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Knowledge Exchange Fund

CALL FOR THE KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE FUND 2027
In/security? Ask questions, share knowledge, take action together

What we perceive as secure or insecure, safe or unsafe, certain or uncertain is rarely clear-cut. Security does not rest solely on facts, but arises through negotiation, trust, experience and shared knowledge. At the same time, insecurities and uncertainties are omnipresent – in processes of social transformation, technological developments, political decisions, ecological crises or individual lifeworlds – and have, especially in recent years, repeatedly (and sometimes unexpectedly) changed or intensified. The question of how we deal with such uncertainties therefore concerns both academia and society in equal measure.

Under the theme ‘In/Security?’, the University of Hamburg’s Knowledge Exchange Fund supports projects that explore this question in collaboration with non-academic partners. The focus is on initiatives that bring together academic knowledge with practical experiences, perspectives and concerns from across culture, politics, business and civil society, and that experiment with new forms of co-creative practice.

(In)security as an area of open inquiry

We are looking for projects that do not prematurely define (in)security, but instead use it as a starting point for collaborative inquiry. Possible topics include, amongst others:

  • social, political, legal or economic dimensions of security and risk,
  • technological, digital or infrastructural issues of safety, control and trust,
  • ecological, health- or climate-related uncertainties,
  • historical, cultural, linguistic or aesthetic perspectives on in/security,
  • subjective perceptions, emotions and everyday practices in dealing with uncertainty or lack of safety.

Contributions from researchers and staff at all career stages across all departments and administrative units of the University of Hamburg are expressly welcome. Interdisciplinary approaches and projects that draw connections between different forms of knowledge are particularly encouraged.

Co-creative knowledge exchange at the heart of the programme

The University of Hamburg views knowledge exchange as a mutual learning process. Through its Knowledge Exchange Fund, it supports projects in which academic and non-academic partners jointly develop research questions, share knowledge and reflect on findings. Knowledge exchange is not understood as a one-way process, but as co-creative collaboration on an equal footing. Possible formats include participatory research approaches, real-world laboratories, art-science collaborations, or transdisciplinary teaching and learning formats.

The aim of this funding is to help kickstart projects that have an impact beyond the academic sphere and develop or test new courses of action for dealing with in/security. Financing through the Transfer Fund is intended as seed funding for innovative forms of knowledge transfer and provides a space for experimentation in which open and exploratory approaches are particularly welcome. Follow-up funding, sustained implementation, scalability or other ways of amplifying impacts beyond the project duration should be given consideration when submitting an application.


Funding, review procedure and application

Since 2021, the University of Hamburg’s Transfer Fund has been supporting projects with start-up funding of up to €30,000 each for a maximum period of 12 months. An external expert review process ensures the quality of the selection of projects to be funded. An accompanying programme provided by the Knowledge Exchange Agency facilitates networking and capacity building among project members. Active participation in the accompanying programme and the closing event, a statement of use of funds, and a final report in the form of a societal impact story are mandatory.

The allocation of funding from the Knowledge Exchange Fund occurs annually. Applications for the upcoming funding period may be submitted from May 1 to May 31, 2026. The funding period is set from January 1 to December 31, 2027. The call for applications is subject to the availability of funds, the amount of which will only be determined in autumn 2026. Consequently, a funding decision is not to be expected until November.

Applicants must have an employment contract with the University of Hamburg that runs at least until the end of the funding period. Additional project members can be funded by the Knowledge Exchange Fund e.g., through augmentations, service contracts, or student assistant positions. However, new hires are not possible due to the short funding period. Besides personnel costs, material resources can also be applied for.

Please submit your application, including a 2-page project outline (see application form) and a financial plan (see template) using this form.

Call for proposals (download, pdf)

Your Contact Persons at the Knowledge Exchange Agency:
Dr. Claudia Mendes und Ursula Caser (ko-kreativ"AT"uni-hamburg.de)