Seed funding

By deepening our partnerships we have successfully developed a range of new seed funding initiatives to support collaborative research.

Our seed funds are part of a process to build longer-term international collaborations sustained by external funding.

Seed funding through our strategic partnerships has successfully reached projects in all three colleges, and the partnership agreements are open to a full range of academic disciplines.

Collaborations are where possible, aiming to be sustainable by securing external funding before the end of the initial funding. 

It is exciting to be working in a meaningful and structured way with our close partners in North America. Our joint seed funds are a great foundation for international research collaborations to discover, share and apply new ideas and knowledge together.  We hope to amplify our combined strengths and solve grand challenges, which is not always possible on our own. Ultimately, our long-term focus is to build sustainable and equitable partnerships that will benefit our students, staff, and alumni and have a far-reaching impact on society.

Scott McQuarrie
Regional Director North America 

Our seed funding partners 

University of Toronto, Ontario  (collaborative funding opportunities from 2021 - 2024)

Cornell University, New York   (collaborative seed funding opportunities from 2023 - 2025)

Rice University, Texas (collaborative funding opportunities from 2023 - 2025)

Developing support for seed funds 

Recognising the clear institutional drive to develop seed funding opportunities, the Partnerships team at Edinburgh Global is developing a toolkit for staff, particularly those who are leading, managing and delivering academic partnership development seed funds. The toolkit aims to build strategic and operational understanding by exploring the full lifecycle of seed funds and accessing a wide range of example documentation.   

Once in place, this will help grow collaboration across a full spectrum of academic fields and parts of the world, deepen our existing partnerships, and in turn continue to contribute to high-quality research that helps solve global challenges. 

Desired outcomes for the seed funding

Category

Outcome
Research quality & influence

The research: 

  • will advance knowledge in the field which addresses an issue of importance
  • may result in fundamental outcomes
  • is innovative in concept
  • will use well-established approaches to good effect
Publications At least one referred publication in a nationally/internationally recognised scholarly journal
External funding At least one national/international competitive grant submission
Training & education Supervision and mentoring of visiting PhD students/postdoctoral researchers/junior scholars
Joint workshops Organise at least one joint workshop at either institution
Conferences At least one (1) conference presentation

 

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