament. We invite research that addresses the intertwining of cultural, linguistic, social, political, technological, and environmental factors across time and space as well as the role of art and interpretation in making these connections visible. UCHRI welcomes collaborative projects that explore the entanglement of humanistic thought with disciplines that are methodologically distinct, in the service of building a complex and layered web of research across our campuses.

Applicants are invited to request a seed grant of up to $5,000 for burgeoning projects, or a project grant of up to $20,000 for more developed projects. Applicants to all Engaging Humanities grants must have a letter of support from a community partner. Successful applicants for the $20,000 project grants must secure a match of at least 50% of UCHRI-awarded funds from other funding sources. Seed grants do not require matching funds. UCHRI is particularly interested in proposals that clearly articulate innovative modes of engagement with well-defined publics.

Eligible Applicants: UC Ladder Rank Faculty

Maximum Award: Up to $5,000 for seed grants, and up to $20,000 for project grants. At least 50% of awarded funds for the $20,000 project grants must be matched. Seed grants do NOT require matching funds. Awards will be transferred to your campus, which will be responsible for distributing funds to your community partner in compliance with any applicable campus rules.

Application Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025

Award Announced (Expected): April 2025

Funding Source: UCHRI/UCOP

Final awards for all of our grants are contingent upon available funding. Funding must be spent in accordance with all applicable UC rules and regulations.

Applications must be submitted online via Submittable by 11:59 PM (Pacific time) on the deadline date.

Program Details

Engaging Humanities Grants will produce original scholarship and/or programming that is invested in, inflected by, and interesting to a specific public. Applicants should avoid proposing projects where the primary goal is to simply disseminate their research projects beyond the walls of the academy. Ideally, projects will engage a diverse group of UC humanities faculty and students with individuals or groups outside the academy in both the production and dissemination of research. Although projects might include some panel discussions or lectures, they should not be limited to these traditional academic forms of engagement. 

Seed Grants (up to $5,000)

• Applicants will have already connected with a community organization, and have clearly-articulated plans for small-scale, innovative, experimental partnerships. 

Project Grants (up to $20,000)

• Proposals will describe ongoing collaborations with community partners that have already produced tangible results, and are founded on symbiotic partnerships with outside organizations. Applicants should clarify how this award will advance the project to a new stage, build up a new area of collaboration, or produce a unique outcome.

Application Details

Faculty organizers must be UC ladder rank faculty members and will be responsible for coordinating all aspects of the grant. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact their respective campus representative on the UCHRI Grants Review Committee for guidance in the application process. Prospective faculty organizers must apply online via Submittable.

Required documents include:

• Project Title and Abstract (200 words max)
• Project Description (2,000 words max, see details below)
• Proposed Budget (see details below)
• Memorandum of Agreement or Community Letter from the partner organization
• Curriculum Vitae of the Faculty Organizer(s) (2 pages max)

Interdisciplinary and multi-campus collaborations are strongly encouraged. Though proposed initiatives may involve scholars from a single or multiple UC campuses  (depending on the needs of the project), significant preference will be given to projects that involve at least two UC campuses. Preference is also given to projects that engage with populations not traditionally well represented at the university.

It is strongly recommended that faculty organizers make requests for matching funds BEFORE submitting the application, as it may not be possible for home campuses or granting agencies to appropriate funds if the request comes after the announcement of the UCHRI award. 

Project Description

The project description should be a maximum of 2,000 words and include the following elements:

• Intellectual Agenda, including the relevance and importance of the project for the campus(es), the partner organization, and broader publics. Explain how your project speaks to the Entanglement theme, or addresses issues of urgent contemporary concern. 
• Research Plan, including proposed development timeline, and any relevant milestones. The grant activities must take place between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2026.
• List of Participants, including each participant’s name, brief biography, and relevance/contribution to the collaborative project and its stated objectives. Commitments from non-UC participants should be evident.
• Proposed Objectives, including goals and expected outcomes, and an explanation of how the project will potentially impact various communities and how this impact might be evaluated or measured. 
• Partnership Statement, describing the key features of your intended collaboration with partner organizations and participants, and a description of the target audiences. What are the stakes for the partner organization and their constituencies who might participate in the project? 
• Outreach Strategies for involving broader communities, including an explanation of why the chosen strategy is particularly suited for the target audience.

Proposed Budget

The proposed budget is made up of two elements:

• The Applicant PROPOSED Budget Template
• A Budget Narrative (500 words max) that describes how estimates were determined and lists secured, or potential sources for matching funds.

Proposed budgets may cover travel and lodging expenses for workshop meetings of working group members as well as necessary group and project-related research expenses, including programming and web support. Catered and group meals may not exceed 15% of the total budget. Grant funds do not cover alcoholic beverages. Please note that the majority of the budget should support research and engagement.

