Community-Partnered Action Research Pilot Program (CARPP)

Issued by: ECO-Health and the UC Center for Climate, Health and Equity (CCHE)
Funding amount: Three awards of up to $30,000 each
Project period: September 15, 2026 – September 14 , 2027

I. Program Purpose & Focus
 

The ECO-Health Center and CCHE invite proposals for the Community-Partnered Action Research Pilot Program (CARPP). This program is designed to support community-based and university-based researchers as they foster or deepen collaborative relationships, co-develop research questions, collect and analyze data, interpret findings, and share results.  Projects should aim to advance community co-developed, solutions-oriented climate and health research, broadly defined. Applicants are encouraged to describe how communities themselves define meaningful priorities, outcomes, or pathways toward action.

The ECO-Health Community Engagement Team will organize activities to cultivate and sustain CARPP partnerships, the implementation of their studies, and dissemination of their findings.  The Community Engagement Team is also happy to facilitate partnerships between community-based and academic-based researchers, please reach out to Annemarie Charlesworth [email protected] with a subject line of CARPP technical assistance, by June 22 for help with this. Please see the ECO-Health website for information about our center.

Priority Research Areas

Projects can address any topic related to the scope of extreme weather, including weather-related natural disasters and emerging weather-related harms in California, including the following:
 

  • Wildfires, severe storms, drought, floods, and heatwaves
  • Extremes in temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind velocity, and other meteorological variables
  • Downstream influence of extreme weather on health

For additional context and information, please see this link to learn about areas that the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which provides support to ECO-Health and this pilot study program, is funding on this topic.  Applicants are encouraged to consider potential for future funding to build on this work. We recognize that work developed here may be also suitable for further support from other funders. 

Projects are intended to produce pilot data to support subsequent research proposals focusing on extreme weather and health. As such, funded partnerships will be invited to participate in a series of 3 research planning seminars to begin to develop grant proposals based on their pilot research.  These seminars will be facilitated by ECO-Health investigators.

II. Key Dates and Eligibility

Milestone

Key Dates

Proposal Submission deadline

July 17th, 2026

Award Notifications

August 14th, 2026

Project Period

September 15th, 2026-September 14th, 2027

Final Report Due

October 1st, 2027

Applications should include both community and academic collaborators, who will serve as Co-Principal Investigators. Both partners are required to participate jointly in project leadership and co-development of the proposed work. Applications are welcome from both established community-academic partnerships and newer collaborations seeking to build or strengthen equitable community-engaged research relationships. For academic researchers, postdoctoral scholars, junior faculty and established faculty new to health and EWE may apply.
 

Eligible community partners include: 

  • Government agencies (such as local Departments of Public Health and school districts)

  • Federally recognized tribal governments, departments, health organizations, and Urban Indian Health Programs; and

  • Nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), or 170(c)(1) tax-exempt IRS status.

Examples of eligible organizations include:

  • Health, social service, and other community-based organizations;

  • Faith-based organizations;

  • Voluntary associations, civic and citizen groups; and

  • Tribal health and community-serving organizations.

Eligible academic partners must be affiliated with the UC system, have PI status, and can include:

  • Faculty, including Junior faculty (Assistant Level) or senior faculty new to EWE and Health

  • Post-docs


III. Application Components (3 pg. max, plus abstract)

Section

Max Length

Content Focus

1. Abstract

300 words

Plain language abstract for a general audience: Community need, research question, hypothesis, and potential community/policy impact.

2. Background & Significance

 

 

3 pages

 

Identification of the literature and data gap and relevance to policy or practice.

3. Methods & Data Utilization

Study design, specific datasets to be used, or primary data collection methods, analytical approach, and timeline

4. Partnership Development, Community Engagement, & Mentoring Plan (for ESI’s) 

Qualifications of the Community and Academic Co-PIs, including existing or proposed partnerships. Describe plans for relationship-building, shared decision-making, and collaborative dissemination (including key intended audiences) throughout the project period. Applicants should describe how community perspectives and priorities are driving the proposed work. 

5. Expected Outcomes & Dissemination

Deliverables (i.e, publication, policy brief, educational outreach materials), dissemination strategy (academic, policy, community outreach).

All applicants must submit a single PDF by the deadline, in NIH formatting guidelines. 

A. Required Attachements (Outside Page Limit)

  • Budget and Justification (1 page max)
  • Resume, CV or Bio-sketch (for academic and community lead partners, 5 pates max each, whatever is most appropriate for each partner)
  • Letter of Support, if applicable. Postdoctoral applicants should include a brief letter of support from faculty mentor confirming institutional support and access to mentorship or resources relevant to community-engaged research.
  • IRB documentation must be provided for funds to be released, if applicants will be doing primary data colleciton with human subjects. 


IV. Review Criteria and Budget

Applications will be evaluated by ECO-Health and CCHE reviewers. Applications may also be reviewed by Community Advisory Board (CAB) members to assess community relevance.


A. Review Criteria

Criterion

Community need

Scientific rigor & innovation

Partnership development plan

Policy/practice relevance

Feasibility within timeline

Community engagement plan 

B. Budget Guidelines ($30,000/directs Maximum)

Category

 

Examples might include:

Personnel

Research assistant stipends, community researcher compensation, support for academic salary.

Data & Technology

Software licenses, computing, data acquisition.

Dissemination

Conference fees, community meetings, open-access publication fees.

Training/Capacity

Workshop attendance, skill-building for partners.

Indirect Costs

Not allowed for UCSF

If applicable, calculated at time of funding. F&A rates must be documented.

***Please note: Budgets must include a detailed cost breakdown of funding going to both community and academic partners as well as any cost-sharing commitments. Budget requests may include support for partnership development activities, community engagement, collaborative planning meetings, and compensated community participation. 

C. Funding Restrictions. Funds may not be used for:

  • Capital expenditures;

  • Debt reduction;

  • Entertainment; (excluding modest meeting related expenses, such as light refreshments)

  • Indirect expenses that cannot be directly tied to the project;

  • Lobbying;

  • Projects conducted outside of California; and,

  • Reimbursement solely for patient care or clinical service delivery. These services may be reimbursed if they are a direct and necessary component of the broader project.

 

V. Submission and Reporting 

A. Submission Instructions

  • Full Proposals: Applicants will submit full proposals as a single PDF (including all components) by July 17th, 2026, to the following email: [email protected]

B. Reporting Requirements: Awardees must submit a final report (5 pages max) summarizing findings, policy implications, and data/code sharing documentation by October 1st, 2027. All resulting publications and presentations must acknowledge support from ECO-Health and CCHE.

***Please note: Awardees will receive periodic follow-up communications from the ECO-Health Community Engagement team, including brief email check-ins and progress report touchpoints during the award period. We also ask that recipients notify us of any publications or products resulting from the grant, and we are happy to provide follow-up support during the writing or dissemination process.