Submission Guidelines

Applications should be prepared with the following information:

  1. Research Theme Title
  2. Research Theme Description and Opportunity
    Describe the theme or topic area and why it is an important and exciting area for research today.
  3. Relevant Campus Strengths
    Describe the campus strengths (e.g., faculty, recent centers, facilities) that you envision being involved in this Working Group. Don’t be bashful. Let us know how good you are. We need to know where UC Irvine has the potential to distinguish itself from peer institutions.
  4. Relevant Community Strengths
    Describe the partnerships that are already established as well the partnerships that could be pursued under this research theme to support research excellence and impact, and further distinguish UC Irvine from peer institutions. This could include community organizations, government agencies, special districts, businesses, non-governmental organizations, private foundations, elected officials, tribes, or other entities.
  5. Competitive Landscape
    Share your perspective here about the work of other institutions working within this research theme. We know it will be very tough to clearly differentiate UC Irvine research themes from those of other excellent universities, and that some overlap is natural and justified. Nevertheless, we welcome your thoughts on the ways in which we have both advantages and disadvantages that will figure into our future achievements.
  6. Leadership Interest
    Describe the person(s) willing to lead and/or participate in the Working Group. Leaders should be Senate faculty, and two leaders will be needed for each Working Group—ideally representing different disciplines.

Please submit your proposed theme or expression of interest by August 1st, 2025.  

Submissions can be sent by email to: climatecollab@uci.edu. Submissions that only partially respond to Items 1-4 above are welcome. Working Groups will only be formed where there is substantial campuswide interest and Senate faculty willing to serve as leaders. Furthermore, faculty may be invited to join other groups based on the level of interest and range of topics proposed. The Climate Collaboration anticipates supporting between 2-4 groups for the first year, and to invite new working groups in Spring 2026. In the long run, we aspire to create a culture of thematic interaction across disciplines and to refine working groups on an annual basis around emerging issues.

About the UC Irvine Climate Collaboration

Connections among faculty and community partners.
Figure 1. By initiating and expanding connections among faculty and community partners, and investing in promising opportunities, the UC Irvine Climate Collaboration aims to accelerate and amplify high-impact, solutions-oriented, research and teaching and further elevate the stature and visibility of the campus across climate-related fields.

The UC Irvine Climate Collaboration aims to bolster the research capacity of our faculty, catalyze promising new research directions at UC Irvine, grow and strengthen partnerships with our Community Partners, and create unique climate-relevant educational experiences for our students.

More than a dozen Schools at UC Irvine engage in Climate, Resilience and Sustainability research and education, which marks a unique strength of the campus and opportunity for innovation. Furthermore, Orange County offers numerous additional strengths including a strong business presence, public interest in the environment and the amenities that it provides, a track record of open space preservation and habitat restoration, and a commitment to bipartisan cooperation around the needs of the environment. Working groups will contribute to the visibility and stature of UC Irvine as a leading academic institution within the broad area of climate. Across many projects, the UC Irvine Climate Collaboration aims to strengthen existing partnerships and initiate new ones. We also seek research impact at a range of scales, from local to global, and we encourage work across diverse geographies.