Knowledge Exchange Fund

Call for applications 2023: Research as a Commitment – Committed to research!

Research as a Commitment – Committed to research!

The University of Hamburg is both, a university of excellence with outstanding expertise in research and teaching for innovation, and an engaged university that is concerned with co-creating solutions for regional problems involving local actors. In short: Science for and with society, through engaged research. This can take many different forms: Citizen science, participatory (data) design, living labs to name just a few of them.

The current call for proposals aims to initiate transfer projects that conduct research with societal partners. Members of all faculties at the University of Hamburg are invited to apply with their ideas for engaged research. In the spirit of the UHH's mission statement "innovating and cooperating for a sustainable future", we hope for diverse impulses for cooperation between academic and non-academic actors meeting current societal challenges.

We are looking for project ideas that focus on research designs, where non-scientific stakeholders play a crucial and active role in the knowledge generation, and aim at tangible transfer products such as tools for everyday life, mobility, teaching and work, or at concrete consulting services fostering the transformation of urban processes and practices. The spatial focus is unlimited; projects can concentrate on the city itself, tackle the Hamburg Metropolitan Region or look at international contexts. Funding applications that lead to contributions to the "Citizen Science Forum", which will take place in Hamburg in 2024, are particularly welcome.

• Call 2023 (PDF)
  
  

Funding, award procedure and application

Since 2021, the University of Hamburg's Transferfonds has been supporting around 12 projects annually with seed funding of max. 30,000 EUR each. The aim is to launch transfer projects and initiatives that plan to seek opportunities for subsequent funding elsewhere.

During the funding period, the Knowledge Exchange Agency invites the project leaders to three workshops (kick-off, ’Bergfest’ (halfway through), retrospective) to enable possible synergies between the projects and to reflect on their progress. In addition to active participation in these events, a short report on the use of the funds and transfer-relevant results are expected at the end, which are also to be presented publicly.

Funding from the Knowledge Exchange Fund is awarded annually. For the upcoming funding period, you can submit a proposal from 1 to 31 May 2023. Grants will be awarded at the end of July. The funding period is set from 1 October 2023 to 30 June 2024.

Applicants must have an employment contract with the University of Hamburg that is runs at least until the end of the funding period. Additional project members can be financed e.g., through top-ups, subcontracting or student and/or research assistant positions. New hires are not possible due to the short funding period. In addition to personnel costs, material resources can also be applied for.

Submit your application including a 2-page project outline (see application form) and budget (see template) via email to transfer"AT"uni-hamburg.de. After formal review, the eligible funding applications will be comparatively evaluated in the first step by external scientists with knowledge exchange expertise and in the second step by external members of the University’s Transfer Committee. The Executive University Board will decide on the allocation of funding based on this two-stage assessment.

• To the application documents (access only with B-identification for members of the University of Hamburg)