COR Large Grants Program

Overview

The Committee on Research (COR) is pleased to announce the second offering of the competitive grant program for UCSC faculty that extends the COR Faculty Allowance (CFA) program.  COR “Large Grants” (CLG) can be proposed for any amount up to $12,000, with the number of awards determined by the yearly balance of the CFA.  Awards are intended to support faculty research and scholarly activities, broadly defined.   Budgets might include: summer Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) support; travel (including associated childcare costs); event costs; materials and supplies; participant support; manuscript fees; and other expenses allowed by the CFA.  Faculty summer salary is not an allowed use of these funds, nor are course buyouts.  Awards are made for a period of two years, with funds expected to be available in late June.  No extensions will be granted.

COR anticipates having funds for approximately 30 awards, and expects that awards will be made supporting a broad range of scholarly activities.  Faculty from all campus divisions are eligible and encouraged to apply. You can access the application here ( https://cars.ucsc.edu/cor/page/1/view).

The Large Grants Program in Academic Year 2022/2023 awarded 30 grants across all divisions.  Each academic division received at least four awards, and divisions with large numbers of strong proposals received additional awards.  Proposed projects from last year’s awards include (but were not limited to):

• Films, installations, and exhibitions
• Research support for book projects; travel to visit primary sources
• Equipment and software for human subjects research
• Visits to field sites, resources for data collection
• Support for graduate student researchers and undergraduate research assistants

Awards to faculty from the Division of Physical and Biological Sciences will be partially funded by an endowment named after Earl C. Anthony.

Eligibility

All UCSC tenure-track or tenured Senate faculty, including teaching professors and emeritus faculty, are eligible to apply. 

Adjunct faculty, visiting faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows or scholars, fellowship trainees, and graduate students are not eligible.

Application Requirements

The application will be submitted via a form that collects basic information about the proposal.  A narrative portion will be uploaded by the applicant.

• Form information:
  • Project title
  • Faculty member name and contact information
  • Department and Division of the faculty member
  • Amount requested, up to $12,000
  • Current and Pending (other) funding.  List all funding, but indicate which is relevant to the proposed project.
  • List of other COR awards (excluding the $2,000 CFA) from the previous 3 years
• Narrative description (not to exceed 2 pages)
  • Project Summary
    • Motivation and description of the project. Is this an extension of existing work, or a new area?
    • Timeline for the project
    • Expected outcomes and criteria for success of the project.  
    • Qualifications of the faculty or team that will contribute to the success of the project
  • Budget Justification
    • Description of costs
    • Role of CLG funds.  Will the project only rely on CLG funds, or are CLG funds being used in conjunction with other support? 

Review Criteria

Applications will be evaluated based on:

• Clarity and accessibility of the proposal to reviewers, who are of varying intellectual backgrounds
• Strength, creativity, and/or novelty of the proposal
• Impact of the award on the success of the project
• The compatibility of the timeline of the proposed work with the two-year award

Junior (un-tenured) faculty are particularly encouraged to apply.