EPIC-Lang Pedagogical Grant

Information about grants for the 2022-23 academic year coming soon.
Introduction

The Excellence in Pedagogy and Innovative Classrooms (EPIC) Program funds two grant opportunities for faculty and graduate students under EPIC-Lang(uage), a set of initiatives that expands EPIC’s goal to support and promote language instruction. 

We invite proposals to support individual or team (three-person maximum) projects that enhance the theories and best practices for language instruction in higher education through inclusive and innovative approaches. Special consideration will be given to proposals facilitating cross-discipline collaboration and those producing sustainable and online resources and cross-language templates. 

EPIC-Lang Pedagogical Grant Recipients

Congratulations to our EPIC-Lang Pedagogical Grant recipients! Click below for a list of recipient names and project titles for our two funding cycles from the 2021-22 academic year.

Pedagogical Grants for Individual Projects

Individual grants fund projects focusing on developing smaller-scale teaching interventions or innovations for language instruction that can be adapted and implemented across multiple languages. Inclusive and equitable teaching practices must be fully integrated into each project and proposal. Special considerations will be made for projects that enhance online/remote teaching or distance learning pedagogy. 

Award Amount 

$1500 professional development grant per grantee

Eligibility
  • Faculty and instructors, including Unit 18 lecturers, from the Humanities and the Departments of History and Musicology. 
  • Current full-time graduate students in good academic standing. Graduate student applicants are required to work with a faculty advisor (see below for details).
Application Review and Project Duration

Applications will be reviewed twice during the academic year, once in the winter and once in the spring quarter. See below for deadlines.

Projects approved during the winter quarter must conclude by June 30, 2022. Those approved in the spring must conclude by July 29, 2022.

Pedagogical Grants for Collaborative Projects

Team projects focus on developing larger-scale pedagogical interventions or innovations by a team of up to three persons. Projects must utilize inclusive and equitable teaching practices and encourage collaboration across disciplines and/or languages. We encourage projects that are enhanced by instructional technology or utilize technology in effective ways, especially for remote/online teaching or distance learning.

Award Amount 
  • $1500 professional development grant per grantee
  • Additionally, teams may request up to $2000 for equipment, soft/hardware, materials, and other project-related expenses by submitting a budget proposal with the proposal narrative (see below for details).
    • Per university policy, computer hardware and/or other equipment purchased from the proposed budget will remain the property of UCLA and the EPIC program after completion of the project.
Eligibility
  • Faculty, including Unit 18 lecturers from the Humanities and the Departments of History and Musicology. 
  • Current full-time graduate students in good academic standing may apply as part of a team with at least one faculty member.
Application Review and Project Duration

Applications will be reviewed twice during the academic year, once in the winter and once in the spring quarter. See below for deadlines.

Projects approved during the winter quarter must conclude by June 30, 2022. Those approved in the spring must conclude by July 29, 2022.

General Award Terms

The following terms apply to both individual and collaborative projects:

  • Grant funds must be applied toward direct and indirect costs to complete the proposed project. In cases where teams apply, additional funds requested are subject to the evaluation committee’s determination and availability of funds.
  • Grant funds cannot be applied as income or to support course buy-out, personal research, sabbatical, or summer employment. Team project proposals must clearly show funding is applied to the purchase of equipment, software, consultations, and the development of materials.
  • Grantees must participate in mid-project check-in by providing a written progress report and, if needed, a live consultation session with EPIC.
  • Grantees may request support from EPIC at any point throughout the duration of the project. 
  • If required, the applicant obtains and provides proof of IRB approval/exemption or other regulatory programs: “Any research that involves either the participation of human subjects or the use of human biological specimens, medical charts, or databases with identifying information about humans is considered to be human subject research and requires review.” (See here to determine if IRB is required.)
Submissions Process

One set of application materials per project; this also applies to teams proposing collaborative projects. All applications must contain the following:

  • Completed application form for faculty or graduate students.
  • Proposal narrative that includes:
    • Name(s), department, and rank/title of all applicants. 
    • A detailed description of the project and timeline. 
    • Information on how the project advances innovative language instruction and enhances inclusivity and equity.
    • Description of shareable materials to be added to a resource repository for language instructors.
  • For collaborative projects requesting additional funds only: a detailed budget breakdown with brief descriptions of budget line items.
  • For individual graduate student applicants only: a letter of support from a UCLA faculty project advisor.
Post-Award Commitments
  • Recipients will submit a final report that summarizes their project goals and evaluates the outcomes within 60 days of the project’s end. Team projects must also include a final budget with a breakdown of all expenses.
  • Grantees will notify the EPIC Administration of any publications or additional funding received for their project; additionally, grantees agree to acknowledge the program (i.e., “supported by the Mellon Foundation through the EPIC-Lang Grant at UCLA”) in circumstances where their project is presented through academic publications and conferences.
  • All materials produced and materials purchased belong to the grantees at their project’s end; however, a copy of materials developed must be submitted to EPIC to share as a resource for instructors, students, and the broader community and public-at-large.
  • EPIC may contact grantees post-project to request additional project-related information and participation in EPIC-sponsored events, including the EPIC-Lang Grant Symposium.
  • Return any hardware and equipment purchased included in the budget to EPIC and UCLA.
EPIC-Lang Project Ideas

Below is a list of possible projects for the EPIC-Lang Grant. We do, however, encourage applicants to propose creative and inclusive projects that promote continued innovation in language instruction.

  • Templates for online assessments, language-specific online placement tests, level-appropriate specific projects 
  • Rubrics for PBLL
  • Adapting UDL and Differentiated Instruction to university-level language classes
  • Teaching and learning for heritage students, non-Roman scripts, intercomprehension, translanguaging 
  • Remote teaching modules
  • Developing EDI language course and syllabus