UC Davis Secures $953 Million in Annual Research Funding to Advance Discoveries, Services and Solutions

The University of California, Davis, received $953 million in external research awards in the fiscal year 2025-26, supporting a broad range of research to enhance lives through advancements in healthcare, food supply, energy solutions, education and more. 

The overall amount received is similar to the previous year, down slightly by $8 million (0.8%), but the contributions by source have shifted. As usual, federal sources provided the majority of funding, totaling $496 million, up $46 million (10%) from the previous year. Industry partners rose to become the second leading contributor at $143 million, an increase of $53 million (59%). The state of California provided $105 million, down $104 million (50%) from the previous year. A detailed breakdown of the funding sources can be viewed in the annual report.   

Among the colleges and schools, the top recipient was the School of Medicine at $439 million — up 32% from the previous year and a record high. Rounding out the top three were the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at $134 million and the College of Biological Sciences at $77 million. 

“UC Davis researchers continue to attract substantial investments based on deep expertise, unique collaborations and a long history of delivering impactful insight and solutions,” said Simon J. Atkinson, vice chancellor for research at UC Davis. “Despite significant funding uncertainty and regulatory change, our faculty and staff have drawn on their passion and ingenuity to keep their important — often life-changing — work moving forward.”  

Public and private investments in university-based research have been a cornerstone of American prosperity, security and innovative leadership for most of the past century. Over this past year, UC Davis research has produced a wide range of scientific breakthroughs to improve health, enhance food supplies, protect the environment and empower a more resilient society. Specific examples can be found in the UC Davis 2026 Annual Research Impact Report.

This research also yields innovations that become the foundation for tomorrow’s products, services and businesses. Last year, UC Davis researchers submitted 201 invention disclosures. The university’s Technology Transfer Office submitted 197 patents and other intellectual property filings and executed 32 license and option agreements.

Read the Annual Research Impact Report

Notable awards by college and school for FY 2025-26

College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Refining dietary guidance to reduce chronic disease

Gerardo Mackenzie, professor and chair in the UC Davis Department of Nutrition, is the contact principal investigator of a project that is utilizing precision approaches to refine dietary guidance to Americans to reduce chronic disease. It is funded by the USDA Agricultural Research Service in collaboration with the Western Human Nutrition Research Center at Davis. The research team will investigate the cardiovascular benefits of healthy body weight in individuals at risk for metabolic disease. It also will examine how liver fat and individual biology affect responses to different diets. The work will identify factors that support long-term adherence to healthy eating patterns. 

College of Biological Sciences

Investigating how tree mortality impacts microbes and soil carbon 

Researchers at the Bogar Lab are uncovering how climate‑driven tree mortality reshapes the deep‑soil ecosystems that support long‑term carbon storage. Led by Laura Bogar, assistant professor in the Department of Plant Biology, and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and Allen Family Philanthropies, the project builds on recent work showing that when trees die, the deep root-associated fungi and bacteria that help move carbon underground decline and may become more unstable, even though total soil carbon hasn’t yet shifted. The new funding is helping the team go deeper — both in the soil (150 to 500 centimeters below the surface) and in terms of the intensity of their analyses. By pairing depth‑resolved sampling with RNA‑ and DNA‑based profiling and metagenomic sequencing, the team is revealing how deep‑soil microbial networks respond quickly to tree loss, offering early biological signals of how carbon cycling may shift over time. The work provides a clearer scientific foundation for predicting and managing soil carbon in forest and woodland landscapes as drought and heat continue to kill more trees across California.  

School of Education

Preparing STEM teachers for the age of AI 

A team of researchers is launching a project that will help new STEM teachers enter the classroom ready to use artificial intelligence to advance student learning in high-need schools. Led by Matt Wallace, associate professor of teaching in the School of Education, the five-year project, supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, will recruit STEM professionals into teaching and mentor them as they learn to use AI thoughtfully and responsibly as a tool to strengthen their teaching.

College of Engineering

Measuring the neurotoxicity of airborne nanoplastics 

Researchers are developing the world’s first standardized method for measuring and describing the neurotoxicity of airborne nanoplastics. The project is co-led by Randy Carney, an associate professor of biomedical engineering, and Sascha Nicklisch, an associate professor of environmental toxicology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Their work, with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, will generate reliable tools for tracking nanoplastics, reveal how they move through the body and potentially cross the blood–brain barrier, and provide policymakers with the evidence needed to assess exposure risks and craft future protections.

College of Letters and Science 

Improving the outdoor lighting landscape, while paying special attention to ecological concerns 

The Biologically Appropriate Lighting Aligning Nature, California Codes and Energy Efficiency (BALANCE) project aims to create simple, science-based guidance for a healthier outdoor lighting landscape. Jae Yong Suk, a professor in the Department of Design, the Arthur H. Rosenfeld Endowed Chair in Energy Efficiency, and director of the California Lighting Technology Center, is leading a team that is redefining how outdoor lighting can protect California’s ecosystems while still meeting safety and energy goals. By studying how artificial light at night affects key species — from nocturnal pollinators to bats and migratory birds — the team is developingscience-based lighting guidance designed to reduce ecological disruption through carefully selected spectra, lower intensities and dark-sky-friendly designs. Their work will directly inform updates to California’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards and Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen), giving planners, developers and policymakers practical tools to build communities that are safer, more energy-efficient and more supportive of wildlife.

