SUBJECT:

Request for Proposals to Establish New Organized Research Units (ORUs): Instructions for the 2015-16 Academic Year

The Office of Research Affairs (ORA) continues to work to provide opportunities to expand all areas of research at UC San Diego, and invites proposals for the establishment of new Organized Research Units (ORUs) from the campus academic community.

Applications should focus on new and innovative multidisciplinary research in need of up to five years of funding prior to launch of large-scale programs and projects. Priority will be given to proposals focusing on campus strategic research areas:
* Understanding and protecting the planet
* Enriching human life and society
* Exploring the basis of human knowledge, learning, and creativity
* Understanding cultures and addressing disparities in society

Only applications that do not fit other one-time opportunities, including the Frontiers of Innovation Center Development program (http://research.ucsd.edu/seedfunds.html), will be considered.

Please submit a letter of intent identifying the research focus of the proposed ORU, along with the key faculty and researcher leadership, by September 30, 2015. A complete proposal will then be due at the Office of Research Affairs on November 1, 2015. At this stage detailed budgets are not requested, but potential funding and space needs should be identified.

ORU proposals submitted in response to this announcement will be subject to the guidelines for General Campus ORUs, which may be found at: http://research.ucsd.edu/orus/

We encourage only cross-divisional, multidisciplinary efforts of national and international caliber. Faculty considering a response to this announcement should review the ORU guidelines at the link above, and are encouraged to contact Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Miroslav Krstic (mkrstic@ucsd.edu), telephone 858-534-5556.

Sandra A. Brown Vice Chancellor for Research Miroslav Krstic Associate Vice Chancellor for Research