NIH funding profile · Santa Cruz, CA · Higher education
University of California, Santa Cruz NIH Funding
Also known as UC Santa CruzNIH RePORTER recipient name: University of California Santa Cruz
Reviewed by Dr. Meng ZhaoLast reviewed October 16, 2026Data refreshed October 16, 2026Editorial standards
University of California, Santa Cruz received $37.9M in NIH award funding in fiscal year 2026 across 68 award records and 76 principal investigators. That ranks #173 of 2,407 NIH-funded institutions and #19 in California, down 24.4% from FY2025.
Part of University of California. See its combined NIH funding across every member NIH records separately.
FY2026 closed on September 30, 2026, but NIH keeps posting that year's awards to RePORTER for several weeks. FY2026 figures reflect records available on October 16, 2026 and may rise slightly at the next refresh.
FY2026 NIH funding
$37.9M
−24.4% vs FY2025
National rank
#173
Down 29 places from #144 vs FY2025
Rank in California
#19
0.8% of California NIH funding · down 4 places from #15
Awards · PIs
68
76 investigators · 17 new projects
NIH funding trend, FY2022–FY2026
University of California, Santa Cruz received $229.6M in NIH awards over these five fiscal years. Annual funding moved −17.9% from FY2022 to FY2026. Its best national rank in the period was #144 (FY2025).
| Year | Funding | Change | Awards | PIs | U.S. rank | CA rank | Top IC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $37.9M | −24.4% | 68 | 76 | #173 | #19 | NIGMS |
| FY2025 | $50.1M | +9.1% | 84 | 81 | #144 | #15 | NIGMS |
| FY2024 | $46.0M | −7.1% | 91 | 82 | #155 | #17 | NIGMS |
| FY2023 | $49.5M | +7.2% | 102 | 86 | #147 | #17 | NIGMS |
| FY2022 | $46.1M | — | 89 | 85 | #152 | #19 | NHGRI |
NIH institutes funding University of California, Santa Cruz, FY2026
12 NIH institutes and centers administered awards here in FY2026. The largest, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), accounted for 35.3% of the institution's NIH funding across 33 awards.
- NIGMS · National Institute of General Medical Sciences$13.4M · 35.3%
33 awards · vs FY2025: +3.1%
- NHGRI · National Human Genome Research Institute$8.3M · 21.8%
6 awards · vs FY2025: −23.1%
- NIAID · National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases$4.4M · 11.7%
8 awards · vs FY2025: −2.0%
- NCI · National Cancer Institute$4.0M · 10.4%
8 awards · vs FY2025: +3.2%
- NIMH · National Institute of Mental Health$2.8M · 7.3%
2 awards · vs FY2025: −52.4%
- NIA · National Institute on Aging$1.0M · 2.7%
2 awards · vs FY2025: −33.2%
- NINDS · National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke$912K · 2.4%
2 awards · vs FY2025: −82.6%
- NEI · National Eye Institute$854K · 2.3%
2 awards · vs FY2025: +0.4%
- OD · NIH Office of the Director$791K · 2.1%
1 award · vs FY2025: −51.6%
- NICHD · Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development$681K · 1.8%
2 awards · vs FY2025: +164.1%
Also: NHLBI $609K · NIBIB $235K
Award mechanism mix
Share of NIH award dollars by activity-code family in FY2026, with the FY2022 share for comparison. R01-equivalent research grants were 37.8% of funding.
- R01-equivalent37.8% · FY22 38.8%
- Other research (R)30.7% · FY22 29.0%
- Cooperative agreements (U)26.8% · FY22 24.2%
- Institutional training (T)4.1% · FY22 4.9%
- Career development (K)0.3% · FY22 2.8%
- Fellowships (F)0.2% · FY22 0.3%
Top activity codes, FY2026
| Code | Awards | Funding | Share | Average award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R01 | 21 | $11.2M | 29.5% | $531K |
| R35 | 22 | $9.1M | 23.9% | $412K |
| U24 | 4 | $6.7M | 17.7% | $1.7M |
| UM1 | 1 | $2.8M | 7.5% | $2.8M |
| R37 | 3 | $1.7M | 4.5% | $572K |
| DP2 | 2 | $1.4M | 3.8% | $723K |
| R21 | 4 | $1.4M | 3.6% | $339K |
| T32 | 4 | $1.3M | 3.5% | $330K |
| R24 | 1 | $791K | 2.1% | $791K |
| U01 | 1 | $594K | 1.6% | $594K |
| R25 | 1 | $432K | 1.1% | $432K |
| T34 | 1 | $251K | 0.7% | $251K |
Largest FY2026 awards
The biggest single award records by FY2026 dollars. Each links to its NIH RePORTER project page.
