Funding
USC offers faculty, postdocs, and research administrators a wide range of internal and external funding sources across the university for research and other scholarly projects. Please see the list below. For COVID-19-specific funding, please visit the COVID-19 Research Continuity section of our website.
For funding programs or limited submissions managed by OORI, please visit Research Initiatives and Infrastructure (RII).
Using your USC email you can also subscribe to Grant Forward, a search engine dedicated to helping institutions and individuals find grant opportunities. In addition, Philanthropy News Digest publishes RFPs and notices of awards as a free service for U.S.-based nonprofit and grantmaking organizations.
Internal Funding Opportunities
To add or update a funding opportunity below, please fill out our Funding Opportunities Form.
Note: The table below is provided for your convenience as a resource in your search for internal funding and may contain outdated information. It is your responsibility to confirm the award deadline and other details by following the links to the RFP.
| Deadline | Title | Category | Sponsored By | Amount | Date Posted | Focus Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rolling | USC Marshall Venture Fund - The The Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies fund’s mission is to bridge the funding gap for early-stage and amplify the impact for later-stage USC-related companies; train students to evaluate, make, and manage venture investments; and engage alumni, advisors, experts, and other stakeholders in helping build the entrepreneurial ecosystem at USC and in Southern California. | Internal Funding | Marshall School of Business | $50,000 | 2022/01/01 | |
| Rolling | Supplemental Faculty Support - Funds are available to provide supplemental research grants for tenured, tenure-track, and full-time research faculty and lecturers in WiSE-eligible departments. | Internal Funding | Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) | Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) | 2022/01/01 | Medicine and Health, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences |
| Rolling | Faculty Bridge Funding - The primary responsibility for bridge funding rests with the deans. However, from time to time external funding situations become particularly difficult, causing interruption in funding. In these cases the WiSE program may be able to help by providing additional funds. | Internal Funding | Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) | See solicitation for details | 2021/05/19 | |
| 2025/10/16 | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Mentorship Award - Intends to enhance USC's researcher pool and the quality of research being conducted by preparing highly qualified researchers to apply to the HHMI Investigator Program. | Internal Funding | Office of Research & Innovation (OORI) | See solicitation for details | 2024/01/01 | Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences |
| 2025/10/09 | Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Research Program - Given that the implications of this quickly advancing technology across all industries, disciplines, and fields is substantial, USC aims to provide funding for critical and timely cutting-edge research on GenAI. | Internal Funding | Office of Research & Innovation (OORI) | See solicitation for details | 2024/01/01 | Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences |
| 2025/10/02 | Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Award - Establish and bolster USC’s ongoing technology transfer and commercialization efforts. This will be accomplished by supporting faculty partnered with a small business to plan and prepare for submitting a competitive SBIR/STTR application to a federal funding agency. | Internal Funding | Office of Research & Innovation (OORI) | See solicitation for details | 2024/01/01 | Arts and Humanities, Communication and Information Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health, Physical Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability |
| 2025/09/25 | Associates Award for Creativity in Research and Scholarship - Call for nominations for one fo the highest honors the university can bestow on its members for their distinguished achievements. | Internal Funding | Office of Research & Innovation (OORI) | See solicitation for details | 2024/01/01 | Arts and Humanities, Communication and Information Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health, Physical Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability |
| 2025/09/23 | Humanities & Humanistic Social Sciences Program - Aims to promote creativity and excellence by supporting humanities and humanistic social science faculty in their individual and collective scholarly work. | Internal Funding | Office of Research & Innovation (OORI) | See solicitation for details | 2024/01/01 | Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 2025/05/12 | American Cancer Society (ACS) Institutional Research Grant (IRG) Pilot Project Funding - This program provides seed funding to support promising cancer research projects led by USC junior faculty. | Internal Funding | USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center | $40,000 | 2025/01/27 | Medicine and Health |
