Seed funding for research on Sustainable Development
The WUN network launches a call to support the initation of collaborative projects. Projects led by early career researchers are especially encouraged.
UNIL is a member of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN). The network runs the Research Development Fund (RDF) which supports the initiation of collaborative research under the network’s principal research theme of sustainable development.
For the 2024 RDF call, WUN encourages proposals that address problems in one or more of the following areas:
- social justice and human rights; inequality
- sustainable world: cities and urbanization; energy transitions; water, and food security
- mental health; child and maternal health; ageing
- responsible and ethical applications of Artificial Intelligence
The Research Development Fund provides grants of up to GBP 10,000 for one year (a supplementary funding from the partner involved is possible). The project should engage at least three WUN member universities across at least two regions (North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania). The International Relations Office can help identify suitable partners if needed.
Synergies are possible with Interface - Funding for Collaborative Research. In case you are interested, please contact us to arrange a meeting.
At UNIL, members of the academic staff holding a doctorate can submit a project. Projects led by early career researchers are especially encouraged and will be given extra points during the review. Please note that UNIL academic staff can apply as principal investigator or as co-investigator. Proposals led by a UNIL principal investigator must be submitted to the UNIL International Relations Office via a pre-application form. The UNIL deadline to submit a project is 18 September 2024 at noon CET.
Two projects will be selected by UNIL, as WUN will support maximum two projects from each member university. There is no limit in the number of projects with UNIL co-investigators eligible for funding, though. The results of the UNIL evaluation will be communicated to the applicants as early as possible. Successful applicants will be required to expand their project description and to submit it via the WUN online application platform by 18 October 2024. WUN will then evaluate the projects. Awards will be announced by WUN on 13 December 2024 and the funds will be transferred in February 2025.
More details are available in the text of the call.
Mr Marc Pilloud is available to answer your questions during a meeting, or via email or phone (+41 21 692 20 23, except on Thursdays).
by Marc Pilloud (International Relations Office)