Until 15 October 2024, researchers from ECIU members can submit proposals for the two actions of the Seed Programme to initiate new or strengthen existing research collaborations. The Seed Programme has two action lines: SP 1: Blended Mobility to Create Networks and SP 2: Seed Projects.

The new Seed Programme 1 (SP 1) promotes inter-institutional collaboration through the blended exchange of research and innovation staff to create new networks or leverage existing networks in the five strategic research fields. The Seed Programme 2 (SP 2) focuses on setting up new or strengthening existing R&I projects linked to shared challenges in the regional ecosystems involved. For this action, ECIU University invites researchers to apply the challenge-based approach.

The following nine ECIU member universities make funding available for their own researchers to get involved in Seed Programme 1 and Seed Programme 2: Dublin City University; Kaunas University of Technology; Linköping University; Tampere University; Łodz University of Technology; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Universidade de Aveiro and University of Twente. Researchers from Institut National des Sciences Appliquées can request funding for the Seed Programme 2.

The applying team needs to involve researchers from at least three ECIU members. The Principal Investigator must be affiliated with the coordinator institution and have a doctoral degree. If you have an idea and are looking for collaborators, you can connect with colleagues in the ECIU R&I Hub and stay up to date on funding for your research (http://bit.ly/3V2VUIZ).

The call is open to disciplines welcoming the diverse expertise of early-career researchers and established academics. ECIU members recognize the important contributions of external stakeholders, who are offered the opportunity to receive funding to participate in the seed programmes. The participation of Master and PhD students is not only encouraged but for some ECIU members even mandatory, underlining the value we place on their involvement. Therefore, checking the detailed funding rules and available funding for each ECIU member when applying for funding is important.

Example for previous projects funded in the Seed Programme in the context of the ECIU SMART-ER project can be found here.

Researchers can apply via a central application form until 15 October 2024. Applicants will be informed of the evaluation results in December 2024. The potential starting date for the projects is 1 February 2025. Projects in both programmes can last up to 24 months and should finish with a roadmap to attract external funding.

For questions on institutional funding, please get in touch with your local contact person. You can find the list of your local contact person on the bottom of the Seed Programme page.

As a third tool to build research collaboration among all ECIU members, the ECIU members continue offering their own researchers travel grants of up to 5.000 EUR per stay at an ECIU partner. To apply for the ECIU Researcher Mobility Fund, please follow the guidelines provided on the ECIU website.

For general questions about the seed programme and Research & Innovation in ECIU, please contact research.innovation@eciu.eu.