| 2025/03/25 | Student Empowerment Award - Supports USC undergraduate or graduate students and their faculty mentors to pursue groundbreaking use-inspired research and early-stage entrepreneurship that translates student intellectual property for social and economic good. | Internal Funding | Office of Research & Innovation (OORI) | See solicitation for details | 2024/01/31 | Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Arts and Humanities |
| 2025/03/18 | Instrumentation Award - To establish and bolster the University of Southern California’s research infrastructure by supporting the purchase of shared instrumentation and further preparing faculty to submit large-scale instrumentation grants to external sponsors. | Internal Funding | Office of Research & Innovation (OORI) | See solicitation for details | 2024/01/01 | Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences |
| 2025/03/04 | President’s Sustainability Initiative Award - Integrating sustainability as a core value in USC’s strategic planning is a critically important institutional commitment. In addition to implementing impactful sustainability initiatives across USC’s campuses, great opportunities exist to expand and enhance USC’s research strengths and capabilities in sustainability. | Internal Funding | Office of Research & Innovation (OORI) | See solicitation for details | 2024/01/01 | Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Arts and Humanities |
| 2025/02/18 | Institutional Training Planning Award - Assist in developing and enhancing USC’s institutional research infrastructure by preparing faculty to submit competitive institutional training applications to federal agencies like the NIH and the NSF. | Internal Funding | Office of Research & Innovation (OORI) | See solicitation for details | 2024/01/01 | Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences |
| 2025/02/14 | Seed Grant Opportunities - The Southern California Healthcare Delivery Science (HDS) Center and Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LAC DHS) are interested in supporting the design, implementation, and evaluation of innovations in care delivery at LAC DHS. Innovations typically take the form of system-wide changes to workflows and new standards of patient care and should be feasible and sustainable. | Internal Funding | The Southern California Healthcare Delivery Science (HDS) Center and Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LAC DHS) | $30,000 | 2025/01/28 | To improve access, quality, efficiency, patient-centeredness, and equity in care delivery |
| 2025/02/05 | Collaborative Research Planning Award - USC is committed to enhancing and expanding its current institutional infrastructure through increased support of faculty teams interested in pursuing funding from federal agencies and other external sponsors. | Internal Funding | Office of Research & Innovation (OORI) | See solicitation for details | 2024/01/01 | Arts and Humanities, Communication and Information Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health, Physical Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability |
| 2025/01/29 | Ming Hsieh Institute Research Award - Support integrated interdisciplinary translational research that speeds discovery and creates pathways to rapidly improve the lives of cancer patients. | Internal Funding | Office of Research & Innovation (OORI) | See solicitation for details | 2024/01/01 | Sustainability, Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences |
| 2025/01/15 | Zumberge Preliminary Studies Research Award - USC is committed to enhancing and expanding its support of faculty research activities by stimulating the pursuit of funding from federal agencies and other external sponsors. | Internal Funding | Office of Research & Innovation (OORI) | See solicitation for details | 2024/01/01 | Arts and Humanities, Communication and Information Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health, Physical Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability |
| 2024/01/10 | Children’s Environmental Health Research Translation Pilot Projects Program - The Southern California Children's Environmental Health Research Translation Center is pleased to announce its request for applications for 1-year pilot projects intended to promote children's environmental health research translation. The theme of the Center is Urbanism, Air Pollution, Children's Health, and Environmental Justice. | Internal Funding | Southern California Center for Children's Environmental Health Research Translation (USC-CEHRT) | $15,000 | 2023/11/21 | Arts and Humanities, Communication and Information Sciences, Social and Behavorial Sciences, Medicine and Health, Sustainability, Life Sciences |
| 2024/01/05 | Team Building Voucher - Supports team building activities from small research teams. This mechanism is intended to provide rapid funding for activities that promote the SC CTSI goal of assembling new multidisciplinary or transdisciplinary teams focused on clinical and community research, particularly those that are grounded in the science of team science principles. | Internal Funding | Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI) | $10,000 | 2023/09/05 | Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 2023/12/31 | CHLA Core Pilot Program - At CHLA, the Core Pilot Program exists to supply funding support for investigators to acquire preliminary data to provide a competitive edge for securing extramural grant funding. This program is one of a number of institutional investments to grow the research portfolio of the CHLA research enterprise. | Internal Funding | Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) | See solicitation for details | 2021/03/24 | Medicine and Health |
