Status: Open
Extended Deadline: 15 October 2024

Seed Programme

Our two actions in the Seed Programme

The ECIU member universities have launched a Seed Programme to enhance collaboration and innovation among their partners, including travel grants and challenge-based research initiatives.

Our Two Seed Programmes

Seed Programme 1
Blended Mobility to Create Networks

To promote inter-institutional collaboration through the blended exchange of research and innovation staff to create new networks or leverage existing networks.

Seed Programme 2
Seed Projects

The focus of the Seed Programme 2 is on setting up new or strengthening existing R&I projects linked to shared challenges in the involved regional ecosystems. For this action, ECIU University invites researchers to apply the challenge-based approach.


As a third tool, to build up research collaboration across all the member universities, the ECIU offers travel grants up to 5.000 EUR per stay at an ECIU partner. For more details on the ECIU Researcher Mobility Fund please see: ECIU Researcher Mobility Fund.

ECIU University understands the following when referring to challenge-based research (CBR – see our paper: Challenge-based Research for a Stronger and More Sustainable Europe):

Challenge-based research (CBR) is research undertaken with partners from business, education, government, civil society and citizens, using the challenges they face in reality as a point of departure, to arrive at implementable solutions to these challenges. Challenge-Based Research is strongly related to the concept of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), which implies that the different stakeholders (research staff, citizens, companies, etc.) work together throughout the research and innovation process, to better align the results with the values and needs of society.

Participating ECIU Members

The following nine ECIU member universities have made funding available for their researchers to get involved in Seed Programme 1 and Seed Programme 2.

Compare the two actions
in the Seed Programme

Blended Mobility to Create Networks      

Seed Projects

The Aim

  • To support for the development of networks based on a joint research and innovation plan to work on future collaborative proposals (EU or other funding programmes) and to provide answers to urban/regional challenges in the five strategic research fields.
  • To share knowledge via blended mobility (secondments of research and innovations staff combined with peer in virtual environment).

The Aim

  • To initiate or strengthen interinstitutional and Intersectoral R&I seed projects linked to challenges of the regional ecosystems.
  • To support the development of research and innovation activities aiming at solving real-life challenges identified by the surrounding communities/citizens. Priority is given to interregional challenges.

Supported Activities

  • To exploit complementary competences.
  • To Enable networking experiences.
  • To promote and increase the concept of citizen science.
  • To develop communication and dissemination events to reinforce the impact of the ECIU research agenda amongst the communities.

Supported Activities

  • To exploit complementary competences contributing to tackling the challenges

Eligibility Criteria

  • Please check the financial table for the specific criteria set by individual institutions.
  • KTU, TAU, UAveiro, UAB and UT: the Participation of MA and/or PhD students is mandatory.
  • External stakeholders: LiU, TAU, UAB and UAveiro can fund travel and subsistence costs for external stakeholders in SP 1.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Please check the financial table for the specific criteria set by individual institutions ink to the funding rules SP 1 and SP 2)
  • KTU, TAU, UAVeiro, UAB and UT: the Participation of MA and/or PhD students is mandatory.
  • External stakeholders: INSA, LiU, TAU, UAB and UAveiro can fund travel and subsistence costs for external stakeholders in SP 2.

Funding

  • Each of the current nine participating ECIU institutions have defined a maximum available funding amount for their participating researchers (see funding rules).
  • Please check the amounts in the table and consult with your institutional contact person for financial questions.

Funding

  • Each of the current nine participating ECIU institutions have defined a maximum available funding amount for their participating researchers (see funding rules).
  • Please check the amounts in the table and consult with your institutional contact person for financial questions.

Duration of the Proposed Projects

  • Projects can last up to 24 months

Duration of the Proposed Projects

  • Projects can last up to 24 months

Deadline for Submission of the Project Proposal

  • Extended to 15 October 2024

Deadline for Submission of the Project Proposal

  • Extended to 15 October 2024

Application Process

Application Process

Budget Template

Budget Template

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Process

  • The evaluation panel will consist of evaluators from the participating institutions and come together in November 2024.
  • Applicants will be expectedly informed about the results in December 2024.
  • 1 February 2025: Potential starting date for the projects

Evaluation Process

  • The evaluation panel will consist of evaluators from the participating institutions and come together in November 2024.
  • Applicants will be expectedly informed about the results in December 2024.
  • 1 February 2025: Potential starting date for the project

Final Report

  • Each project needs to submit a technical report indicating how to sustain the initiated activities, for example by an external funding roadmap (download template).

Final Report

  • Each project needs to submit a technical report indicating how to sustain the initiated activities, for example by an external funding roadmap (download template).

Guidelines

  • You can find the complete guidelines for the seed programme here.

Guidelines

  • You can find the complete guidelines for the seed programme here.

Contact for Questions about the Programme

  • research.innovation@eciu.eu

Contact for Questions about the Programme

  • research.innovation@eciu.eu

Apply now

Apply now

Institutional Contacts
for Questions around Internal Funding

Universidade de Aveiro

Vera Fernandes

Science and Technology Officer

Universitat A. Barcelona

Begoña Miñarro Vivas

Project Manager Strategic Projects

Dublin City
University

Amy Hall

Senior European Research Development Officer

Contact
Linköping
University

Johanna Persson Thor

Senior Coordinator

Contact
Lodz University of Technology

Agnieszka Dybała-Defratyka

Director of Science Support Center

INSA
Group

Anaïs Moulis

Administrative assistant to the Vice-Rector for Research

Contact
Kaunas University of Technology

Gitana Marmaite

Administrative Assistant to the Vice-Rector

Contact
Tampere
University

Jõrg Langwaldt

Senior Specialist

University of Twente

Flavia Carvalho de Souza

Project Officer

Contact