Please note that restrictions on UCHRI funding do not allow honoraria to be paid to UC faculty. Compensation should be in the form of a direct contribution to the faculty member’s research fund and is limited to a maximum of $500 for UC-faculty presenters/panelists. Honoraria may be paid to non-UC presenters/panelists and should also be capped at $500.

UCHRI may also consider administrative costs to compensate humanities centers or department staff time (up to 15% of the total requested amount), provided justification is detailed in both the budget template and the budget narrative. Amounts should be determined in advance and in writing with the administrative unit (e.g., the faculty organizer’s department or campus humanities center). Campuses are prohibited from charging indirect costs (such as those required for federal grants) on funding from the Office of the President.

For program related questions, please contact grants@hri.uci.edu. Please include the name of the grant for which you need assistance.

For technical assistance, contact Submittable at support@submittable.com.

UC Underrepresented Scholars Fellowship, 2025-26

The UC Underrepresented Scholars Fellowship Program is an intercampus faculty mentoring program serving the ten campuses of the University of California. Our fellowship program pairs junior and mid-career applicants from the humanities and qualitative social sciences with their desired senior mentors from other UC campuses. The aim is to build spaces of support, to share best practices and challenges, and to respond to unspoken expectations in the academy. In addition to providing mentorship training, the program facilitates monthly one-on-one meetings, provides quarterly professionalization workshops based on the needs and preferences of the group, and brings mentors and mentees from all cohorts together for an annual in-person event. Mentors and mentees each receive $1,500 in research funds as well as travel costs for meetings at UCHRI on the UC Irvine campus. 

Open to all faculty at the University of California, this program aims to enhance campus climate, retention, and faculty success by connecting scholars across the system who are attuned to the needs, interests, and experiences of underrepresented and underserved communities and their contributions to the university. Applicants will be selected based on their ability to demonstrate one or more of the following:

• Navigation of one or more barriers, on behalf of themselves or others, such as being a first-generation college student, growing up in an underserved geographic area or community, and overcoming linguistic, structural, cultural, or ableist challenges  
• Demonstrated research regarding or service in underserved and systems impacted communities

This program is funded by and supports the goals of the Advancing Faculty Diversity

Program run by the Office of the Vice Provost of Academic Personnel and Programs

at UCOP: “Building on organizational change research, [AFD] projects have contributed to the recruitment of diverse scholars, enhanced faculty commitment to diversity and promoted an equitable academic culture for all faculty.”

Eligible Applicants: UC Senate Faculty

Maximum Award: Mentors and mentees will be financially compensated in the form of research funds for their participation in the fellowship program ($1,500 for mentors and mentees). All participants will receive stipends to cover any travel costs associated with in-person gatherings.

Application Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025

Award Announced (Expected): April 2025

Funding Source: UCHRI/UCOP 

Final awards for all of our grants are contingent upon available funding. Funding must be spent in accordance with all applicable UC rules and regulations.

Applications must be submitted online via Submittable by 11:59 PM (Pacific time) on the deadline date.

Program Details

With formative input from participants, this cross-campus mentorship fellowship addresses “invisible” or tacit aspects of faculty life not included in traditional training, which are nonetheless crucial for academic success. Examples of issues to be considered include: self-advocacy in retention and salary renegotiations, merit and promotion files, disproportionate teaching loads, securing funding and time for advancement, sabbatical and leave policies, committee service, applying for funding, preparing tenure files, book manuscript development, engaged scholarship, diversity work, advising graduate students, and extra-institutional interests and commitments. Previous programming also addressed topics like: the implicit curricula investments, literacies of funding, standing and positioning within one’s field, and transitioning into administrative positions.

UCHRI will connect junior/mid-career scholars with senior scholar-mentors from UC campuses other than their own. Drawing upon participants’ own suggestions, as well as UCHRI’s extensive UC-wide networks, mentors will be chosen based on their capacities to contribute experiential knowledge in the following key areas: 1) Professional advancement and tenure, 2) Research and publishing, and 3) Balancing teaching, advising, and service work. Participants will have the opportunity to shape the foci of their meetings to the specific needs of the group.

Over the course of Fall 2025 and throughout Winter and Spring 2026, the fellowship cohort will engage in monthly 1:1 mentor meetings and quarterly cohort webinars in order to discuss the issues most important to them. UCHRI will convene two in-person meetings of the fellowship, potentially connecting current fellows with the previous year’s fellows as well. Quarterly check-ins will help ensure that program insights are recorded in order to establish best practices for future groups. Building upon the first four years, the fifth year of the program will connect a new cohort of scholars with one another, with mentors, and with the previous years’ participants. This program is meant to be expansive and supportive rather than burdensome, and thus does not require participants to produce a publication, public presentation, or any other tangible deliverable. Participants will be asked to respond to surveys administered by UCHRI to help shape future iterations of the fellowship program.