| 2023/09/22 | Multidisciplinary Pilot Grant Program - These awards are intended to support newly formed, multidisciplinary teams conducting a new endeavor that is beyond the scope of one principal investigator or laboratory. | Internal Funding | Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI) | $125,000 | 2023/09/21 | Communication and Information Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 2023/09/22 | Standard Pilot Program - These awards will broadly support the development of new Clinical and Community-based research projects in either/both of two areas: (a) collection of initial data in the areas of clinical, community or health systems research to support extramural grant applications and/or (b) development and testing of new approaches and/or tools to increase the speed, efficiency, safety and/or quality of clinical, community, health outcomes and/or implementation research. | Internal Funding | Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI) | $50,000 | 2023/09/21 | Communication and Information Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 2023/09/12 | Environmental Health Disparities Research Pilot Projects Program - The NIH-funded Maternal And Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors Center of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research (MADRES) is pleased to announce the third year of its Pilot Projects Program, supporting one-year research projects that aim to address scientific gaps in our understanding of the unequal burden of adverse environmental health impacts in susceptible communities. | Internal Funding | MADRES Center for Environmental Health Disparities | $50,000 | 2023/07/27 | Medicine and Health |
| 2023/08/31 | Mentored Career Development in Clinical and Translational Science Program - For Post-Doctoral Training ONLY. This award is a three-year program created to support research career development for health professionals or individuals with research doctoral degrees who wish to pursue formal training and a career in clinical and translational research. | Internal Funding | Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI) | See solicitation for details | 2023/07/23 | Medicine and Health |
| 2023/05/22 | HDS Center Seed Grant - The Southern California Healthcare Delivery Science Center (SC HDS Center) and Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LAC DHS) are interested in supporting the design, implementation and evaluation of innovations in care delivery at LAC DHS. | Internal Funding | Southern California Healthcare Delivery Science (HDS) Center | $30,000 | 2023/03/24 | Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability |
| 2023/05/01 | Catalyzing Pediatric Innovation Grant - CHLA and USC's pediatric medical device competition to assist the development of medical device projects for children. | Internal Funding | West Coast Consortium for Technology & Innovation in Pediatrics (CTIP) | $50,000 | 2023/03/23 | Medicine and Health |
| 2023/04/03 | Translational Research on Environmental Health - USC Center for Translational Research on Environmental Health (USC R-TEN) and Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center (SCEHSC) are pleased to announce the 2023 Translational Research Funding Opportunity, supporting one-year research projects incorporating translational research on environment. | Internal Funding | Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center (SCEHSC) | $90,000 | 2023/03/06 | Medicine and Health |
| 2023/04/02 | Beth and Arthur Lev Student Research Fellowship provides support for students of all disciplines doing research focused on the testimonies of the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive and/or other related USC resources and collections during the summer. | Internal Funding | Center for Advanced Genocide Research (CAGR) | $3,000 | 2023/02/07 | Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 2023/03/31 | Alzheimer’s Trial Recruitment Innovation Lab Fellowship Program - This two-year program is designed to train and develop the next generation of researchers interested in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias clinical trials through a multidisciplinary, active and team-based learning approach. Review of applications will begin in March 2023 and continue on a rolling basis until a fellow is selected. | Internal Funding | USC Schaeffer Center | See solicitation for details | 2023/02/21 | Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 2023/03/17 | 2023 Clinical Trial Recruitment Lab - Call for projects to pilot ideas that increase access to and reduce inequalities in Alzheimer’s clinical trials. | Internal Funding | USC Schaeffer Center | $250,000 | 2023/02/07 | Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 2023/03/01 | USC Sea Grant Biennial Request for Research Proposals: 2024-2026 - The University of Southern California Sea Grant Program (USCSG) is soliciting preliminary proposals (funding up to 6 projects worth $1.2 million from NOAA) for research projects of one or two years’ duration beginning February 1, 2024; projects should focus on topics pertaining to the "Urban Ocean," USC Sea Grant's primary focus. | Internal Funding | USC Sea Grant | $1,200,000 | 2023/02/10 | Communication and Information Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Physical Sciences, Sustainability |
