UNIC Announces Seed Fund for Engaged Research Initiatives

UPDATE: A second open call for UNIC Seed Funding was announced in May 2023 - see the new call details here.

UNIC, an alliance of ten universities impacting education, research, and community engagement to develop post-industrial cities, is announcing a call for applications to receive seed funding to tackle societal challenges in transitory economies and places that constitute a shared socio-economic environment of post-industrial transformations.

This funding is open to faculty and research faculty members (professors (of all levels), postdoctoral researchers, and Ph.D. candidates who are working across at least two of UNIC's 10 partner universities. A full list of partners can be found in the full call documents below, along with timelines, application procedures, and the fine print. 

Background and Research Scope:

UNIC researchers tackle societal challenges by involving and engaging citizens, civil society, public/city authorities, and private businesses in research and innovation activities. Engaged Research offers an interdisciplinary approach and method for systematic knowledge production not only for society but also together with society. 

In order to increase the amount of collaborative engaged research initiatives within the UNIC consortium and provide support to researchers to coordinate those initiatives, seed funds are allocated to the members of the Alliance.

What We're Looking For:

Collaborative UNIC engaged research initiatives relate to the societal challenges of post-industrial cities in transition. Initiatives are recommended to touch upon a challenge defined by our UNIC Cities. These challenges are related to e.g., Diversity & Inclusion, Green Cities & Sustainability, Urban Resilience & Transformation, Health & Well-being, Aging Population, Digital Transition through engaged research and aims to co-create knowledge through engaged research.

This seed fund is intended as small-scale support for engaged research collaboration and project development across all disciplines. This support should be considered as:

— A complementary resource to coordinate a collaborative project/initiative (such as an application for external funding for Research, development, or innovation project)

— An initial resource to implement an activity aimed at establishing a new collaborative initiative among UNIC partner universities that will help to develop a novel and solid research path, which could also be supported by an external grant afterward.

Application Procedure and Timeline

Approved proposals will be supported for at most 12 months with a budget according to the additional information provided by the university.

• Call opens: November 24, 2022
• Submission deadline: January 31, 2023 (23:50 local time)
• Evaluations and notification: February 28, 2023
• Start of financing: March 14, 2023

One of the aims of this fund is to enhance inclusivity and diversity within the UNIC consortium. Accordingly, a particular share of the fund is explicitly allocated to non-traditional scholars including junior researchers, first-generation academics, scholars with a migrant background, etc., who are strongly encouraged to apply.

A list of documents required, and other conditions, can be found in the full call document above, and on this resource hub here. The UNIC alliance looks forward to receiving many applications!