University of California San Francisco
Office of
Collaborative Research

Funding & SupportParnassus Community Fund

Parnassus InstitutesCohort 2Restricted · Parnassus-based

Build a community of communities.

Grants of up to $5,000 for bold, connective ideas that break silos between the research institutes at Parnassus: cross-institute events, art and wellness experiences, storytelling, new models of mentorship and leadership, and outreach to the wider San Francisco community.

Formally: Parnassus Institutes Community Fund

PartnerOffered by the Parnassus Institutes. OCR helps applicants prepare and supports recipients.

What you receive

Funding, a year to run it, and help when you need it.

  1. 01

    Up to $5,000

    Funding for one project. The committee sets the final amount against the decision guidelines; most proposals fall between $1,000 and $5,000.

  2. 02

    Twelve months

    Projects run up to a year from award, and can be shorter. Awardees own the project end to end.

  3. 03

    Light-touch support

    Logistics and communications help from Lily Ortiz and research program admins, if you need it.

  4. 04

    A path to scale

    Strong projects are amplified as models other units, and UCSF more broadly, can adopt.

Parnassus Institutes

Partner with at least three.

Projects must involve three or more Parnassus Institutes. Priority goes to projects that include sponsoring institutes. Struggling to find partners? Apply anyway; strong ideas can get help making connections.

Sponsoring institutes · priority

Six sponsors

Including any of these gives a proposal priority.

  • ImmunoX
  • Benioff Center for Microbiome Medicine (BCMM)
  • Institute for Human Genetics (IHG)
  • Broad Stem Cell Center
  • Diabetes Center at UCSF
  • UCSF Musculoskeletal Center

Participating institutes

Seven more programs

Each counts toward the three-institute minimum.

  • Bakar Aging Research Institute (BARI)
  • Gladstone–UCSF Institute for Genomic Immunology
  • iMicro
  • CoLabs
  • Craniofacial Biology
  • Lung Science Center
  • Health Innovation via Engineering (HIVE)

Eligibility

Who should apply

  • Faculty, staff, and trainees based at Parnassus
  • Cross-program and interdisciplinary collaborations across schools, institutes, or departments
  • Teams able to complete the project within 12 months of award
  • Membership in a sponsoring institute is not required

What we fund

Ideas that connect across boundaries

  • Interdisciplinary, cross-institute events, programs, or storytelling sessions
  • Campus-wide art, wellness, or movement-based experiences
  • Communications campaigns and public engagement
  • Experiments in co-leadership, shared governance, or mentorship across ranks
  • Collaborative exhibits, zines, or oral history projects rooted in Parnassus
  • Outreach that builds bridges between UCSF and the San Francisco community

How to apply

From first conversation to launch.

  1. Step 01

    Find partners

    Line up at least three Parnassus Institutes, ideally including sponsors. Jo Williams can help make introductions.

  2. Step 02

    Apply

    Submit the online form with a summary, budget, and timeline.

  3. Step 03

    Review

    Committee members recommend accept, revise and resubmit, or reject, and may send questions first.

  4. Step 04

    Run and report

    Attend orientation, deliver the project within 12 months, and send a short summary within three weeks of finishing.

What to prepare

Templates for the budget and timeline are linked above.

  • 01A summary of up to 200 words: the project and how it serves the Parnassus Institutes community
  • 02A budget with the expected cost breakdown
  • 03A timeline of major activities and the number of events, covering materials, outreach, delivery, evaluation, and the final report
  • 04The Parnassus community the project will benefit most
  • 05The three or more Parnassus Institutes taking part

Review

How proposals are judged

The Parnassus Institutes Community Fund Committee reviews each proposal. Committee members declare any conflicts of interest and weigh whether the proposal:

  1. 01Identifies and fills a need or gap in the Parnassus Institutes community experience
  2. 02Is advertised to, and attracts participation from, multiple Parnassus Institutes
  3. 03Is feasible legally, financially, technically, and in scheduling
  4. 04Fits the Community Fund budget, usually $1,000 to $5,000
  5. 05Includes a detailed and reasonable budget

If selected

What we ask of recipients

These opportunities build shared resources, so they come with a few commitments.

  • Send at least one team member to the awardee orientation
  • Complete the project within 12 months of award
  • Submit reimbursements to the Community Manager in the third or fourth week of each month, with the form and receipts in a single file
  • Send a short final summary (bullets, photos, short narrative) within three weeks of completion

In accordance with Federal and State law and University policy, the University of California does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, health, or disability.

Questions

Common questions

No. Projects that include sponsoring institutes as participants are given priority.

Other opportunities

Feb 2026Biospecimen Pipeline SupportUp to a quarter of an OCR clinical research coordinator's time for a year, to launch or expand a clinical biospecimen stream.Learn more →RollingAI Tools Open CallPropose an AI tool that would speed up your research. If it fits, OCR's team builds it with you.Learn more →1 per yearResearch Plan ReviewOne complimentary review a year of a research plan from an early-career investigator outside our partner programs.Learn more →May 2026Hellman Clinical-Translational AwardUp to $100,000 for physician-scientists to embed with OCR or a CoLab and profile clinical samples.Learn more →RollingData Library Analysis SupportSupport to pursue new questions in the UCSF Data Library and build analysis tools others can use.Learn more →RollingSabbatical Assistance GrantUp to $25,000 to host a visiting scientist at UCSF, or to support your own sabbatical elsewhere.Learn more →

Before you apply

Talk through your idea with us.

We can tell you which opportunity fits, who to bring on as mentors or sponsors, and what makes a proposal competitive. A short email is enough to start.

Funding consult
Talk through your application
JW
You'll meet with
Jo Williams
Parnassus Community Manager
Ask about this opportunity
jo.williams@ucsf.edu · or ocr@ucsf.edu