Knowledge Exchange Fund

Call for applications 2022: A city on the move

Graphic: UHH/Wohlfahrt

Leading a healthy and sustainable life!

Health is now a major trend: the ongoing fitness boom, a steadily growing preventive-care market involving physical activity also beyond sports facilities, and a number of various topics, such as the digitalization of medical services or the popularity of the life sciences, testify to that.

All of this shows health has many forms, and it cannot be reduced to the mere absence of illness. This also has consequences for the way we design our living conditions. This is a complex task for the future—for us, for others, for communities, and for our society.

Movement plays a central role in the degree programs at Universität Hamburg, especially in the areas of health, medicine, and sports, as well as in research. This became patently clear at the first Sports, Medicine and Health Summit last year: 40 associations, organizations, and societies joined to form a global alliance to promote movement and physical activity, with Hamburg serving as one of just six Global Active Cities around the world.

With its current call (“A city on the move: Leading a healthy and sustainable life!”), the Knowledge Exchange Fund wants to get Hamburg’s residents moving and contribute to their long-term health. In the run-up to the next Sports, Medicine and Health Summit in June 2023, all members of the University are being called upon to apply for funding with ideas for research-based knowledge exchange products. Pursuant to the University’s guiding principle of innovating and cooperating for a sustainable future, innovative knowledge shared between researchers and non-academics should inspire new ideas.

We welcome project ideas on movement, sports, medicine, and nutrition that promote innovation and entrepreneurship, social commitment, education and qualifications, and co-creative research as well as projects that create knowledge exchange products. These could include, for example, tools for everyday use, mobility, teaching, and working or advising services for the redesigning of processes in urban spaces. Projects based on interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary research are preferred. Incorporating nonacademic partners in the early stages of a project is also highly desirable. The local focus can range from the city to the Hamburg Metropolitan Region to international contexts. Funding applications for projects that are planned as contributions to the interdisciplinary Sports, Medicine and Health Summit set to take place in Hamburg from 22 to 24 June 2023 are especially welcome.

• call 2022 (pdf)

Funding, awarding procedures, and applying

Since 2021, Universität Hamburg’s Knowledge Exchange Agency has been funding up to 12 projects with seed financing of up to €30,000. The goal is to get knowledge exchange projects and initiatives off the ground so that they then have a chance of further external funding.

During the funding period, the Knowledge Exchange Agency invites project heads to three digital workshops to facilitate possible synergies and reflect upon project development. In addition to active participation in internal events, recipients must submit a brief report at the end, detailing the use of funds and exchange-related results. This must also 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 2022. The results of the review process will be announced at the end of July. The funding period is from 1 September 2022 to 31 May 2023.

Applicants must have a contract with Universität Hamburg that runs until at least the end of the funding period. Further project members can be funded via, for example, increasing hours, independent contractor agreements, student and/or research assistant positions. You cannot hire new staff due to the short funding period. In addition to personnel costs, material resources can also be applied for.

Submit your application, including a two-page project proposal (see application form) and finance plan (see template), to transfer"AT"uni-hamburg.de. Following a formal review, submissions will first be evaluated by external researchers with knowledge exchange experience and then evaluated 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)