Continuing and Professional Education 

Strengthening behavioral health care for children and youth

The Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice — part of Human Services at UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education — has secured funding from the California Department of Health Care Services to serve as the “center of excellence” for strengthening behavioral health care for children. Led by Senior Director of Human Services and Principal Investigator Nancy Hafer, the center’s work focuses on High-Fidelity Wraparound Services, a family-centered and team-driven approach to providing comprehensive care for children with complex needs. It is designed to support children and families in a way that keeps the child in the home and community rather than institutional settings.

School of Medicine 

Understanding the role of the nervous system for coordinated motor function 

Theanne Griffith, associate professor in the Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology, is working on a project on understanding how the nervous system develops the ability to sense body position and movement, a process that is critical for coordinated motor function. The project benefits from the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award that supports her research program examining the mechanisms that drive maturation of proprioceptive sensory neurons. Griffith has also been recognized with awards from both the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the McKnight Foundation, highlighting the promise and impact of her research program. 

Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

Helping shape best practices for Alzheimer’s diagnostic care function 

Principal investigator Jennifer Lingler, associate dean for research and a professor in the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, and co-principal investigator Joshua Grill of UC Irvine are advancing their project Patient and Family Member Reactions to Biomarker-Informed ADRD Diagnoses (PARADE) with a new supplemental award from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health. The goal of the research is to understand how shifting toward biomarker-based diagnoses in dementia care affects patients and families. Lingler’s first aim is quantifying the range and patterns of emotional response to a biomarker-informed cognitive diagnosis and determining which clinical or demographic factors are associated with specific responses. The findings will help shape best practices for Alzheimer’s diagnostic care, ensuring that as biomarker testing becomes more common, it is delivered safely, ethically and with meaningful support for those who need it most.

UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine 

Defining transmission dynamics of St. Louis encephalitis virus, a mosquito borne pathogen

The avian-mosquito-avian cycling flavivirus St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) infects humans to cause febrile illness and rare fatal encephalitis. It reemerged in the United States in 2015. To understand drivers of reemergence, researchers will define infection and transmission dynamics of SLEV in mosquito and avian hosts and the role of antibody from prior SLEV or related West Nile virus infection in protection from viremia in avian hosts. The project, led by Lark Coffey, an agronomist and a professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine, and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is significant in that it will define SLEV transmission dynamics in the context of sequential invasion and concurrent spread of 2 Culex-borne human pathogenic flaviviruses endemic to the United States.

Interdisciplinary research awards 

Interdisciplinary research units within the Office of Research continue to attract significant funding by bringing together experts from different fields of study. These joint efforts aim to address complex, large-scale challenges that require expertise from many disciplines. Notable examples include: 

Institute of Transportation Studies

Demonstrating EV Submetering Solutions 

The project aims to fund the development and demonstration of a flexible submetering solution, utilizing embedded submeters within electric vehicle supply equipment and customer-owned external submeters, enabling vehicle-grid integration benefits while reducing the costs associated with utility-grade meters. Led by Gil Tal, director of the Electric Vehicle Research Center and a professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, and funded by the California Energy Commission, the project will assess the technical and economic feasibility of submetering for fleets, multi-unit dwellings, workplaces and public charging, paving the way for broader adoption across California. The team is working with four partner institutions: Powerflex, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County and the Community Environmental Council. 

UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory 

Understanding how marine plants respond to disease and temperature

Marine infectious diseases are increasing globally and leading to massive population declines. As climate change increases high-temperature thermal anomalies, researchers predict that variation in host upper thermal limits will determine short term and long-term disease responses. With funding from the National Science Foundation, principal investigator Anya Brown, assistant professor, and co-principal investigator Jay Stachwoicz, distinguished professor, both in the Department of Evolution and Ecology, will test how variation in the upper limits of hosts predict disease outcomes and the influence of disease on recovery in a marine plant, the eelgrass Zostera marina. The goal is to provide a framework to understand how prior disease exposure can modulate future responses to disease and temperature.

Tahoe Environmental Research Center 

Identifying low-oxygen conditions as a key driver of the lake’s decline 

Alexander Forrest, associate director of TERC and professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Clear Lake team are working to build and operate a Hypolimnetic Oxygenation System (HOS) in the Oaks Arm of Clear Lake, California, for one or possibly two seasons. The project is part of a restoration strategy to address the low-oxygen and oxygen-free conditions that can develop during warmer months and contribute to poor water quality.

Clear Lake is a vital community resource, providing drinking water, supporting tourism and recreation, sustaining Native American Tribes’ cultural activities, and serving as habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. To help improve these waters, the HOS will deliver pure oxygen from a land-based supply through diffusers into the lake’s deep waters, known as the hypolimnion. The study’s results will help the team evaluate whether this approach could be expanded across the lake, informing a path toward restoring Clear Lake.