| 2023/02/10 | Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences Grant Writing Mentorship - The ASHSS grant writing mentorship program promotes and encourages a culture of grant writing among the faculty in the arts, humanities, and humanistic social sciences. | Internal Funding | Provost | $2,500 | 2022/12/01 | Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 2023/01/31 | Early Modern Studies Institute Faculty and Ph.D. Fellowship - The Institute will offer up to two one-semester fellowships for USC faculty whose work relates to the period from c. 1450 to c. 1850. | Internal Funding | Early Modern Studies Institute (EMSI) | See solicitation for details | 2021/12/01 | Arts and Humanities |
| 2023/01/30 | Major Support for Current Faculty - This competitive program offers awards of up to $25,000 and is aimed at offsetting subtle biases, barriers, and career interruptions that have been shown to hinder the advancement of women faculty in science and engineering at research universities. | Internal Funding | Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) | $25,000 | 2021/05/19 | |
| 2023/01/06 | Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences Research and Creative Grants - ASHSS research and creative project grants program promotes the development of innovative and influential scholarly and creative output in the arts, humanities, and humanistic social sciences. | Internal Funding | Provost | $25,000 | 2021/10/01 | Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 2022/11/18 | Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences Sabbatical - The ASHSS early sabbatical program supports our most productive faculty at critical moments during the research or creative process so that they are enabled to produce high-caliber work sooner. | Internal Funding | Provost | See solicitation for details | 2021/10/01 | Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 2022/10/12 | Environmental Health Pilot Projects Program - The Center funds approximately four pilot projects each year. Awards of approximately $20,000 are available to support junior faculty with an existing research interest in the Center’s theme; junior faculty with an interest in basic or translational research; or for investigators interested in transitioning to alcohol or cirrhosis research. | Internal Funding | Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center (SCEHSC) | $50,000 | 2023/11/21 | Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavorial Sciences, Medicine and Health, Sustainability, Life Sciences |
| 2022/10/08 | Arts in Action - The Provost’s Arts and Humanities Initiative invites USC faculty and students working with community partners to submit community-based projects that address social issues, bring people together, facilitate dialogue, and create spaces to imagine and design future change. | Internal Funding | Provost | See solicitation for details | 2021/08/01 | Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 2022/09/30 | Visions and Voices - The Provost’s Arts and Humanities Initiative invites USC faculty to submit proposals on an annual basis to conceive and organize events that will be presented as part of Visions and Voices’ exciting and diverse programming season. | Internal Funding | Provost | See solicitation for details | 2021/08/01 | Arts and Humanities |
| 2022/08/30 | Peter G. Peterson Foundation Pandemic Response Policy Research Fund - Supporting research that advances our understanding of the short and long-run impact of public policies implemented in response to the pandemic. | Internal Funding | Schaeffer Center | $150,000 | 2022/05/11 | Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Sustainability |
| 2022/07/21 | Marine Debris Challenge Competition - This USC Sea Grant funding opportunity via National Sea Grant Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act addresses the prevention and/or removal of marine debris, supporting original, innovative, and transformational marine debris prevention and removal research that pushes the boundaries of existing technologies and approaches, changes the current landscape of marine debris mitigation, and ties that research to tangible outputs. | Internal Funding | USC Sea Grant | $3,000,000 | 2022/06/28 | Engineering and Technology, Sustainability, Physical Sciences |
| 2022/06/01 | Translating Coastal Research into Application - On behalf of USCRP, it is anticipated that approximately $4,000,000 will be available to integrate research, its application, and community engagement in thematic areas of long-term coastal evolution, extreme storms, and human and ecosystem health. | Internal Funding | USC Sea Grant | $500,000 | 2022/05/24 | Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences |
| 2022/06/01 | ATRI Epstein Family Foundation Alzheimer's Research Collaboration - Supporting innovative research including basic science, clinical, and/or nontraditional approaches for promising projects that will help catalyze advances in pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions in individuals with AD across the spectrum from pre-symptomatic to more severe stages of disease. | Internal Funding | Alzheimer's Research Therapeutic Institute (ATRI) | See solicitation for details | 2022/04/01 | Medicine and Health |