Application Details

• Personal Bio (250 words or less)
• Statement of purpose (1,000 words max)     
  • Describe your position within the academy as you experience it. Please feel free to share any relevant information about your personal background that has had an impact on your experience as a scholar.
  • Explain why you want to be a part of this mentoring program, what specific mentoring needs you have, and what you would contribute to the cohort.
  • What would be the most important 2-3 topics that you’d like the program to explore/address? (The following are suggestions only, please feel free to add your own):         
    • How to advocate for yourself in retention and salary renegotiations
    • Merit and promotion files
    • Disproportionate teaching loads
    • Securing funding and time for advancement
    • Sabbatical and leave policies 
    • Committee service
    • Preparing tenure files
    • Peer review
    • Engaged scholarship
    • Diversity work
    • Teaching
    • Advising graduate students and writing letters of recommendation
  • What questions do you have about the program? 
• Curriculum Vitae
• List of ~2 names of potential faculty mentors on a UC campus other than your own, along with a brief explanation of why you’d like to work with this person.

For program related questions, please contact grants@hri.uci.edu.  Please include the name of the grant for which you need assistance.

For technical assistance, contact Submittable at support@submittable.com.

Multicampus Faculty Working Groups, 2025-26

The Multicampus Faculty Working Group Grant supports UC faculty as they collaborate on innovative agendas in ways that contribute to the advancement of the specific working group topic and the humanities as a whole. Although we will consider all humanistic topics, UCHRI is particularly interested in working groups that approach humanistic problems broadly related to its new theme, Entanglement. The initiative offers grant opportunities for University of California researchers interested in following the trail of entanglements great and small in order to better understand both the human condition and our planetary predicament. We invite research that addresses the intertwining of cultural, linguistic, social, political, technological, and environmental factors across time and space as well as the role of art and interpretation in making these connections visible. 

Potential areas of inquiry include the knotting of different historical periods, styles, scales, and temporalities in works of art; the entangling of the humanities with other disciplines; intricate systemic problems such as climate change, homelessness, and incarceration; intersecting causalities in ethnic, gender, and disability studies; entangled life in global religious and philosophical traditions; and the entanglement of AI with human labor, energy consumption, and racialized capital.For more information, please consult the Entanglement initiative page. 

UCHRI welcomes collaborative projects that explore the entanglement of humanistic thought with disciplines that are methodologically distinct, in the service of building a complex and layered web of research across our campuses. If you wish to apply for a one-time renewal after the conclusion of the initial grant period, you may do so by demonstrating outcomes or concrete progress toward your stated goals. Successful applicants from the 2024-25 academic year are eligible to apply for a renewal in 2025-26 (see details below).

We also encourage you to think about productive ways of engaging graduate students in your project and apply for our Graduate Student Supplement. If you are working on topics related to entanglement, broadly conceived, you may also consider our Entanglement Supplement, which can be used to fund public engagement, community collaboration, pedagogical initiatives, or other similar activities. Eligible applicants may apply for both supplements. 

Eligible Applicants: UC Ladder Rank Faculty

Maximum Award: Up to $15,000 (with a possibility of a one-time renewal)

Application Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025

Award Announced (Expected): April 2025

Funding Source: UCHRI/UCOP

Final awards for all of our grants are contingent upon available funding. Funding must be spent in accordance with all applicable UC rules and regulations.

Applications must be submitted online via Submittable by 11:59 PM (Pacific time) on the deadline date.

Application Details

Faculty organizers must be UC ladder rank faculty members who will be responsible for coordinating all aspects of the working group. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact their respective campus representative on the UCHRI Grants Review Committee for guidance in the application process.

Prospective faculty organizers must apply online via Submittable. Required documents include:

• Project Title and Abstract (200 words max)
• Project Description (2,000 words max, see details below)
• Proposed Budget (500 words max, see details below)
• Curriculum Vitae of the Faculty Organizer(s) (2 pages max)
• Applicants requesting a renewal should submit a narrative progress report on their current 2024-25 UCHRI grant. To receive further instructions with a list of questions we would like you to answer, please contact grants@hri.uci.edu. 

Successful applications should clearly demonstrate how the topic and activities will contribute to research excellence in the humanities and include faculty participants from at least two UC campuses. Preference will be given to projects that engage three or more UC campuses and those that incorporate broader and more diverse publics in the expressive or interpretive work of the humanities. We also encourage interdisciplinary projects that include faculty from social or natural sciences. All project activities must take place between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2026.

Project Description

The project description should be a maximum of 2,000 words and include the following elements:

• Problem Statement, including a description of the topic or issue that the working group seeks to address and its short- and long-term significance to the humanities.
• List of Participants, including each participant’s name, campus, department, brief biography, and relevance/contribution to the collaborative project and its stated objectives.
• Proposed Objectives, broadly defined, which may include scholarly publication, digital tool development/refinement, programmatic initiatives (e.g., curriculum development), or the completion of external grant proposals or applications.

Wherever possible, the project description should also address the way the working group plans to engage multiple campuses, disciplines, and publics in their work. 

