BRIDGE Seed Fund

BRIDGE Seed Fund

The BRIDGE framework aims to support the development of faculty networks, build cognate research areas, expand educational exchange opportunities, and strengthen strategic aspirations for institutional engagement. To this end, the institutions have established a joint BRIDGE Seed Fund to which permanent full-time faculty member at each institution are encouraged to apply. Each year, $200,000 in funds are available to support collaborative research projects.

Application Process

Applications must be made using the BRIDGE Seed Fund Application Form and provide the following information:

  1. Identified University of Birmingham and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Principal Investigators.
  2. Purpose and timescale of visit/program activity.
  3. Anticipated total cost and itemized budget for the proposed activities.
  4. Academic rationale for support, answering such questions as: What is the strategic importance or added academic value of the collaboration for your home department and University? What are the anticipated shared outcomes and benefits for the collaboration? Anticipated means of sustaining the collaboration. What funding is available from other sources and what potential is there for future external investment?
  5. Head of College approval. Email confirmation of this support will suffice and can be downloaded with form or email separately.
    • For University of Birmingham PI’s, please obtain a letter from the following contact within your college:
      • College of Arts and Law – Aleksandra Cavoski – Director of Global Engagement
      • College of Life and Environmental Sciences – relevant Head of Department
      • Colleges of Medicine and Health – relevant Head of Department
      • College of Engineering and Technology – relevant Head of Department or Head of School, as appropriate
      • College of Social Sciences – relevant Head of Department

Application Deadlines

The 2025-2026 academic year call for proposals will open on January 2, 2025.

  • January 2, 2025: Application Opens 
  • March 1, 2025: Application Closes
  • By April 24, 2025: Application Results

Grant Types and Criteria

The BRIDGE Seed Fund supports collaborative projects. Proposals in Social Sciences and Humanities are particularly encouraged, as are proposals that have identified funding for sustaining the collaboration beyond the BRIDGE funds. Special consideration will be given to proposals demonstrating the intention to leverage collaborations with partners in the Global South while advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Implementation Grants

Implementation Grants support and strengthen existing faculty-faculty relationships leading to clearly defined outputs. Priority will be given to activities that have the potential to:

  • Progress joint research priorities;
  • Connect world-leading researchers;
  • Enhance our institutional research profiles through collaborative publications;
  • Build productive, impactful relationships with leading academic, scientific, cultural and policy communities in the region;
  • Evolve into jointly submitted proposals to external funding agencies for sustained support of collaborative research activities.
Initiation Grants

Initiation Grants encourage wider faculty involvement and expand institutional engagement, such as funding applications from colleagues interested in developing new research relationships with counterparts at UoB/Illinois. Priority will be given to:

  • Applicants who can clearly demonstrate that they have established a potential area of collaboration with UoB/Illinois counterparts;
  • Activities with the potential to extend beyond individual links to wider (i.e. research group to research group) collaborations;
  • Projects with the potential for sustained and enlarged collaborative activity.

Important notes: Proposals that have identified funding for sustaining the collaboration beyond BRIDGE Funding for example via the Global Challenges Research Fund, National Science Foundation, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, or other external funding bodies are particularly encouraged. Proposals in Social Sciences and Humanities are also encouraged.

Teaching & Learning Grants

Teaching and Learning Grants encourage new educational relationships between our two institutions by developing educational relationships with counterparts at UoB/Illinois in order to enhance student learning. Priority will be given to:

  • Applicants who can clearly demonstrate that they have established a potential area of collaboration with UoB/Illinois counterparts;
  • Projects which will provide distinctive educational opportunities for our students;
  • Projects with the potential for sustained and enlarged collaborative activity.

Guidelines

There are no restrictions on the forms of activity undertaken with BRIDGE Seed Funding, providing they meet the outlined criteria outlined for that grant type.

Activities

The fund is available to support planning visits, workshops, and exchanges with the partner institution for the purpose of developing the strategic partnership. The fund may also support meetings in third party locations where there is potential to develop and/or showcase collaboration.

Activities may include, but are not limited to:

  • Academic projects to extend both universities’ academic networks and research outputs, joint conferences, workshops, symposia, collaborative experiments and co-authored publications;
  • Curriculum innovation and development of joint teaching and learning initiatives;
  • Partnership development to provide transatlantic mobility and internship opportunities to ensure the distinctiveness of our high-quality student experience;
  • Civic and cultural relationship-building to enhance our status as ‘engaged’ universities;
  • Trilateral activities that link research projects into wider strategic regions identified by both universities including, for example, Brazil, China, India, and Europe. Professional staff exchanges or visits that will further enhance the academic collaboration between the two institutions.

Use of Funds

Applicants are encouraged to apply for reciprocal visit funding in order to widen networks and cement engagement. Applications that can demonstrate potential for relationships to become sustainable beyond the proposed project and initial seed funding term are strongly encouraged, whether through faculty and department commitment or the likelihood of externally-leveraged grants and awards.

BRIDGE seed funding will be allocated locally. The University of Birmingham will pay the travel and accommodation costs of their staff traveling to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the costs of projects occurring at the University of Birmingham. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will pay the travel and accommodation costs of Illinois staff traveling to the University of Birmingham, and the costs of projects occurring at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. BRIDGE seed funding will be subject to the travel reimbursement and other relevant financial policies of the institution providing the funding to its faculty or units.

BRIDGE seed funding will not normally support staffing or research equipment costs, though such requests will be considered if a compelling argument is made. 

The typical maximum amount of funding available to support Implementation Grants will be £10,000 from the University of Birmingham and $10,000 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. For Initiation Grants, the available funding amounts are £6,500 from the University of Birmingham and $6500 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.