The Award | Eligibility | Expectations | How to Apply | Prior Awardees | Updates
In an effort to support new policy-relevant research on health and consumer finance, CPL provides seed grants for UC students and faculty with a research proposal incorporating one of the following datasets:
- Health Data Access Initiative (HDAI) – Medicare and Medicaid data
- The University of California Consumer Credit Panel (UC CCP) – Financial and residency data from one of the nationwide credit bureaus
The seed grants are designed to cover data-access expenses for UC students and faculty who do not have access to other funding. This funding is provided thanks to generous funding from the UC Office of the President’s grant program on Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives.
What Does the Award Provide?
Seed grants for the UC-CCP are designed to cover data access costs, which range from $6,500 – $19,000. Seed grants for the HDAI are designed as matching grants for the purchase of CMS data and can range into tens of thousands of dollars. Seed grants can also be used to cover reuse fees for existing CMS data in the HDAI.
Seed grants are available for UC students and faculty through a competitive application process. The awards are designed to cover data-access fees and other infrastructure costs for teams with valuable research ideas, but who do not have access to other funding to cover these expenses. Grants may not be used to pay a salary/stipend or to cover university fees, and must be spent within the calendar year they are granted.
Who Can Apply?
Seed grants are available to UC students and faculty with a research proposal that uses one of the eligible datasets above. Preference will be given to cross-campus research.
With a mission to improve the lives of a diverse California population, CPL recognizes the value of diverse voices in all of the work that we do. We strongly encourage applications from all eligible researchers, including students of color and from marginalized communities.
Grantee Expectations
- Any research testing a hypothesis must be pre-registered on the Open Science Framework
- Awardees must submit a short periodic report on the research project’s status
How to Apply?
Apply by submitting this form. Deadlines are 12pm on the following dates through the end of 2024, when funding expires. If the date falls on a weekend, applications are due the following Monday. Application review may take up to 6 weeks.
Seed Grant Awardees
Victoria Wang, PhD candidate at UCLA, for a project entitled “Pregnancy and Financial Outcomes.”
Sarah Papich, PhD candidate at UC Santa Barbara, for a project entitled “Effects of Buy Now, Pay Later on Financial Well-Being.” Sarah also received a Graduate Fellowship grant.
Niklas Flamang, PhD Candidate at UC Berkeley, for a project entitled “Why is financial distress so seasonal?”
Eva Lyubich, PhD Candidate at UC Berkeley, for a project entitled “The Relationship Between Energy Burden, Economic Insecurity, and Race.” Lyubich also received a Graduate Fellowship grant.
Woongchan Jeon, PhD Candidate at UC Santa Barbara, for a project entitled “The distributional impacts of wildfires on household balance sheets in the Western United States.” Woongchan also received a Graduate Fellowship grant.
Katherine Meckel, Assistant Professor of Economics at UC San Diego, and Min Lee, PhD Candidate at UC San Diego, for their project entitled “The Effect of Participation in the SNAP Program on Financial Stability Among Low-Income Households in California.”
Receive Updates
This program and other opportunities are promoted via the CPL newsletter www.capolicylab.org/newsletter-signup
Questions?
Reach out to seedgrants@capolicylab.org.