Grants and Writing Resources for University of California, Irvine
UC Irvine's Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences had two undergraduates named 2026 Goldwater Scholars. One studies recovery after coma in patients with traumatic brain injury; the other, a biochemistry and molecular biology major, works on a human immune protein that may be connected to ancient bacterial defenses. In March of that year ten graduate finalists gave three-minute talks at the 12th annual UCI Grad Slam, and first place paid $6,500.
Undergraduate Research
Undergraduates in any major become UROP Fellows through one of two UROP Awards: the Research Experience Fellowship for faculty-mentored work during the academic year, or the Summer Undergraduate Research Program, which adds a personal stipend. Fellows can then ask for money. A needs-based UROP Grant of up to $500 covers supplies for a Research Experience project, and a one-time Travel or Publication Grant, also up to $500, helps with project travel or publication costs; typical awards for both run $250 to $400.
Every May the UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium gives hundreds of undergraduates a place to present research and creative work. Its events are free and open to the public.
Writing Awards
The Campus Writing & Communication Coordinator's office posted fourteen winners for 2025-2026. Four John Hollowell Composition Program Awards went to exemplary ePortfolios from the Writing 40, 45, 50 and 60 courses. The Nora Folkenflik Memorial Essay Awards cover essays from English 15 and Humanities Core, and the group also includes the Ariel Miranda Caldwell Memorial Short Story Award, the Bret Baldwin Memorial Poetry Award, a Literary Journalism Writing Award and the Howard Babb Memorial Essay Award. That year's upper-division winners included work in philosophy and sociology.
Work from courses numbered 100 and above can be submitted to the Upper-Division Writing Awards with the signature of an instructor familiar with the student's writing. Each category pays $150.
Fellowships and Graduate Awards
The Graduate Division's fellowship announcements separate awards that need a school nomination from those students apply for directly. In the first group, the Fletcher Jones Fellowship is a dissertation completion award of about $12,000, with the strongest consideration going to candidates who plan to file by summer, and the Chancellor's Club Fellowship pays a $24,000 stipend over six months to a first-generation doctoral or MFA student; each school nominates one student for each.
Doctoral and MFA students apply on their own for the Public Impact Fellowship, which pays $5,000 to distinguished fellows and $1,000 to honorable mentions whose research could improve life for regional, national or global communities. Finalists present their work over Zoom. The same announcements list the Waffarn Family Maternal Child Health Endowment, $5,000 for doctoral research on maternal, fetal and pediatric health, and the Katherine & Robert Phalen Endowment, a $3,000 award with two $500 runner-up prizes for laboratory research on human disease.
Writing Support
The Center for Excellence in Writing and Communication, launched in 2011, offers tutoring and workshops to students at every stage of a draft. Graduate students and postdocs have their own branch, the Graduate Writing Hub, staffed by graduate students and professional staff, with one-on-one consultations in person or online in any discipline. Its programs include accountability groups and shared focus time for writing throughout and between quarters.
Where Theses Are Published
University of California policy makes every UC Irvine dissertation and master's thesis publicly available. The UC Irvine Libraries publish them open access through eScholarship, the UC repository, and ProQuest distributes them as well. Authors can delay release for six months or one to six years.
If you'd like an editor's eye on a thesis chapter or a research paper before it goes out, we can help. See our University of California, Irvine dissertation and thesis editing and University of California, Irvine essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.
From Our Writing Guides
Compiled by James Peterson Brown, PhD, Managing Editor of Editors For Students. Links checked October 2026.
Editors For Students is an independent editorial service and is not affiliated with the University of California, Irvine, and your faculty may endorse our services individually. We look forward to helping you bring your UC Irvine writing to its strongest, submission-ready form.