Research Training Funding

Funding for your bioscience research training

The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the UCLA Graduate Programs in Bioscience, and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs for Biomedical & Life Sciences recognize the importance of a solid foundation while completing your training. The following funding information and resources are for current and prospective Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars, UCLA Faculty Mentors, and Training Grant Directors and Training Program Coordinators.

Select from the options below to find funding opportunities, get tips on preparing individual fellowship applications, or, for faculty, get tips on preparing institutional training grant applications.

UCLA Research Training Funding

Competitive Research Training Grant Programs

These Research Training Grant Programs support the research and training of a cohort of trainees with the aim of developing future scientific leaders in targeted interdisciplinary research areas. UCLA trainees are competitively appointed to these funding programs by faculty directors and selection committees.

List of Training Grant Programs for Pre- and Post-Doctoral Trainees

Individual Fellowship Slots

Fellowships are offered by UC or UCLA institutions to support pre-and/or post-doctoral training. 

Predoctoral Awards

Eugene V. Cota Robles Fellowship
Supports diverse applicants to UCLA PhD Programs who are interested in a career in college or university teaching and research. Applicants may apply for the Cota Robles fellowship in combination with their graduate applications.

Whitcome Fellowships
Available to UCLA Graduate Students whose work is in molecular biology and whose mentor is part of the Molecular Biology Interdepartmental PhD Program.

UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship
The Dissertation Year Fellowship (DYF) Program is designed to assist UCLA PhD students in their final year of graduate school, at the dissertation writing stage.

Dr. Ursula Mandel Scholarship – Predoctoral Awards
Scholarship offered to UCLA doctoral students working in fields related to medicine and allied health.

Postdoctoral Awards

President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship
Encouraging outstanding women and minority Ph.D. recipients to pursue academic careers at the University of California.

Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship
Encouraging outstanding women and minority Ph.D. recipients to pursue academic careers at the University of California, offered in parallel with President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship

Postdoctoral Professional Fellowships in Laboratory Medicine
The Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine offers and/or participates in six Allied Health training programs in a variety of laboratory disciplines.

External Research Training Funding

Finding Funding Sources

GRAPES Database
Free database of scholarships, grants, fellowships and postdoctoral awards.

SPIN funding opportunity database
World’s largest database of Sponsored Funding Opportunities, UCLA maintains a subscription for UCLA users.

 

UCLA Office of Research - Research Opportunity Newsletters
Sign up for newsletter(s) relevant to your research interests.

Federal Agency Funding

NIH-NRSA – (F31) – Predoctoral Awards
NIH-NRSA – (F32) – Postdoctoral Awards
NIH-NRSA – (F30) – Dual Degree (MD/PhD) Awards
Ruth L. Kirschstein Individual National Research Service Award for US Citizens and Permanent Residents training in the biomedical sciences.

NIH-Pathway to Independence Award – (K99)
The Pathway to Independence Award program provides a unique opportunity for highly promising candidates to obtain funding for an initial mentored research phase (K99 phase) followed by the scientist's first independent research support (R00 phase); apply in years 2-3 of postdoctoral training.

NSF-Predoctoral Funding Opportunities
NSF-Postdoctoral Funding Opportunities
NSF provides direct (fellowship) and indirect (through institutions) funding for predoctoral and postdoctoral science trainees.

Foundation Funding

Fellowships are available from a variety of sources searchable by eligibility or disciplinary requirements in the GRAPES or SPIN databases. Below is a selection of private funding sources most frequently awarded to UCLA trainees.

HHMI – Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study – Predoctoral Awards
Support exceptional graduate students who are committed to increasing diversity among scientific leaders.

Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program – Postdoctoral Awards
Funds training for individuals from groups underrepresented in the life sciences.

Medical Research Fellows Program – Predoctoral Awards (MD/DDS/DVM)
Supports the development of future medical scientists by funding a year of mentored lab research training for medical, dental, and veterinary students.

A.P. Giannini Foundation

A.P. Giannini Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program
Ten annual fellowships for up to 3 years supporting postdoctoral researchers in the field of biomedical science.

Ford Foundation

Predoctoral Fellowships
Dissertation Fellowships
Postdoctoral Fellowships
Seeking to increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity.

Paul & Daisy Soros Foundation

Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans – Predoctoral Awards
Awards to graduate students who are New Americans (immigrants or the children of immigrants).

Writing Fellowships

Graduate Writing Center (GWC)

Fellowship Writing Workshops and Programs
The GWC offers a wide variety of writing workshops, ranging from general to more specialized topics, such as writing in certain disciplinary areas or writing English as a Second Language (Open to graduate and professional students)

Writing Consultation Appointments
The GWC offers free appointments with experienced writing consultants to all registered UCLA graduate and professional school students

GWC NIH Fellowship Resources Site (access request form)
A centralized archive for handouts, samples, and other information needed to support graduate students with writing NIH fellowship application documents, access granted by request

Office of Postdoctoral Affairs for the Biomedical and Life Sciences

Training Grant Preparation Resources Site
Appendix materials and boilerplate descriptions for RCR Training and PhD Career Development (Open to UCLA trainees, faculty and staff)

UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI)

K Award Resources and Writing Tips
Workshop slides, templates and boilerplate     

K Award Sample Application Library
CTSI maintains a library of successful Award applications open to UCLA faculty, students, staff and volunteers, access  by request and approval

Boilerplate Text for Grant Applications
Boilerplate text for the Facilities and Resources sections of NIH grant applications

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR)

Research Enhancement Series: Grantmaking Webinars
Provides grantmaking webinars to support researchers at all career stages,  free and open to UCLA faculty, researchers, postdocs, students, and staff.

Preparing Training Grants

Support Services

Minerva Bioscience
Minerva Bioscience is a web-based application that integrates central administrative data with locally entered data and can help to generate most of the tables necessary for the preparation and management of NIH T32s Training Grant applications.

For access to Minerva Bioscience please contact Anders Olav Garlid, Ph.D., Institutional Data Analyst, Graduate Programs in Bioscience.

Resource Collections

Office of Postdoctoral Affairs - Training Grant Preparation Resources Site
Guidelines, Templates, Boilerplate, Appendix Material for RCR Training and PhD Career Development, available to UCLA Staff and Faculty. This site is primarily focused basic biosciences disciplines.

UCLA CTSI - Boilerplate Text for Grant Applications
Boilerplate text for the Facilities and Resources sections of NIH grant applications.

UCLA CTSI - K Award Resources and Writing Tips
Workshop slides, templates and boilerplate.     

UCLA CTSI - K Award Sample Application Library
CTSI maintains a library of successful Award applications open to UCLA faculty, students, staff and volunteers, access  by request and approval.

Office of Research Administration Online Resource Center
Statistics on awards, proposals, sponsors, IRBs, ARC and campus-wide funding levels.

Office of Contract and Grant Administration
Proposal deadline calendars, proposal preparation information and resources, necessary forms and templates.