Proposed Budget

The proposed budget is made up of two elements:

• The Applicant PROPOSED Budget Template
• A Budget Narrative (500 words max) that explains how estimates were determined

Budgets may cover travel and lodging expenses for workshop meetings of working group members as well as necessary group-related research expenses. Catered and group meals may not exceed 25% of the total budget. Grant funds do not cover alcoholic beverages.

Please note that restrictions on UCHRI funding do not allow honoraria to be paid to UC faculty. Compensation should be in the form of a direct contribution to the faculty member’s research fund and is limited to a maximum of $500 for UC-faculty presenters/panelists. Honoraria may be paid to non-UC presenters/panelists and should also be capped at $500.

UCHRI may also consider administrative costs (up to 15% of the total requested amount), provided justification is detailed in both the budget template and the budget narrative. Amounts should be determined in advance and in writing with the administrative unit (e.g., the faculty organizer’s department or campus humanities center). Campuses are prohibited from charging indirect costs on funding from the Office of the President.

You may also consider applying for the following supplements:

Supplemental $5,000 Graduate Student Funding

Supplemental $5,000 Entanglement Funding

Funds will be transferred directly from UCHRI to the appropriate campus PI administrative unit. 

For program related questions, please contact grants@hri.uci.edu. Please include the name of the grant for which you need assistance.

For technical assistance, please contact Submittable at support@submittable.com.

Supplemental Multicampus Faculty Working Group Graduate Student Funding, 2025-26

The UCHRI Supplemental Multicampus Faculty Working Group Graduate Student Funding provides financial resources to create or augment support of research-driven, graduate student engagement in Multicampus Faculty Working Groups. Prospective PIs as well as successful applicants from last year who are applying for a renewal grant are eligible to apply for supplemental funding for a graduate student stipend that will allow the substantive inclusion of one or two graduate students in the project. Please note that for administrative reasons, the graduate student(s) must be from the PI’s campus. 

Supplemental funding is intended to allow graduate students to participate significantly in large-scale research projects, to receive sustained mentorship from the professors involved in the project and build on their own research, and to help them gain research and project management skills. Full integration means that PIs and project members share the full scope of the project with graduate students, including how it was conceived, what its future will be, and how its budget operates. Graduate students should be both collaborators and mentees and their participation in the project should be carefully considered and diligently managed. 

UCHRI has funded integrated graduate student participation in many research-based projects in the past. Graduate students have helped to set the research agenda, used data from research projects to write scholarly articles, engaged with community members around research issues, and shared pedagogical and methodological resources through studio-built websites and workshops. 

Integrated graduate student collaboration can take many forms, but grantees are especially encouraged to consider:

• Co-authorship of published materials based on the project
• Management or leadership of a smaller subset of the larger project (serving a particular community or dealing with a particular issue)
• Creation and maintenance of a website/blog/podcast or other multi-modal, public-facing tool to bring attention to the project and share methods and findings
• Participation in planning large seminars, workshops, and conferences and moderating or presenting on panels
• Assisting in grant and budget preparation if the participants decide to extend the project and seek additional funding from other sources

Eligible Applicants: UC Ladder Rank Faculty

Maximum Award: Up to $5,000

Application Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025

Award Announced (Expected): April 2025

Funding Source: UCHRI/UCOP

Final awards for all of our grants are contingent upon available funding. Funding must be spent in accordance with all applicable UC rules and regulations.

Applications must be submitted online via Submittable by 11:59 PM (Pacific time) on the deadline date.

Application Details

To be considered for the Graduate Student Supplement, applicants will be asked to add the following materials to their Multicampus Faculty Working Group application:

Supplemental Project Description (Graduate Student Funding) explaining how the graduate student(s) and their own research will augment the ongoing research project (750-1,000 words max, see details below)

Supplemental Budget (Graduate Student Funding, see details below). Please note that for administrative reasons, the graduate student(s) must be from the PI’s campus. 

All project activities must take place between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2026.

Supplemental Project Description (Graduate Student Funding)

The supplemental project description should primarily address the ways in which the graduate student(s) would be integrated into the grant. Graduate student involvement should be substantive and central. While there might be a need for some administrative tasks (organizing materials, helping to set up events, etc.), successful applications will describe not just how graduate student labor is necessary to the project, but also how working on the project will benefit graduate students in terms of research and professionalization. 

Graduate student participation should be evident in the deliverables from the project; graduate students should gain skills and credit for research that is legible to the academic community or the broader public. 

If you have already identified the graduate student(s) who will work on the project, please address their qualifications and how they will contribute to the development of the project. If you have not yet identified potential graduate students, please address how you will secure their involvement (i.e., sending out a call for applications through your department or humanities center listservs). We encourage interested applicants to include as much detail as possible regarding how they will identify interested graduate students.

