Grants and Funding Opportunities

Research, scholarship and creative activities are an integral aspect of California State University, Los Angeles. Campus research enhances one's field of study, educational experience and helps prepare one—whether an educator or student—for the future work environment.

Research Development Faculty Liaisons Services

ORSCA Faculty Liaisons are here to support your research development. The Research Development Faculty Liaisons provide the following services:

  • Connect faculty members with others with similar research interests
  • Support in conceptualizing research ideas
  • Brainstorm ideas to create logic models and conceptual frameworks
  • Assist with identifying grant/ foundation opportunities
  • Investigate the grant opportunity's eligibility and submission requirements
  • Assist with grant development
  • Edit proposals for clarity
  • Secure letters of support Monitor compliance
  • Assist with revision and re-submission 

Internal Campus Funding

Internal funding opportunities, also known as the Research, Scholarship & Creative Activities Awards (RSCA), support faculty and student engagement in research, scholarship and creative activities.

Provost’s SEED Grant Award
Call for Proposals: November 4, 2024
Deadline for Submissions: January 17, 2025
Funding Period: July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026

Seed Grant Award Description: The Seed Grant Award provides funding from the Provost for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities (RSCA). The goal is to provide support for new RSCA projects that will be 
competitive for extramural funding.

Eligibility: All full-time Cal State LA faculty are eligible to apply for a Seed Award. Faculty who will be exercising sabbatical leave during the funding year or who have received SEED funding during the previous year are not eligible for these awards. Part-time faculty and emeritus faculty are not eligible.

Cal State LA faculty members are limited to one submission per call-for-proposals (CFP). Cal State LA faculty who meet the eligibility standards above may propose a collaborative project with other university personnel; however the principal investigator (PI) will receive the funds and the PI will be responsible for the expenditure of the funds for their own use. Faculty who submit a proposal to the Seed Program should also apply for the Grant Writing Faculty Learning Community (FLC), which take place during spring semester. The FLC is an intensive eight-week workshop that assists faculty in taking a proposal in outline format to a finished proposal that adheres to the guidelines of an external funding agency. Faculty can participate in this FLC even if not funded. The PI must have a project outline and must have identified the external agency and program to which they intend to submit their proposal. The FLC is designed to match the proposal content and design to the agency guidelines and review criteria, thus making the proposal highly competitive for funding.

Duration of Awards: Awards funded in fall of AY 2025-26 will have a start date of 1 July 2025 and a close date of 30 June 2026 to produce a full draft of the proposal. The final deliverable deadline is 30 December 2026 with a successful submission confirmed.

Funding: 3 units release time for a targeting a grant with funding $30K or higher with an additional $1K to be paid upon proposal submission.

The Application Process for SEED Award:

Project Description: Please include a description of the proposed project and the methodology involved. It must include project objectives, background, project plan, timelines, and key references. Address the significance of the project, the relevance of your project to your field(s) of study or area(s) of expertise, and how this project will advance your discipline(s) or field(s) of work. Also, include the targeted extramural agencies or source(s) to which you intend to apply. The proposal text should not exceed four double-spaced pages using 12-point font and one-inch margins. An additional one-page budget and budget narrative should accompany the proposal text along with a one-page reference list.

Experience and Qualifications: Please provide a 2-page CV using the required format of your targeted agency and a one-page list of all of your past external proposal submissions that were and were not funded including proposal title, agency, date of submission if applicable. This demonstrates your past effort and motivation for seeking external grant funding.

Submission via InfoReady under “SEED” Application, deadline is Friday, January 17, 2025, 11:59 PM (PDT).

Application Review: The Awards and Leaves Committee will review the applications and make recommendations for funding.

Deliverables: A fully composed proposal that is successfully submitted and accepted by an external agency of the PI's choosing by December 30, 2026. The PI needs to send an email to Jason Shiotsugu ([email protected]) with submission confirmation info.

Other Guidelines:

1. Priority will be given to faculty who have submitted external proposals during the last 3 years without success.

2. If you accept this award, you will no longer be qualified to receive other internal awards from ORSCA during the overlapping award period.

Evaluation Criteria:

1. Overall quality of the project and the proposal. (10 points)

2. Contributions to the faculty member’s field or discipline of study. (10 points)

3. Likelihood for success and completion of the goals of the project. (10 points)

4. Likelihood that the project will contribute to: (10 points)

  • The strategic mission of the University, including its commitment to inclusivity and diversity
  • A sustained program of scholarship or creative activity by the applicant
  • The publication of a book, monograph, or major article(s)
  • Linkages between research, creative and scholarly activity, and student learning outcomes.
  • Following Instructions. (10 points)

5. Priority points (have submitted relevant external proposals in the past) (5 points)

Questions about this program may be directed to ORSCA ([email protected]).

Apply for the SEED Award

Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Awards
2025-2026 Academic Year
Deadline for Submissions: January 17, 2025, 11:59 PDT

(Please note late submissions may be penalized or not considered)

The goal of the Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (RSCA) Awards is to support faculty and student 
engagement in research, scholarship, and creative activities, furthering the mission of the University.

