2026 Searle Scholars Program

Program Description

UCI can nominate two candidates for the 2026 Searle Scholars Program, which recognizes outstanding new faculty with the potential to make innovative and high-impact contributions to research in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology and related areas in chemistry, medicine, and the biological sciences.

To be eligible, the candidate’s first appointment to an assistant professor, tenure-track position must have begun on or after May 1, 2024.

The Searle Scholars Program does not ordinarily support purely clinical research, but has supported research programs that include both clinical and basic components. Potential applicants who are unsure if their research is appropriate for this program are encouraged to examine the research interests of present and former Searle Scholars. A list of the members of the Advisory Council for Searle Scholars is found here.

The sponsor has awarded fifteen grants annually, paying $300,000 over three years. Funding is designed to allow the recipient a high level of discretion in spending, including allocation of monies for academic and summer salary (up to $25K annually) and equipment purchases.

Internal Review Process

UCI may nominate only two candidates; therefore, interested applicants are asked to submit a preliminary application to the Office of Research by Monday, July 7, 2025 (via the UCI Review system) with the following information:

• Research Abstract (2 pages), which describes the proposed research and its significance to the candidate’s field
• List of 2-3 publications, each followed by a brief description of why the research is important and how it impacted the candidate’s field (One page total. Please note: A similar requirement of up to 5 publications is requested in the final application packet to Searle)
• Candidate’s NSF or NIH biosketch (or CV up to three pages)
• List of three potential references (graduate advisor, postdoctoral advisor, and one additional) with 2-3 sentences describing why this person would be a strong reference for the candidate.If necessary, an ad hoc committee will convene to review the preliminary proposals. The selected candidates will be notified well before Searle’s September 30, 2025, deadline for full proposals.

More information about the Searle Scholars Program can be found at: https://www.searlescholars.net/competition/award-information.

Questions about our internal campus review process may be directed to Mike Gallo at magallo@uci.edu and questions about your application or for full project summaries of the projects awarded last year may be directed to Suzanne Ou at suzanneo@uci.edu.