Supplemental Budget (Graduate Student Funding)

The proposed budget is made up of two elements:

• The Applicant PROPOSED Budget Template
• A Budget Narrative (500 words max) that explains how estimates were determined

Proposed budgets should describe when graduate students will be working on the project, how many hours, and when payments will arrive. No funds may be used to pay graduate tuition or fees, and payments can only be made between quarters or semesters (winter break, spring break, and summer break). Proposed budgets should plan for a pay rate up to Graduate Student Researcher Salary Level 3, as awarded graduate students must be paid in accordance with the approved contract experience salary levels. Please consult with your home department and local Academic Personnel Office for any questions about salary level determinations. Applicants should keep in mind that they are paying graduate students for their research expertise. 

Funds will be transferred directly from UCHRI to the appropriate campus PI administrative unit. The Faculty Administrative PI will be responsible for coordinating and monitoring the progress of graduate student involvement and reporting on the outcomes. 

Campuses are prohibited from charging indirect costs on funding from the Office of the President.

For program related questions, please contact grants@hri.uci.edu. Please include the name of the grant for which you need assistance.

For technical assistance, please contact Submittable at support@submittable.com.

Supplemental Multicampus Faculty Working Group Entanglement Funding, 2025-26

The UCHRI Supplemental Multicampus Faculty Working Group Entanglement Funding grant provides financial resources to broaden and augment the support of Multicampus Faculty Working Groups engaging with the Institute’s new theme, Entanglement. Faculty working on themes outside of the Entanglement initiative are not eligible to apply for this supplement. 

The purpose of the supplement is to encourage non-scholarly outcomes and extend research collaboration beyond the walls of the academy, as well as to promote wider engagement and broaden the impact of the humanities. Prospective PIs who are working on topics related to Entanglements for the 2025-26 funding cycle are eligible to apply for the supplement, which can be used to support public engagement, community collaboration, pedagogical initiatives, or other activities and outcomes outside of traditional scholarly publications.

Some possible outcomes may include creative responses such as exhibitions, interactive websites, and interpretative performances; they may be tied to activism and include documents like policy proposals or records of involvement with union work within the university; they may take the form of pedagogical recommendations and proposals for cross-campus seminars; or they may be linked to the strengthening or development of relationships with community partners. 

Eligible Applicants: UC Ladder Rank Faculty

Maximum Award: Up to $5,000

Application Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025

Award Announced (Expected): April 2025

Funding Source: UCHRI/UCOP

Final awards for all of our grants are contingent upon available funding. Funding must be spent in accordance with all applicable UC rules and regulations.

Applications must be submitted online via Submittable by 11:59 PM (Pacific time) on the deadline date.

Application Details

To be considered for the Entanglement Supplement, applicants will be asked to add the following materials to their Multicampus Faculty Working Group application:

• Supplemental Project Description (Entanglement), explaining how supplemental activities and outcomes will augment the ongoing research project (500 words max, see details below)
• Supplemental Budget (Entanglement, see details below)

All project activities must take place between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2026.

Supplemental Project Description (Entanglement)

The supplemental project description should primarily address the ways in which the supplemental funding will be used to support pedagogical initiatives, public engagement, community collaboration, or other activities and outcomes outside of traditional scholarly publications.

Supplemental Budget (Entanglement)

The proposed budget is made up of two elements:

• The Applicant PROPOSED Budget Template
• A Budget Narrative (500 words max) that explains how estimates were determined

Funds will be transferred directly from UCHRI to the appropriate campus PI administrative unit. Campuses are prohibited from charging indirect costs on funding from the Office of the President.

For program related questions, please contact grants@hri.uci.edu. Please include the name of the grant for which you need assistance.

For technical assistance, please contact Submittable at support@submittable.com.

Multicampus Graduate Student Working Groups, 2025-26

The Multicampus Graduate Student Working Group Grant supports UC PhD students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences as they collaborate on innovative agendas in ways that contribute to the advancement of the specific working group topic and the humanities as a whole. This year, UCHRI is particularly interested in working groups that approach humanistic problems broadly related to its new theme, Entanglement. The initiative offers grant opportunities for University of California researchers interested in following the trail of entanglements great and small in order to better understand both the human condition and our planetary predicament. We invite research that addresses the intertwining of cultural, linguistic, social, political, technological, and environmental factors across time and space as well as the role of art and interpretation in making these connections visible. UCHRI welcomes collaborative projects that explore the entanglement of humanistic thought with disciplines that are methodologically distinct, in the service of building a complex and layered web of research across our campuses.

Eligible Applicants: UC humanities PhD students in good standing, in conjunction with a faculty member who has agreed in advance to serve in the role of Principal Investigator (PI).

Maximum Award: Up to $5,000

Application Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025

Award Announced (Expected): April 2025

Funding Source: UCHRI/UCOP

Final awards for all of our grants are contingent upon available funding. Funding must be spent in accordance with all applicable UC rules and regulations.

Applications must be submitted online via Submittable by 11:59 PM (Pacific time) on the deadline date.