| 2022/04/29 | USC Lusk Center for Real Estate Research Applications - The USC Lusk Center for Real Estate is pleased to announce the availability of research awards to become available in July 2021. The stipends are to facilitate high-quality research that will eventually get published in the leading scientific journals. The broad topics should be related to real estate and urban issues. | Internal Funding | Lusk Center for Real Estate | $20,000 | 2022/03/25 | Engineering and Technology, Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability |
| 2022/04/29 | USC Marshall / Greif Incubator - The Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies takes founders from feasibility and development work, on to customers, a tested business model, getting distribution, building a team, bootstrapping and investment preparation. They also provide access to other supporting resources, such as legal and financial assistance. | Internal Funding | Marshall School of Business | See solicitation for details | 2022/03/25 | Engineering and Technology, Medicine and Health, Sustainability |
| 2022/04/18 | Pilot Funding: Establishing New Collaborative Research Teams - Support junior investigators launching a research program in obesity and/or diabetes; established investigators who are moving into diabetes and/or obesity research; new collaborative research teams in diabetes and obesity related research. | Internal Funding | Diabetes & Obesity Research Institute (DORI) | $50,000 | 2022/03/04 | Medicine and Health |
| 2022/03/31 | Faculty Innovation Award - Provide funding for established or new, high-potential faculty research aligned with the institute’s three new interdisciplinary Research Centers: Earth & Environmental Systems; Applied Environmental Solutions; Social Transformation. | Internal Funding | Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies (WIES) | $50,000 | 2022/03/07 | Sustainability, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 2022/03/27 | Fellowships In Genocide Studies - CAGR invites proposals for its three research fellowships for advanced-standing PhD candidates from any discipline for dissertation research focused on testimony from the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive and other USC resources. | Internal Funding | Center for Advanced Genocide Research (CAGR) | $4,000 | 2022/03/03 | Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| 2022/03/01 | Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center - Research program is organized around four themes: technology for improved mobility, improving mobility for disadvantaged populations, improving resilience and protecting the environment, and managing mobility in high growth cities and regions. | Internal Funding | METRANS Transportation Center | $900,000 | 2022/01/31 | |
| 2022/02/22 | Donald E. & Delia Baxter Foundation Faculty Fellows Program - Program is to provide seed funding to help prepare and support young investigators as they embark on their careers and start up their independent research programs. This early stage of career development is a critical period for a new researcher | Internal Funding | Keck School of Medicine of USC | $100,000 | 2022/01/01 | Medicine and Health |
| 2022/02/22 | USC Undergraduate Research Associates Program - Supports faculty engaging in collaborative research with undergraduate students. The goal of this program is to provide resources that enable faculty to integrate undergraduates into their scholarly and professional activities. | Internal Funding | Office of Undergraduate Programs | See solicitation for details | 2021/12/01 | |
| 2022/02/13 | BSEL Social Venture Coaching Competition - The USC Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab offers the annual Social Venture Coaching Competition (SVCC). Established to find sustainable business solutions to the most pressing social needs in Los Angeles, SVCC offers the opportunity for USC-affiliated teams to receive six weeks of business development coaching and $100,000+ in capital. | Internal Funding | Marshall School of Business | See solicitation for details | 2021/12/01 | Sustainability |
| 2022/02/11 | New Venture Seed Competition - Open to all USC students, faculty and researchers. The Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies' competition is an opportunity to get your business idea in front of investors and to win seed money to get you started. | Internal Funding | Marshall School of Business | $150,000 | 2022/01/03 | |
| 2021/06/28 | Pfizer Centers for Therapeutic Innovation - Supports collaborations focus around joint drug discovery where the investigator brings the target, validation and knowhow, and together with Pfizer a joint drug discovery research plan is developed. Pfizer’s areas of interest are aligned with their current core research areas of: Oncology, Inflammation & Immunology, Rare Diseases, Internal Medicine. | Internal Funding | Stevens Center for Innovation | See solicitation for details | 2021/04/01 | Medicine and Health |
| 2021/03/02 | National Center for Sustainable Transportation - The goal of the NCST is to produce research that directly supports the efforts of policy makers and professionals to improve the sustainability of the transportation system. | Internal Funding | METRANS Transportation Center | $500,000 | 2021/02/01 | Sustainability |