- The UCSC Genome Browser (opens NIH RePORTER)
5U24HG002371-27 · NHGRI
$3.0MU24
- Center for Human Genome Reference Diversity (opens NIH RePORTER)
5UM1HG010971-08 · NHGRI
$2.8MUM1
- Data Resource and Administrative Coordination Center for the Scalable and Systematic Neurobiology of Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Disorder Risk Genes Consortium (opens NIH RePORTER)
5U24MH132628-04 · NIMH
$2.3MU24
- Reading the host terrain: how pathogen sensing of host environmental cues controls the outcome of bacterial infection (opens NIH RePORTER)
1R01AI187307-01A1 · NIAID
$810KR01
- Dockstore - A Platform for Creating, Sharing, Publishing and Reproducing Computational Science (opens NIH RePORTER)
2U24HG011853-06 · NHGRI
$801KU24
- Illuminating the secretome: a protein tagging resource (opens NIH RePORTER)
1R24OD038113-01A1 · OD
$791KR24
Recently started projects
The latest new (Type 1) FY2026 awards by notice date, out of 17 new projects NIH funded here this year.
- Investigating the relationship between totipotency and epigenetic reprogramming during the formation of induced pluripotent stem cells (opens NIH RePORTER)
1K99GM162991-01A1 · NIGMS · Notice Sep 17, 2026
$125KK99
- Bifunctional small molecules for biosensing and continuous enzyme evolution (opens NIH RePORTER)
1DP2GM170823-01 · NIGMS · Notice Sep 3, 2026
$715KDP2
- Determining the role for lncRNAs in TB infection in macrophages (opens NIH RePORTER)
1R21AI193256-01A1 · NIAID · Notice Sep 2, 2026
$259KR21
- Designing biological light from scratch - a new paradigm for bioimaging and biosensing (opens NIH RePORTER)
1DP2GM171031-01 · NIGMS · Notice Aug 26, 2026
$732KDP2
- Deciphering the cellular and genetic features of development and regeneration using eyed cnidarians (opens NIH RePORTER)
1R35GM166544-01 · NIGMS · Notice Aug 26, 2026
$426KR35
- Regulation of totipotent gene expression program by RNA modifying enzymes (opens NIH RePORTER)
1R21HD120966-01 · NICHD · Notice Jul 31, 2026
$430KR21
Other NIH-funded institutions in California
| # | Institution | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery InstituteLa Jolla, CA | $49.1M |
| 16 | Northern California Institute for Research and EducationSan Francisco, CA | $47.0M |
| 17 | Gladstone InstitutesSan Francisco, CA | $45.4M |
| 18 | Cog Research Foundation, LLCArcadia, CA | $41.6M |
| 19 | University of California, Santa CruzSanta Cruz, CA | $37.9M |
| 20 | University of California, RiversideRiverside, CA | $36.9M |
| 21 | San Diego State UniversitySan Diego, CA | $36.4M |
| 22 | La Jolla Institute for ImmunologyLa Jolla, CA | $33.9M |
| 23 | RAND CorporationSanta Monica, CA | $29.3M |
Nearby in the national ranking
| # | Institution | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| 170 | University of Tennessee Health Science CenterMemphis, TN | $38.6M |
| 171 | Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer CenterBuffalo, NY | $38.3M |
| 172 | Texas A&M University Health Science CenterCollege Station, TX | $37.9M |
| 173 | University of California, Santa CruzSanta Cruz, CA | $37.9M |
| 174 | Florida International UniversityMiami, FL | $37.7M |
| 175 | Lurie Children's Hospital of ChicagoChicago, IL | $37.0M |
| 176 | University of California, RiversideRiverside, CA | $36.9M |
Similar universities and medical schools
| # | Institution | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| 169 | University of Mississippi Medical CenterJackson, MS | $39.5M |
| 170 | University of Tennessee Health Science CenterMemphis, TN | $38.6M |
| 172 | Texas A&M University Health Science CenterCollege Station, TX | $37.9M |
| 173 | University of California, Santa CruzSanta Cruz, CA | $37.9M |
| 174 | Florida International UniversityMiami, FL | $37.7M |
| 176 | University of California, RiversideRiverside, CA | $36.9M |
| 178 | Washington State UniversityPullman, WA | $36.6M |
About these numbers
Source: the public NIH RePORTER API, refreshed October 16, 2026. See our data methodology and the guide to reading NIH funding rankings by university.
- Who is countedAwards made to NIH recipient organization code 577510 (University of California Santa Cruz). A university's medical school, affiliated hospital, or other campuses can be separate NIH recipients with their own totals.
- What is countedTotal award amount (direct plus indirect) obligated in each fiscal year for grants, cooperative agreements, training awards, SBIR/STTR, and R&D contracts. Subprojects, intramural research, and interagency agreements are excluded.
- InstitutesEach award is credited in full to its administering institute, even when other institutes co-fund it.
- SubawardsNIH reports the prime recipient only, so research this institution performs under another organization's grant is not included here.