CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

CIVIS context 

CIVIS – Europe’s Civic University Alliance connects 11 European and 6 African research-oriented universities, which jointly design educational offers, foster mobility of staff and students, and promote a socially engaged academy. 

Scope: seed funding for African-European research collaborations 

This seed funding call is aimed at initiating new collaborative research projects within CIVIS and/or at preparing applications to larger research grants (e.g. European calls), in any of the five CIVIS thematic hubs:

• Climate, Environment, Energy

• Society, Culture, Heritage

• Health

• Cities, Spaces, Mobilities

• Digital & Technological Transformation

Two categories of supported activities

• New collaborative research activities, such as but not limited to:

• Doctoral schools or other training measures for PhD students 

• Workshops or topical schools on a research question 

• Network meetings for establishing a research group within CIVIS

• Network meetings for reaching out to non-academic stakeholders 

• Workshops for preparing a larger publication on research outcomes (pay attention to the fact that the project cannot cover publication cost).

• Citizen science projects

• Application design measures, such as but not limited to:

• Meetings of potential or designated applicants/consortium members

• Meetings of the writing team

• Visits of the PI and/or other key participants to (potential) consortium members

Since these application design measures must aim at preparing an application for a larger research grant, the applicants will clearly state how the envisioned activities will lead to a fully-fledged research grant and which funding programme and/or call they target. 

Whocanapply?

• Faculty members from all CIVIS member universities can apply, except from the University of Tübingen (UT) which cannot provide any funding for the 2025 edition of the call.

• Applicants must be permanent faculty members or employees with a long-term contract; i.e., a contract longer than the funding period in order to ensure the sustainability of the activity beyond its completion.

• For organisational reasons, the contact person for the proposal/main applicant should be a member from a CIVIS University in Europe.

• Postdoctoral researchers are encouraged to participate in this call. 

Eligibility criteria [pass/fail criteria]

• Involve at least three CIVIS Universities, among which at least two European universities;

• Relate to one of the CIVIS Hub themes (see above);

• Align with one of the activity types described above (collaborative activity / application design measures)

• Be implemented by June 30th, 2026.

These eligibility criteria should imperatively be met to proceed with further evaluation.

Evaluation criteria [ranking criteria]

• Academic criteria (max 10 points, equal sub-items, and minimal threshold 5 points)

The proposal will be assessed according to usual academic quality standards: (i) the research question, (ii) the research method, (iii) the relevance of the research collaboration and (iv) the coherence of the planning.

• Sustainability beyond this seed funding call (max 6 points, and minimal threshold 3 points)

The proposal should demonstrate the potential for a sustainable, longer-term collaboration among project participants. 

Activity 1 projects will be assessed on the soundness/feasibility of follow-up activities, the ability to keep research-oriented interaction between participants and on other potential to contribute to CIVIS objectives;

Activity 2 projects must clearly state the targeted funding programme/call (e.g. by indicating the call reference in case of a Horizon Europe). These projects will be assessed on the match between the proposal for future activities and the targeted call, the research impact in case of successful application, the contribution for the institutions and the researchers in case of successful application.

The number of points will be given according to the following scale.

0: non-existent, 1-2: very weak, 3: acceptable, 4: satisfactory, 5: strong/good, 6: excellent. 

• Other preference criteria (max 4 points, no minimal threshold)

• CIVIS consortium: preference will be given to projects including participants from at least one of the six African partners (no partner = 0 point, 1 partner = 1 point; 2+ partners = 2 points);

• Preference will be given to projects demonstrating interdisciplinarity; 

• Preference will be given to projects addressing societal challenges;

• Contribution to citizen/participatory science is especially encouraged in the case of collaborative research activities;

Which costs are eligible?

The primary focus of this call is to facilitate the consolidation of networks, and thus to allocate funding for mobility costs. 

• Each selected project can receive up to 10,000 EUR, depending on the location and number of mobility envisaged.

• For participants from CIVIS universities in Europe: staff mobility costs (travel, accommodation, and subsistence) can be covered according to Erasmus+ rules (up to 850 EUR per participant travelling in Europe and up to 1 500 EUR per participant travelling from Europe to Africa). 

• For participants from CIVIS universities in Africa: staff mobility costs (travel, accommodation, and subsistence) can be funded by some but not all CIVIS European universities through co-funding measures (i.e., own institutional funds and/or Erasmus+ ICM). Please consult your local CIVIS office for checking whether such options exist. Alternatively, applicants might want to consider holding meetings/events at a partner institution in Africa.

• For participants from the University of Glasgow (UofG) and the University of Lausanne (UNIL): costs cannot be covered by Erasmus+ budget but own institutional funds will be used (and can therefore exceed the 10,000 EUR limit). Please consult your local CIVIS Office.

• Some universities may have additional funds available for organisational costs; however, not all institutions provide such funds, nor do they allocate the same amount for this purpose.  Please check with the CIVIS Institutional Contact at own university.

• Co-funding from other sources is encouraged.

• Double-funding from the same third-party funding institution or programme may however be restricted. In case of doubt, please consult your local CIVIS Office.  

Please not that:

• All costs should be declared according to the template.

• Adequate supporting documents to prove costs may be requested (local rules may apply). For more details, please contact the CIVIS Office at your respective universities before submitting the application (see contact details below).

• Budget plans should state costs for each participating institution. Any travel and accommodation costs should be budgeted under the participants home institution[1]. 

How to apply?

• Please submit your online application only through the CIVIS Application Portal.

• Application deadline:May 31st, 2025 (24:00 CEST/UTC+2)

• Applicants who plan to organise an event at a CIVIS university should consult the local CIVIS Office/contact person at the potential host university before submitting the application. All contact persons for proposals (main applicants) should inform their local CIVIS Office about their application.  

Evaluation and timeline

The evaluation process will count on the support of the co-chairs and coordinators of the hubs to recruit evaluators. An interdisciplinary selection committee consisting of academics from CIVIS universities will rank proposals for funding on a competitive basis. Each proposal will be evaluated by a minimum of two experts in the field of the Hub to which the project relates.

• June to August 2025: CIVIS Hub Councils examine the academic relevance of proposed activities, the CIVIS Management Committee their financial and organisational feasibility. The CIVIS Research Council and Steering Committee will make the final decision on the funding of activities.

• Eligibility check by the technical commission: 23/06/2025

• Evaluation by at least 2 independent evaluators not involved in any application. If the 2 evaluations of any proposal diverge significantly, a 3rd evaluator must examine the proposal.

• By November 1st, 2025: Applicants will be notified about the funding decision and receive a report that allow the applicant to understand the elements that motivated the final evaluation, and, in the case of an unfavourable evaluation, what could be improved.

• By June 30th, 2026: Proposed activities are completed.

• By July, 31st, 2026: Projects reports are completed.

Summary 

Further information

• For general inquiries, please contact: seed-funding-2025@lists.civis.eu

• For inquiries on local funding options and circumstances, please contact your local CIVIS contact

Online information session on this Call

Register herefor receiving the date and meeting link for an online information session in April (exact date and time to be confirmed). Slides and the recording of the session will be shared afterwards.

[1]Except for participants from African institutions, in case of mobility funded under Erasmus+ ICM.