UC San Diego Secures Nearly $1.8 Billion in FY26 Research Awards Amid Shifting Funding Landscape
Key Insights
UC San Diego's FY26 sponsored research awards totaled nearly $1.8 billion, with federal sources comprising 62% of funding, a 19% increase over the prior year.
The number of new awards declined to 1,746 from 1,925 in FY25, indicating researchers are winning larger but fewer, more competitive grants.
A landmark ARPA-H award of up to $25.8 million supports development of a 3D bioprinted liver from patient-derived cells to address organ failure.
University of California San Diego's fiscal year 2026 sponsored research awards reached nearly $1.8 billion, marking one of the institution's highest totals to date. The figure encompasses grants from federal, state, industry, nonprofit, and philanthropic sources, reflecting both sustained momentum and growing caution in the national research funding environment.
Federal sources accounted for 62% of total FY26 award funding, representing a 19% increase over the previous fiscal year. However, the number of new awards declined to 1,746, down from 1,925 in FY25, suggesting a landscape in which researchers are securing larger, highly competitive grants even as overall award volume contracts.
"UC San Diego researchers continued to secure major investments in work that addresses some of the most urgent challenges facing society, from human health and national defense to energy and artificial intelligence," said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. "In a time of disruption and uncertainty, these awards and the outcomes they generate reflect why sustained public and private investment in university research remains so important to discovery, economic growth and America's long-term leadership in innovation."
Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Corinne Peek-Asa noted that the increase in award dollars points to success in winning larger, highly competitive awards, even as total new award numbers have declined. The top 100 awards spanned pediatrics, political science, ocean observations, computer science, nanoengineering, and molecular biology.
Bioprinted Liver Project Receives Major ARPA-H Investment
Among the most clinically significant awards, a UC San Diego laboratory received funding of up to $25.8 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (search) (ARPA-H) to develop a fully functional, 3D bioprinted liver created from a patient's own cells. The project, titled "Large-scale, Intelligent, Vascularized, Engineered, Regenerative Liver," received $18.3 million this fiscal year under a cooperative agreement.
Liver failure (search) remains one of the most serious and deadly medical conditions, claiming thousands of lives annually as patients in the United States await donor organs. The research is led by Shaochen Chen, a 3D bioprinting expert and professor in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. The initiative brings together a multidisciplinary team spanning engineering, liver biology, liver imaging, liver surgery, and artificial intelligence.
Substance Use Disorder Genetics Research
A five-year, $8 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) supports a study of the genetics of substance use disorders (search) under principal investigator Abraham Palmer, Ph.D., professor and vice chair for basic research in the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine. The grant provided $7 million this past fiscal year to support a NIDA P30 Core Center of Excellence, which aims to elucidate why some individuals are more susceptible to addiction than others. This knowledge is expected to inform the development of more personalized and effective treatments for substance use disorders, which affect tens of millions of Americans at an enormous cost to the U.S. economy.
Philanthropic Support Strengthens Research Continuity
UC San Diego raised $470 million during fiscal year 2025-26, including $458.5 million in private support and $11.5 million in additional Advancement-led commitments. More than 20,000 alumni, donors, and partners contributed at what university leadership described as a critical moment for higher education.
Philanthropy has taken on added importance as universities nationwide navigate uncertainty surrounding federal research funding. Throughout the year, the UC San Diego community provided timely and flexible gifts, grants, and other commitments to help protect the continuity of the university's research enterprise, enabling teams to maintain momentum, retain talented investigators, and continue pursuing promising discoveries.
Significant commitments included $50 million from alumnus Taner Halıcıoğlu to establish the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing, a $30 million pledge from Sandra Timmons and Richard Sandstrom for graduate fellowships and endowed chairs, and $10 million from Price Philanthropies to establish the UC San Diego Health East Campus Behavioral Health Hub. The Prebys Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and W. M. Keck Foundation each made separate awards totaling more than $5 million aimed at enabling researchers to continue promising work in the face of research cuts.
Broader Research Portfolio
The university managed 5,591 active awards during the year, including both new and continuing grants. Research areas ranged from Alzheimer's disease to zero-emissions projects. Additional notable awards included a $19.7 million California Department of Social Services initiative led by the Center for Community Health to support refugee, immigrant, and other federally eligible newcomer children, youth, and families across California, and a $15 million grant from the Fund for Science and Technology to Scripps Institution of Oceanography for expanding ocean observational capabilities.
"We remain committed to advocating for robust funding in key areas of national concern, including human health and longevity, national competitiveness, fusion energy and AI, while also sustaining the full range of research that defines our campus," Peek-Asa said. "Breakthroughs depend on funding opportunities."