Population Health

Funding and awards

The Population Health Initiative either offers or cross-promotes a number of funding opportunities for undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty.

Undergraduate students

Recognition and travel awards are available through partnerships with Undergraduate Academic Affairs and the Odegaard Undergraduate Library. Undergraduates are also welcome to apply for Mary Gates scholarships.

Recognition awards are available for innovative, interdisciplinary and well-presented research ideas relevant to population health as part of the Undergraduate Research Symposium each spring. The awards were created in partnership with the Office of Undergraduate Research and are for students from all three campuses planning to present at the annual symposium.

Interested students will have the option to submit a 250-word description of how their research aligns with the theme of population health. Leaders of the Population Health Initiative will select standout applications, each of whom will receive a recognition gift with value of approximately $100.

Meet the 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 awardees.

The Population Health Initiative has partnered with the Office of Undergraduate Research to offer funding for travel awards. Requests for up to $750 will be considered for travel to conferences specific to population health.

Applicants from all three UW campuses will complete the normal travel award application. They will also be asked to submit a 250-word description of how their research aligns with the theme of population health. Leaders of the Population Health Initiative will review applications and offer their input into the selection of the awardees. Meet the 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2021-22 awardees.

Recognition awards of $250 each will be available for innovative, interdisciplinary or well-written research papers or creative projects relevant to population health. The awards are offered each spring in partnership with University Libraries as part of its Library Research Award for Undergraduates program.

Applicants from all three UW campuses will have the option to submit an additional 250-word description of how their research aligns with the theme of population health. Leaders of the Population Health Initiative will select standout applications.

Meet the 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 awardees.

The Mary Gates Endowment for Students provides financial support to undergraduates from all disciplines who are involved in research or leadership activities on campus or in the community.

Graduate students

We offer pilot awards to support research projects as well as travel awards for graduate students who have been accepted to present their work at a conference. Graduate students can also apply for travel awards through the Graduate School and Latino Center for Health, and for project funding through the UW’s Northwest Center for Public Health Practice.

The Population Health Initiative seeks to create a world where all people can live healthier and more fulfilling lives.

In support of that vision, the initiative is pleased to offer population health pilot research grants of up to $25,000 each to University of Washington graduate students and post-doctoral scholars.

Population Health Graduate Student Conference Travel Awards of up to $1,500 are available to further students’ academic, research, or professional goals as they strive to become the next generation of leaders in population health. The application periods were postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic and have not been restarted. Meet the 2017, 2018 and 2019 award winners.

These awards are open to graduate students on all three UW campuses who:

Are currently enrolled in a graduate or professional degree program.
Have been accepted to present a population health-related paper, poster, or exhibit, or to serve as an invited speaker, at a conference, symposium, or other professional and academic meeting. Students in the arts may request funding for invited performances or installations.

Applicants cannot apply for retroactive reimbursement for a conference or other meeting already attended. Travel expenses for this award will be reimbursed after being incurred, with the exception of airfare, which can be purchased in advance by working with the UW’s preferred travel agency.

In order to apply, an applicant must be nominated by a faculty member. Once nominated, applicants will receive an email with a link to their portion of the application. Students are encouraged to invite their faculty mentors to consider a nomination.

Applications will be reviewed by leaders of the Population Health Initiative to select successful applicants. Selection criteria include:

Quality of the application
Importance of participation in the conference to the applicant’s long-term goals
Demonstrated need for funding

Faculty Nomination Form

Graduate Funding Information Services (GFIS) works with current and admitted UW graduate students, helping them identify and locate funding opportunities for graduate school-related expenses including tuition, research, conference and research travel.

Students can visit GFIS during drop-in advising hours, schedule individual appointments or request information by email. Students can also visit the GFIS Funding Resources Guide and blog to learn about campus funding resources, databases, search strategies and events.

The UW Office of Postdoc Affairs supports the professional and career development of the university’s postdocs by supporting travel to professional meetings.