All Unit 3 faculty may compete for funding, including Instructional Faculty, Librarians, Coaches, and Counselors. In 
order to provide support to the largest number of Cal State LA faculty, we are asking individuals to apply for either a Minigrant Award or an Assigned Time Award. Faculty may not apply to both or submit multiple applications for a Minigrant or Assigned Time Award.

Minigrants

These awards (up to $5,000) allow faculty to test promising ideas. Funds may be used for undergraduate and/or 
graduate assistants, clerical assistance, travel and supplies necessary for the activity. Minigrants may not be used for faculty release time from teaching assignments. Minigrants must be expended by the end of the 2025-2026 fiscal year (please ask your Resource Manager for specific date). In addition, a summary report of your funded project must be submitted to the Chancellor's Office and the Office of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities. NOTE: if funded, proposed expenditures must be approved by your Resource Manager.

RSCA Assigned Time Awards

Assigned Time awards provide faculty with one course release (three units) to develop or complete research, scholarship, or creative activities. RSCA Assigned Time awards must be taken during the fall 2025 or spring 2026 term and with approval of your department chair. A summary report must be submitted to the Chancellor's Office and the Office of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities.

Evaluation of Proposals:

Proposals will be reviewed by the Awards and Leaves Committee (a committee of the Academic Senate) based on the criteria outlined below. Upon the Committee’s recommendations, awards will be made by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

RSCA Award Evaluation Criteria:

1. (10 points) Overall quality of the project and proposal.

2. (10 points) Contributions to the faculty member’s field or discipline of study.

3. (5 points) The degree to which the project encourages and supports faculty in disciplines with few outside 
resources to support RSCA activities.

4. (10 points) Likelihood for success and completion of the goals of the project.

5. (10 points) Likelihood that the project will contribute to:

  • the strategic mission of the University, including its commitment to inclusivity and diversity
  • a sustained program of scholarship or creative activity by the applicant
  • the publication of a book, monograph, or major article(s)
  • linkages between research, creative and scholarly activity, and student learning outcomes.

6. (5 points) Following Instructions.

Final Report:

A final report summarizing the outcomes of project must be submitted to the Chancellor's Office and the Office of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities.

Award recipients must expend all funds by the end of the 2025-2026 fiscal year (please check with your fiscal officer/resource manager for the exact date).

Deadline for Online Application Submission:

Friday, January 17, 2025, 11:59 PM (PDT).

Online Submission:

Applications will only be accepted through InfoReady. You will be required to upload an Approval Page, Narrative, Curriculum Vitae (CV), Budget Page (if applying for a Minigrant) and complete online (InfoReady) application by the submission deadline. Please download the provided templates on InfoReady under the program.

Proposal Format:

The Narrative section should address the listed evaluation criteria in the following format:

I. Project Description

If this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded RSCA proposal, please provide justification for continued funding.

II. Project Significance

III. Results: Evaluation, Dissemination

If you received RSCA funding for the 2024 -2025 Academic Year, please provide a brief discussion of your progress in this section.

Proposal Submission Checklist:

The submitted proposal must include all of the following:

1. Approval Page (requires both your Chair's signature and your Dean's signature)

2. Narrative section that is no more than five double-spaced pages in length (including diagrams/figures but excluding references), using at least 12 pt. type font and one-inch margins (top, bottom, and sides).

3. Two-page curriculum vitae, using 12 pt. type font and one-inch Margins

4. Budget Page only if applying for a Minigrant (use the attached form)

5. Complete online (InfoReady) application

APPLY NOW

If you have any questions, please email: [email protected]

 

External Funding Opportunities

External funding opportunities include federal, state, and private foundation support. Cal State LA has numerous resources to help in the search for external opportunities.

 

Pivot

 

 

 

 

 

Pivot combines the most comprehensive, editorially maintained database of funding opportunities worth an estimated $33 billion with our unique database of 3 million pre-populated scholar profiles, drawing from Community of Scholars and Community of Science profiles. Its proprietary algorithm compiles pre-populated researcher profiles unique to your organization (and others) and matches them to current funding opportunities in the expansive COS database. This allows users to search for a funding opportunity and instantly view matching faculty from inside or outside your institution. Conversely, a search for a scholar will link to matching funding opportunities.

 

Grants.gov logo

 

 

Grants.gov contains all discretionary grants offered by the 26 federal grant-making agencies, including Department of Education, NSF, NASA, Department of Defense, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Department of Health and Human Services (including NIH), Department of Homeland Security, and many more.

 


Grants Resource Center

 

GrantSearch is part of the Grants Resource Center. It was developed to make finding federal and private foundation grant information accessible and convenient by allowing the user to search the funding opportunity database using five criteria: academic subject, activity, funding sponsor, deadline month, and text.  This is a subscription database, accessible from campus computers.  If you are off campus, you may obtain the required username and password by logging in here with your NIS account and password.  You may also request this information by email, using your campus email address.


Fulbright Logo

 

 


Fulbright offers U.S. faculty, administrators and professionals grants to lecture or do research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields, or to participate in seminars.

 

National Endowment for the Humanities

 

 

 

 

National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent grant-making agency of the United States government dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.

 


National Endowment for the Arts logo

 

 

 

 

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education.