Deadline: 31 October 2025
The ECIU member universities, to which UA belongs, have launched a Seed Programme to enhance collaboration and innovation among their partners, including travel grants and challenge-based research initiatives. Projects can last up to 24 months, and up to 13.000€ per project may be funded.
Topics & Types of Projects
The Seed Programme supports the implementation of a shared research and innovation (R&I) agenda through peer-to-peer training and engagement in international, cross-disciplinary, and intersectoral collaboration among ECIU researchers, which is currently focused on the five research fields.
- Citizen Science
- Energy and Sustainability
- Circular Economy
- Transport and Mobility
- Resilient Communities
You have two different types of schemes to apply:
- Blended Mobility to Create Networks (Seed Programme 1 – SP 1) to promote inter-institutional collaboration through the blended exchange of R&I staff to create new networks. Its supported activities include:
- 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.
2. Seed Projects (Seed Programme 2 – SP 2) to promote inter-institutional and intersectoral R&I seed projects linked to shared challenges in the involved regional ecosystems, focusing on existing collaborations.
Both actions support the challenge-based approach of ECIU University by focusing on capacity-building activities to promote challenge-based research as an innovative, interdisciplinary way of doing research based on societal needs and in close collaboration with citizens and businesses.
Eligibility
The participation of PhDs and/or Master’s students is mandatory. Travel and subsistence costs of regional external stakeholders are eligible.
Funding
For SP1, UA makes available a maximum of 7.000€ per project coordinated by UA and 5.000€ per project with the participation of UA. A maximum of 2 projects will be funded, independently of the research fields.
For SP2, UA makes available a maximum of 13.000€ per project coordinated by UA and 10.000€ per project with the participation of UA. A maximum of 3 projects will be funded, independently of the research fields.
Additional information
You also have a mobility fund of up to 5.000€ per stay at an ECIU partner. Researcher Mobility Fund is generally open to all disciplines, with preferences given to applications addressing the common research fields under the UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Sustainable cities and communities). The funding covers travel costs (e.g., bus, train and flight tickets) and associated subsistence costs (e.g., accommodation and travel allowance). If experiments are planned, coverage of lab costs (including access) must be agreed upon between participating member institutions before the mobility. Applicants are obliged to have a minimum stay of 5 working days (excluding travel days). This call is not presently open, but you should bear this mechanism in mind.
Additional information on how to apply to the seed programme can be found here. For more details on the ECIU Researcher Mobility Fund, please see here. If you have questions, contact Vera Fernandes, from the Research Support Office of UA (GAI).