Category: USC

Description: The USC R&D Priorities Award provides seed funding for interdisciplinary collaborative research activities involving groups of faculty from multiple schools who are preparing a proposal for an externally funded grant in areas of R&D priorities outlined by the federal government’s Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Within the topics targeted by the federal government for FY23 funding, eligible topics for this RFP include: Energy Transition (research to develop clean power technologies harnessing clean energy solutions to achieve universal access to energy that is sustainable and affordable) and Blue Technology (research to develop technology that promotes a sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth in areas such as, but not limited to aquaculture, biodiversity, coastal protection, renewable energy output, cultural values, and tourism, while preserving the health of marine and coastal ecosystem). See RFP for more info.

Award: Up to $75,000 for one year

Eligibility: Applicants must be permanent, FT faculty at USC. TT and NTT faculty are eligible; visiting and adjunct faculty are not eligible. Proposals must designate a team that includes on PI and at least one co-PI. At least two separate USC schools must be represented between the primary appointments of the PI and co-PI. Faculty teams should include at least one assistant professor. Applications must identify and plan to apply to a specific externally-funded grant within the areas of research interest outlined above. See RFP for full eligibility requirements.

Deadline: April 4, 2022

Description: Arts in Action provides funding for projects that connect USC faculty and students with LA community partners and use the arts to promote positive social change. Arts in Action builds on and extends USC’s historic commitment to addressing some of society’s most intractable problems. Arts in Action projects incorporate a range of arts-based practices designed to identify and tackle systemic forms of oppression connected to, for example, homelessness, mass incarceration, the COVID-19 pandemic, racism, gender oppression, sustainability and climate justice, educational inequity, xenophobia, and multiple forms of violence and hate. Arts in Action projects are often participant-driven, blurring the lines between “artist” and “audience.” The program prioritizes artwork that grows from a shared process and where the collaborative act of creating the work is core to the project’s impact and value. USC faculty and students working with community partners are invited to submit preliminary proposals for Arts in Action 2023 for projects beginning no earlier than February 1, 2023. These grants will support community-based projects that address social issues, bring people together, facilitate dialogue, and create spaces to imagine and design future change.

Award: Grant amounts range from $3,000 to $28,000.

Eligibility: Eligible disciplines include the visual arts and design, dramatic arts, cinematic and media arts, music, dance, and architecture. Projects involving multiple art forms are welcome and encouraged. Proposals that include at least one faculty member from one of USC’s six arts schools are encouraged and will be prioritized. Teams comprised of faculty/students from multiple USC schools are encouraged. Projects that centrally involve students are strongly encouraged. Project outputs should include at least one free public-sharing event, and projects should include at least one community partnership. Please see RFP for full guidelines.

Deadline: 5 pm, Oct. 3, 2022

Description: The Strategic Directions for Research Award (SDRA) Program supports innovative, interdisciplinary, collaborative research that involves faculty groups from multiple USC schools. The goal of this competitive funding opportunity is to identify areas of USC interdisciplinary strengths that present opportunities for cross-school collaboration and sustainable future external funding. Faculty teams across USC are welcome to apply. Applying teams must show their qualifications, creativity, and ability to make USC a leader in a significant area of study, as well as the sustainability of the proposed research with external funding. 

Award: $150,000-300,000 for one year

Eligibility: Proposing PIs must be full-time tenure-track or non-tenure track faculty. Visiting and adjunct faculty are not eligible to apply. Proposing team must include at least two faculty members who hold primary appointments from two different USC schools and must include at least one assistant professor (tenure-track or non-tenure track). To encourage research sustainability, the teams are expected to provide specific external funding targets for continuing the research beyond the end of the award, including the funder, program name, and application/proposal submission dates. 

Deadline: 5 pm, October 4, 2021