Limited funds are available each quarter to help postdocs defray some conference registration and travel costs under certain circumstances.

The Northwest Center for Public Health Practice supports health professions students in completing practice-based projects.

Stipends are distributed directly to students and are intended to help them defray living expenses during their hands-on training experience.

Awards of up to $3,500 are typically available.

Faculty

The Population Health Initiative offers pilot research grants to interdisciplinary teams of UW faculty who seek to address major challenges we face in population health. We also offer a Population Health Innovation Award in partnership with CoMotion.

The Population Health Initiative seeks to create a world where all people can live healthier and more fulfilling lives.

In support of that vision, the initiative is pleased to offer three tiers of population health pilot research grants ranging in size from $25,000 to $200,000 each to University of Washington faculty.

The Population Health Initiative partners every spring with CoMotion to offer a Population Health Innovation Award through its Innovation Fund.

The Population Health Innovation Award funds projects that both support the vision of the Population Health Initiative and fulfill CoMotion’s criteria of eventually becoming sustainable commercial or social ventures.

Funds of up to $40,000 will be awarded to researchers for direct project costs for 12 months, with an additional $10,000 for business development. All applicants must adhere to CoMotion’s application process. Details regarding the winning applications from 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 can be found by visiting our latest news page.

The Population Health Initiative seeks to accelerate the application of large language models and generative AI to seemingly intractable grand challenges in population health by issuing a special funding call for interdisciplinary projects that propose exploratory research that serves the public good.

In support of that goal, the initiative is pleased to offer a special spring funding call to support faculty and PI-eligible staff to develop preliminary data or proof-of-concept needed to pursue follow-on funding to scale one’s efforts. Awards of up to $100,000 per project will be available with a project period of up to 12 months. Applications are due by Friday, May 10, 2024.

The University of Washington’s Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute, CoMotion, Office of Global Affairs, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Institute of Translational Health Sciences and the Office of Research, as well as the Gates Foundation, also offer their own funding mechanisms that support similar work.

The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute seeks to stimulate and facilitate substance abuse research at the University of Washington. One way this is accomplished is through the Small Grants Program, which awards grants of up to $30,000 each to UW researchers for pilot studies and developmental research.

Substance abuse research is interpreted broadly to include everything from basic studies of the pharmacology of drugs of abuse to studies of clinical treatment strategies, prevention and social policy issues. Application deadlines are March and October 15.

CoMotion is the UW’s collaborative innovation hub, delivering the tools and connections that UW researchers and students need to accelerate the impact of their innovations.

The CoMotion Innovation Fund is a partnership between CoMotion and the Washington Research Foundation to provide up to $1 million per year for applied research. CoMotion also supports several competitions.

The UW Office of Global Affairs provides initial support for initiatives and programs that enhance the University’s global engagement and reach in areas such as population health.

Offers funding of up to $20,000, with awards covering up to 75% of the total program cost. The balance must be matched by departments.

Applications are accepted during Fall Quarter.

The UW’s Institute of Translational Health Sciences offers a variety of funding for novel, innovative and collaborative translational and clinical research.

Areas of specific focus include supporting junior investigators, incentivizing new collaborations, improving the conduct of clinical trial research and supporting collaborations between academic and community investigators.

Applications for funding are accepted at different time periods throughout the year.

The Royalty Research Fund, managed by the Office of Research, supports UW faculty seeking to establish new research programs.

These one-year awards of up to $40,000 are funded from royalty and licensing fee income generated by the University’s technology transfer program.

Submissions are accepted on the last Monday of September and the first Monday in March every year.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation seeks to foster early-stage discovery research through its Grand Challenges Explorations grants. Initial grants of $100,000 each are available, with projects that show promise eligible to receive additional funding of up to $1 million.

These grants are intended to grow the pipeline of ideas for solving the most challenging global health and development issues. Applicants can be at any experience level, in any discipline, and from any organization.