Behind Every Breakthrough

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• Debra Bass- [email protected]
• Kellie Woodhouse- [email protected]

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University of California San Diego received $1.7 billion in grants over the previous year, funding that fueled critical research in human health, national defense, advanced technology, social sciences, and much more.

The funding comes from federal and state agencies, industry, and philanthropic organizations and supports the university's 5,683 active research projects, which impact regional communities and the global population alike. These projects make possible life-saving clinical trials, the development of better diagnostic tools, the invention of new technologies, and the training of doctoral students who carry the torch as America's best and brightest problem solvers.

"UC San Diego researchers continue to deliver breakthroughs that improve lives, strengthen communities, and expand human knowledge," said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. "Even in a year of funding disruptions and shifting priorities, our faculty, students and staff secured $1.7 billion to fuel discovery in nearly every subject area vital for human survival around the globe and beyond. This support reflects the trust of our partners and the resilience of our campus. The triumphs of the past year also underscore why continued investment in university research is essential to solving society's greatest challenges."

This year's funding marks a 5 percent decrease from the previous year. While the first three quarters of the fiscal year marked strong growth, disruptions to federal agencies and existing grants resulted in a significant decline in funding at the end of the year. Funding in the final quarter of fiscal 2025 dropped by 32 percent over the previous year, from $535 million to $361 million.

"Research fuels public health, economic strength and critical innovations for society. Supporting academic research is an essential component of what makes our nation a leader, not a follower, when it comes to global ingenuity," said Corinne Peek-Asa, Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation. "Research funding provides a foundation to bring creative thinkers together to solve complicated problems, and all of the wonderful knowledge that comes from research allows us to better understand the world around us and build a brighter future for the next generation."

Chancellor Khosla, VC Peek-Asa, and other university officials continue to communicate the importance of university research funding for economic security and solutions to improve our planet. Earlier this year, the university launched its Behind Every Breakthroughcampaign to highlight the impact of university research on Americans.

This year's awards affect nearly every aspect of society, from art to microsurgery. Here are just a few examples.

Vision-restoring Whole Eye Transplant

UC San Diego electrical engineers are a key part of a nationwide effort to restore vision in people through whole-eye transplants. The $56 million Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) project is led by Stanford. It will rely on donor eyes, advanced surgical protocols, and electrodes to regenerate the optic nerve. UC San Diego electrical engineers, led by professor Shadi Dayeh, whose research was funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's New Innovator Award, are developing a wireless, multi-modal electrode system to wire the optic nerve to the brain with high-end precision to restore vision after an eye transplant. UC San Diego received $2.6 million last year to continue this work.

Unraveling How Early Bonds Shape Lifelong Behavior

Dhananjay "DJ" Bambah-Mukku, a neuroscientist who is an assistant professor of psychology in the UC San Diego School of Social Sciences, was awarded the prestigious NIH Director's New Innovator Award. As part of the High-Risk, High-Reward Research program, recognizing bold and highly innovative research projects with the potential to produce a major impact, Bambah-Mukku's project on "The Multisensory Ontogeny of Social Behavior" was funded with more than $2.2 million over five years - $1.3 million was allotted in the past year. The award will help Bambah-Mukku's team develop cutting-edge genetic tools and explore novel behavioral paradigms to investigate the infant nervous system, the neurobiology of mother-infant attachment, and how early life stimuli shape behavioral development. These are strong influencers and predictors of human health.

Decoding How Ocean Noise Shapes Whale Behavior

One of the 10 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) awards from the Department of Defense (DOD) went to Simone Baumann-Pickering, Professor of Biological Oceanography at Scripps Oceanography. The funds will support the purchase of underwater instruments to better document and understand the impacts of ocean noise from shipping vessels to naval sonar devices on marine mammals, especially beaked whales. This particular whale is in a protected class managed in part by a division of the U.S. government, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The beaked whale is a deep-diving top predator vital to maintaining delicate marine ecosystems and fishing operations. The funded instruments will form an advanced underwater monitoring system to observe how these whales, who hunt by echolocation (i.e. sound), behave and feed. This integrated system will help determine if underwater noise disrupts, particularly from Navy ships, affects the whales' natural foraging patterns and behaviors over time. DURIP awards amounted to $43 million across 64 universities to purchase equipment that will enable cutting-edge research. This is the second year UC San Diego has received 10 DURIP grants.

Understanding the Brain as an Electrical Machine

Processing sensory input is a matter of survival. Sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing - the coordination of these senses (in some form) helps virtually every animal on Earth find food, return to shelter and escape danger. Distinguished Professor of Physics and Neurobiology David Kleinfeld is a leading expert in the field and was awarded $21 million grant from the NIH - he received about $8.5 million in the past year - to coordinate with a team of researchers to continue studying the coordination of multiple sensory inputs and head movements using laboratory mice and rats. The research will ultimately help form an understanding of how individual cells and complex neural circuits in the brain interact in both time and space.

Exploring the Edges of Reality

UC San Diego philosophy professor Eddy Keming Chen has received a $325,000 grant to investigate fundamental questions about quantum reality, including whether particles in multiple states at once are genuine features of nature (i.e. real). Chen's award represents a portion of a larger grant from the John Templeton Foundation, totaling $2.43 million to establish the Southern California Quantum Foundations Hub. Chen will collaborate with philosophers and physicists to explore the "fuzzy edges" of the universe. Each team will apply their respective methods of inquiry to more deeply understand the nature of reality by examining concepts like density matrix realism, nomic vagueness, and the limits of what quantum mechanics can reveal. This hub aims to bridge theory and experimentation, offering fresh insights into the deep structure and laws of reality.

Related Links

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UC San Diego Receives 10 DURIP Awards from Department of Defense