Application Details

Working groups should consist of at least five individuals (primarily UC graduate students, from at least two campuses) who will collaborate over one academic year to address a clearly-defined and timely issue or the early stages of research on an emergent topic in the humanities. Throughout this year, members must engage in regular, ongoing virtual communication and meet in person one to two times. 

Graduate student organizers will be responsible for coordinating all aspects of the working group, including grant reporting, and will work in conjunction with the faculty PI and the appropriate staff member in their department to manage the award. Please note that for administrative purposes, the Faculty PI must be in the same department as the lead graduate student. Faculty PIs are not expected to take an active role in the working group’s research or programming; their sole responsibility is to help facilitate the administration of funding.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact their respective campus representative on the UCHRI Grants Review Committee for guidance in the application process.

Prospective graduate student organizers must apply online via Submittable. Required documents include:

• Project Title and Abstract (200 words max)
• Project Description (2,000 words max, see details below)
• Proposed Budget (see details below)
• Curriculum Vitae of the Graduate Student Organizer(s) (2 pages max)
• Letter of Commitment from the Faculty PI, who will facilitate the administration of funding

Successful applications should clearly demonstrate how the proposed topic and activities will contribute to research excellence in the humanities and include graduate student participants from at least two UC campuses.

Preference will be given to projects that engage three or more UC campuses and those that incorporate broader and more diverse publics in the expressive or interpretive work of the humanities. All project activities must take place between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2026.

Project Description

The project description should be a maximum of 2,000 words and include the following elements:

• Problem Statement, including a description of the topic or issue that the working group seeks to address and its short- and long-term significance to the humanities.
• List of Participants, including each participant’s name, campus, department, brief biography, and relevance/contribution to the collaborative project and its stated objectives.
• Calendar of Proposed Dates and Locations for one or two in-person meetings as well as a schedule for regular virtual meetings and any other group-sponsored events or activities.
• Proposed Objectives, broadly defined, which may include a scholarly publication, a working paper, a well-curated online tool, or programmatic initiatives (e.g., curriculum development).

Wherever possible, the project description should also address the way the working group plans to engage multiple campuses, disciplines, and publics in their work. 

Proposed Budget

The proposed budget is made up of two elements:

• The Applicant PROPOSED Budget Template
• A Budget Narrative (500 words max) that explains how estimates were determined

Proposed budgets should include itemized cost estimates and may cover any necessary group-related research expenses or materials and are primarily intended to offset expenses for working group members to attend in-person working group meetings, such as travel, lodging, meals, and incidental expenses. When preparing budgets, please keep in mind that catered and group meals may not exceed 25% of the total budget. Grant funds do not cover alcoholic beverages.

If you invite guest speakers, please note that restrictions on UCHRI funding do not allow honoraria to be paid to UC faculty. Compensation should be in the form of a direct contribution to the faculty member’s research fund and is limited to a maximum of $500 for UC-faculty presenters/panelists. Honoraria may be paid to non-UC presenters/panelists and should also be capped at $500. Working group members do not receive direct compensation for their participation. Campuses are prohibited from charging indirect costs on funding from the Office of the President.

For program related questions, please contact grants@hri.uci.edu. Please include the name of the grant for which you need assistance.

For technical assistance, please contact Submittable at support@submittable.com.
 

UCHRI Manuscript Workshop and Research Development Program, 2025-26

The UCHRI Manuscript Workshop and Research Development Program supports the publication goals of early- and mid-career faculty members in the humanities and qualitative social sciences while helping them build strong networks of support in their fields and across the University of California. Each participant convenes an online workshop with five experts in their field, including at least three UC faculty, who read and comment on their book manuscript. Based upon successful national models, this workshop provides faculty with quality feedback from experts in the field on a full draft of a pre-promotion book manuscript in preparation for submission to a publisher for a contract or for publication. To accommodate participants’ availability, the workshop can be divided into one or more separate online sessions.

The program also provides quarterly research development sessions and culminates in a writing retreat with a developmental editor. In addition to supporting the publication goals of individual faculty, these workshops build new communities of concern around particular research topics, including areas that may not be fully supported by traditional departmental structures. 

This opportunity is open to all UC faculty at the assistant and associate levels in the humanities and qualitative social sciences. Faculty who have contributed substantively to building a culture of inclusive excellence on their campus, have encountered unexpected obstacles in completing their research, and/or are working in emergent or underserved research areas are especially encouraged to apply. 

This program is funded by and supports the goals of the Advancing Faculty Diversity Program run by the Office of the Vice Provost of Academic Personnel and Programs at the UC Office of the President. 

Eligible Applicants: UC early- and mid-career ladder rank faculty (Assistant and Associate professors) in the humanities or humanistic social sciences who are currently completing their first or second book project

Maximum Award: Up to $2,500. All participants will receive stipends to cover any travel costs associated with in-person gatherings.

