Overview
Frequently asked questions related to UCSF Hellman Fellowships eligibility, applications, and award money.
Eligibility
The awards are specifically directed toward promising faculty who are two or three years into their appointment, but being earlier or later in your appointment does not make you expressly ineligible. Your application will be more competitive the closer you are to the 2-3 year window in your appointment.
Other past or current funding does not make you ineligible, but may make your application less competitive. Any extramural grant that is substantially larger than the Hellman award (i.e., $100K+) will reduce preference for your application. Specifically, applicants that hold:
- Any K-award (KL2, K12, K23, K01, K08) are unlikely to be competitive
- R01 or equivalent (U01, K99/R00, DP1, DP2, R35) are highly unlikely to be competitive
- R21s may be less competitive
- R03s will likely be competitive
Start-up funds do not make you expressly ineligible, but will make your application much less competitive.
Yes.
No, only full-time faculty members are eligible.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fellowships
No. DEI Fellowships are for applicants of any racial or ethnic background who demonstrate outstanding contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion at UCSF and who propose projects that advance health equity for underrepresented groups.
Hellman Fellowships, DEI or otherwise, must have a research component. Past contributions to DEI do not need to have been in research, but must have occurred at UCSF.
Application Materials
No. This is a very popular and competitive award; the review committee will only review and take into consideration the materials requested. If an additional letter of support is included, three will be chosen at random to review.
Letters are not restricted to solely UCSF faculty. They should be, but are not required to be, academic letters of support. It is worth noting that UCSF faculty are more likely to be able to comment fully on challenges in our institution's environment.
No, her relationship with the Hellman family constitutes a conflict of interest.
Yes, electronic signatures are acceptable.
Budget requests over $50K require additional justification. They may also be less likely to be funded; this will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Your proposal needs to include details of your intended research and outcomes; it can be “big picture” if it includes these essential elements. Please see the Review Criteria in the announcement for the best guidance for how your proposal will be reviewed.
No.
Award Money
Funds cannot be used to replace state-funded faculty salary, but may be used to replace other mechanisms of salary support. Research staff salary is allowable. Please make sure to include both salary and fringe.
Budget should include direct costs only.
No.
Yes.
No.
Additional Questions
Please contact us.