The University of California (UC) Office of the President has announced the 2024-25 Request for Proposals for the UC-HBCU Initiative. This systemwide initiative is designed to assist UC faculty interested in developing and encouraging efforts to achieve a more inclusive educational environment of excellence. The goal of the UC-HBCU Initiative is to increase the number of scholars from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) enrolling in UC academic doctoral programs. UC faculty grants are available to support HBCU students conducting summer research with faculty at UC San Diego. Funds are also available to support departmental efforts that facilitate increased applications from HBCU scholars to UC graduate programs.
Since 2012, UC has hosted 994 HBCU scholars across all ten UC campuses. There are currently 82 PhD students enrolled across ten UC campuses. Forty-three Ph.D. and 18 master’s students have graduated. Of the 43 Ph.D. graduates, seven (16%) have secured tenure track positions in the professoriate; four within California institutions (UC, California State University (CSU) and private), one at an out-of-state public institution, and two at a private HBCU. UC San Diego has three active UC-HBCU grants in Political Science, Computer Science and Engineering, and Chemical and Nano Engineering, and several other successful grants were awarded in the past.
We encourage you to consider submitting a proposal for this important initiative. The Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) welcomes collaborative planning discussions with proposal writers whose plans may involve possible leveraging of the Summer Training Academy for Research Success (STARS) program. A UC HBCU information session will highlight examples of previous successful proposals in the Winter Quarter. Sign up here if you would like to be invited.
Proposals are due Friday, March 17, 2025, at 12 p.m. PDT, and awards will be announced in July 2025. Details of the call for proposals and a helpful PowerPoint tutorial for faculty who may be interested in applying can be found on the UC-HBCU website: http://www.ucop.edu/uc-hbcu-initiative/faculty-grants/index.html.
In addition to the Internship and Pathways grants, small research grants, up to $50,000, are also available for research projects designed to improve the inclusion and experience of UC-HBCU students generally and Black students in particular who are enrolled in UC PhD programs.
The initiative is in direct support of Appointment and Promotion review and appraisal criteria as established in the Academic Personnel Manual: APM 210 - https://ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/apm/apm-210.pdf
If you have further questions, please contact GEPA OAR2 Director Angeline Yang avyang@ucsd.edu.