Application Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025

Award Announced (Expected): April 2025

Funding Source: UCHRI/UCOP

Final awards for all of our grants are contingent upon available funding. Funding must be spent in accordance with all applicable UC rules and regulations.

Applications must be submitted online via Submittable by 11:59 PM (Pacific time) on the deadline date.

Application Details

Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact their respective campus representative on the UCHRI Grants Review Committee for guidance in the application process.

Applicants must apply online via Submittable. Required documents include:

• Project Title and Manuscript Abstract (200 words max)
• Project Description (2,000 words max, see details below)
• Proposed Budget (see details below)
• One to Two Chapters from the book project (up to 30 pages, double spaced, per chapter) 
• Letter of Support from the applicant’s department or program chair
• Curriculum Vitae (2 pages max)

Successful applications include faculty participants from at least three UC campuses, though greater multi-campus engagement is encouraged.

Project Description

The project description should be a maximum of 2,000 words and include the following elements:

• Project Overview, including a summary of the project, its current stage in the revision process, and why the workshop(s) will be helpful at this particular time.
• Timeline for Publication, including when the draft will be completed, when the workshop(s) will be held, and when the final manuscript will be submitted to a publisher for a contract or publication. The manuscript workshop(s) must take place between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2026.
• List of Proposed Participants, including each participant’s name, campus, department, brief biography, and relevance/contribution to the workshop(s). One or two participants may be from a non-UC campus, and one expert editor may be invited as a discussant.

Proposed Budget

The proposed budget, showing the honorarium or research fund breakdown per participant, should be based on the Applicant PROPOSED Budget Template. 

Please note that restrictions on UCHRI funding do not allow honoraria to be paid to UC faculty. Compensation should be in the form of a direct contribution to the faculty member’s research fund, and is limited to a maximum of $500 for UC-faculty presenters/panelists. Honoraria may be paid to non-UC presenters/panelists, and should also be capped at $500.

Campuses are prohibited from charging indirect costs on funding from the Office of the President.

For program related questions, please contact grants@hri.uci.edu. Please include the name of the grant for which you need assistance.

For technical assistance, please contact Submittable at support@submittable.com.

Faculty Summer Research Funding, 2025

UCHRI is pleased to offer $5,000 summer research awards for UC faculty to conduct research during Summer 2025. Priority will be given to early-career scholars and to projects related to UCHRI’s new theme, Entanglement. Awards should support work on a research project that requires travel, fieldwork, the consultation of archives, and related needs during the Summer 2025 quarter. 

Faculty Summer Research Funding aims to stimulate new research and publication in the humanities by:
 

• providing funding to individuals pursuing innovative research that is of value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both.
• supporting active research projects, but especially early-stage research requiring travel. 

UCHRI will convene selected fellows in Spring 2025 for a virtual research development workshop and will organize an informal online research symposium in which the fellows will share their summer research with one another in Fall 2025. 

Eligible Applicants: UC Ladder Rank Faculty in the Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences

Maximum Award: Faculty will be awarded up to $5,000 for summer research; research funds should be spent by September 30, 2025.

Application Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025

Award Announced (Expected): April 2025

Funding Source: UCHRI/UCOP

Final awards for all of our grants are contingent upon available funding. Funding must be spent in accordance with all applicable UC rules and regulations.

Applications must be submitted online via Submittable by 11:59 PM (Pacific time) on the deadline date.

Application Details

Faculty organizers must be UC ladder rank faculty members.

Prospective faculty organizers must apply online via Submittable. Required documents include:

●   Project Title and Abstract (200 words max)

●   Project Description (1,000 words max, see details below)

●   Proposed Budget (see details below)

●   Curriculum Vitae of the Faculty Organizer(s) (2 pages max)

Project Description

The project description should be a maximum of 1,000 words and include the following:

●   Problem Statement should describe the intellectual project that will be supported by this research award, and the short- and long-term significance of this research to the faculty member’s current project. The narrative should also clearly describe the work plan and projected outcome of the summer’s research.

Proposed Budget

The proposed budget is made up of two elements:

●   The Applicant PROPOSED Budget Template

●   A Budget Narrative (500 words max) that explains how estimates were determined

Proposed budgets (up to $5,000) should provide reasonable cost estimates for such expenses as travel, lodging, and per diem for research trips, reproduction fees, and the purchase of books, limited equipment, and other research materials demonstrably relevant to the project. Hiring a GSR is not an allowable expense on this grant. 

For program related questions, please contact grants@hri.uci.edu. Please include the name of the grant for which you need assistance.

For technical assistance, please contact Submittable at support@submittable.com.

Medicine & Humanities: The Andrew Vincent White and Florence Wales White Graduate Student Scholarship, 2025–26

The Andrew Vincent White and Florence Wales White Scholarship will be awarded to two regularly-enrolled, full-time UC graduate students working in appropriate fields. The award is intended to help students complete the writing of their dissertations by providing a monthly stipend that supports living expenses, research-related costs, and partial school fees, if necessary. Please note that the amount will NOT cover a full year’s worth of fees and tuition.

