Call for proposals: UCG 4.0 (2025-26): Inequality, data, and democracy – School of Cities
The School of Cities welcomes proposals for its UCG 4.0 grant program that capitalize on innovative data sources to identify societal divides and/or suggest approaches to sustain democratic institutions.
School of Cities is particularly interested in research that deploys underutilized urban datasets – from big data like user-generated geographic information to crowdsourced or community-generated knowledge – and unique approaches to linking data or mixing methods.
Information sessions
Do you have questions about the UCG 4.0 grant program? They are hosting two online information sessions in December. Please register with research.sofc@utoronto.ca, specifying which session you will attend:
- Wednesday December 4th , 4 PM
- Tuesday December 10th ,12 PM
2025-26 UCG competition structure
In this round, School of Cities will be offering two funding tiers: Multidisciplinary Research Grants (up to $250,000) and Catalyst Grants (up to $50,000).
- Multidisciplinary Research Grants: Researchers applying in this tier should work in teams of two or more, representing at least two disciplines and with at least one senior (tenured) researcher on the team. Collaborations across U of T campuses are highly encouraged. Applicants may apply for up to $250,000 in grant funding.
- Catalyst Grants: Catalyst applicants can apply either alone or with other researchers. We encourage junior (untenured) faculty to include a senior faculty mentor on their team. Applicants may request up to $50,000 in grant funding.
The Principal Investigator must be an appointed faculty member at the University of Toronto (tenure or teaching stream). Preference will be given to faculty from disciplines previously underrepresented at the School of Cities.
Applications are due on January 13, 2025
