UC recently moved into the Top 50 nationwide in a National Science Foundation ranking of research and development expenditures. Robert Frank, associate vice president for research, emphasized that the grants could support doctoral programs in the humanities, arts and interdisciplinary programs as well as in the hard sciences. Frank also encouraged the development of proposals by junior faculty. It's the quality of the proposal and the area's potential for significant national and international impact that is important.
Individual departments can select up to two proposals for further consideration.
College deans will rank those proposals and submit them to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies. A faculty advisory committee of distinguished UC scholars will review the proposals and provide advice to the vice president for research and the two provosts who will make the final funding decisions. Funding for four to eight proposals is anticipated. The awards represent up to a five-year commitment for support.