Cal State Fullerton secured nearly $31.5 million in extramural grants and contracts during the 2025-26 fiscal year, with foundation and nonprofit organizations playing an increasingly important role in supporting the university’s research, educational and community impact efforts.
The 88 awards received during the year funded projects ranging from STEM education and scientific discovery to public health, economic development and cultural scholarship.
While federal agencies remained CSUF’s largest source of external funding, support from foundation and nonprofit organizations accounted for approximately 20% of the university’s extramural funding portfolio. This represents a significant increase from the previous fiscal year and reflects the important role philanthropic organizations play in supporting the university’s mission.
“The increase in foundation and nonprofit support reflects the confidence external partners have in the work being done across Cal State Fullerton,” said Binod Tiwari, associate vice president for research and sponsored programs. “These partnerships are helping faculty and staff advance innovative projects, expand opportunities for students and address needs in the communities we serve.”
Among the year’s largest awards was a $7 million grant from the Samueli Foundation supporting the Samueli STEM Regional Partnership Project, which aims to strengthen STEM pathways and regional collaboration. The Mellon Foundation also awarded $1 million to support the Latinx Lab for Storytelling and Social Justice, expanding opportunities for research, scholarship and creative activity focused on Latinx communities.
Notable awards received during the fiscal year include:
- $7 million from the Samueli Foundation for the Samueli STEM Regional Partnership Project (Megan Drangstveit, director of Project RAISE)
- $3,193,520 from Orange County Interests for the Development of Demographic Data & Support Products (Deborah Diep, director of the Center for Demographic Research)
- $3,034,672 from the U.S. Small Business Administration for the Orange County Inland Empire Small Business Development Center (Michael Daniel, director of the Small Business Development Center)
- $1,809,610 from the U.S. Department of Education for the TRIO Student Support Services Program (Alyssa Hernandez, director of TRIO Student Support Services)
- $1 million from the Mellon Foundation for the Latinx Lab for Storytelling and Social Justice (Gabriela Nuñez, associate dean for student relations in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and associate professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies)
- $760,617 from the National Science Foundation for the International Gravitational-Wave Observatory Network (Joshua Smith, professor of physics)
- $568,000 from the National Institutes of Health for determining the role of lysine acetylation in alternative pre-mRNA splicing regulation (Niroshika Monerawila Keppetipola, chair and professor of chemistry and biochemistry)
- $550,960 from the University of California San Diego for the Digital Mixed Methods to Assess the Impact of Flavored Tobacco Product Prohibitions in California (Joshua Yang, professor of public health)
- $500,000 from Google LLC for PRISM Hub: Preparing Educators to Infuse Statistics, Math and AI (Bridget Druken, professor of mathematics)
In addition to external funding, CSUF continued to invest in faculty and student research and creative activities through its intramural funding programs. During the 2025-26 fiscal year, the university provided more than $2.3 million in internal funding to support research, scholarship and creative activities across disciplines.
More than $1.1 million was dedicated to student-focused research programs, including $700,000 for Enhancing Graduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities, $321,000 for the Summer Undergraduate Research Academy and $110,000 for UROC Fellowships, providing undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to engage in research and creative projects alongside faculty mentors.
The university also invested nearly $800,000 through its Intramural Research Grants program, supporting faculty research and creative activities across a wide range of disciplines.
Beyond direct research funding, CSUF continued investing in research development activities designed to increase future grant success. Through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, 64 faculty members participated in the Grant Writing Academy, which received nearly $200,000 in support from the university’s federal capacity-building initiative. The program helps faculty strengthen proposal development skills and compete for external funding opportunities.
“These awards and investments support CSUF’s commitment to expanding externally funded research and scholarly activity, a key objective of Fullerton Forward,” Tiwari said. “This progress reflects the collaborative efforts of faculty, staff, students and community partners, along with the dedicated work of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs team in helping develop opportunities, build partnerships and support projects from proposal to impact.”
CSUF reported more than $39 million in research and development expenditures through the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development Survey, a measure of research activity that captures the work occurring across laboratories, classrooms and community partnerships throughout the university.
“Growth happens over time,” Tiwari said. “By strengthening our partnerships and investing in people, we’re helping position CSUF for future opportunities.”
For more information about grants and contracts at Cal State Fullerton, visit the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs website.