Eligible Applicants: UC PhD students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences in good standing working on a medicine-focused dissertation project who will have advanced to candidacy by June 30, 2025.

Maximum Award: Up to $27,000

Application Deadline: Friday, February 3, 2025

Award Announced (Expected): April 2025

Funding Source: A.V. White Endowment funds

Final awards for all of our grants are contingent upon available funding. Funding must be spent in accordance with all applicable UC rules and regulations.

Applications must be submitted online via Submittable by 11:59 PM (Pacific time) on the deadline date.

Topic Details

The White Scholarship in Medicine and Humanities is funded by a generous endowment from Andrew Vincent White and Florence Wales White. Each year, UCHRI selects two graduate student fellows in the final stages of writing dissertations broadly focused on medicine and health. Doctoral students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences are eligible to apply. Applicants should have completed at least one chapter of their dissertation at the time of application. Successful applications will address questions that push beyond the now-standard narratives of “humanizing Western medicine.” Reviewers look for projects that approach problems of health, healing, pain, bodies, medicines, afflictions, and treatments in unexpected and creative ways. Priority will be given to applications that approach unique topic areas from interdisciplinary humanities perspectives, and which clearly show the relevance of the research to broader debates within the growing field of medical humanities.

Application Details

Potential applicants must be current, full-time UC humanities/theoretical social science PhD students pursuing medicine-focused dissertations who will have advanced to candidacy by June 30, 2025.

Applicants must apply online via Submittable. Required documents include:

• Curriculum Vitae (2 pages max)
• Project Title and Abstract (200 words max), including a brief statement of your research and its relation to humanities/theoretical social science and medicine.
• Project Description (2,000 words max), which can be a variation of your prospectus, including a description of your research and how it relates to humanities/theoretical social science and medicine as well as how the funding will help advance your field and your own dissertation progress.
• One chapter from the applicant’s dissertation (no longer than 30 pages, double spaced) or the equivalent (e.g., journal article).
• Two Letters of Reference (to be submitted through Submittable no later than February 10, 2025), including one from your dissertation advisor confirming that you will have advanced to candidacy by June 30, 2025.

Students will be based at their home campuses; the scholarship is not a residency at UCHRI. Preference is given to students who are more advanced in their PhD dissertation research and writing. Funds must be expended between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2026.

For program related questions, please contact grants@hri.uci.edu. Please include the name of the grant for which you need assistance.

For technical assistance, please contact Submittable at support@submittable.com.
 

Graduate Student Dissertation Support, 2025-26

The Graduate Student Dissertation Support grant offers funds to support dissertation work for UC PhD candidates in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Support may include travel expenses for dissertation research, supplies such as books or copies directly related to the dissertation topic, and fees for summer institutes likely to advance the dissertation (such as language or theory programs). Funds may not be requested for rent or other regular living expenses. Please note that grant funds may only be used for projects taking place between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2026. Plan your research travel accordingly.

Eligible Applicants: UC humanities and humanistic social science PhD students in good standing who have advanced to candidacy and have completed at least one chapter of their dissertation

Maximum Award: Up to $1,000

Application Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025

Award Announced (Expected): April 2025

Funding Source: UCHRI/UCOP

Final awards for all of our grants are contingent upon available funding. Funding must be spent in accordance with all applicable UC rules and regulations.

Applications must be submitted online via Submittable by 11:59 PM (Pacific time) on the deadline date.

__________________________________________________________________

Application Details

Applicants must be UC humanities and humanistic social science PhD students in good standing who have advanced to candidacy and have completed at least one chapter of their dissertation. Applicants must apply online via Submittable. Required documents include:

• Curriculum Vitae (2 pages max)
• Short Biography (200 words max)
• Project Title and Abstract (200 words max)
• Project Description (2,000 words max) explaining as specifically and concretely as possible how these funds will enable dissertation research and writing, and how and when you plan to use them. The research travel must take place between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2026.

Proposed Budget (see details below)

One Completed Dissertation Chapter

One letter of reference from your dissertation advisor attesting to the value of your research and confirming that you have advanced to candidacy (to be submitted through Submittable no later than February 10, 2025).

Supporting Documents (optional; for example, if funds will be used for a summer institute, the applicant should include the letter of acceptance and documentation of the intended course of study)

Preference will be given to students with a substantial portion of their dissertation already completed.

Proposed Budget

The proposed budget is made up of two elements:

• The Applicant PROPOSED Budget Template
• A Budget Narrative (500 words max) that explains how estimates were determined

Funds are for the direct support of dissertation research and may not be used for student fees and tuition, non-expendable equipment such as computers or video cameras, or conference travel to professional meetings to disseminate research.

For program-related questions, please contact grants@hri.uci.edu. Please include the name of the grant you are applying for in the subject line of your email.

For technical assistance, please contact Submittable at support@submittable.com.