Open Education Incubator Fund

The purpose of the Open Education incubator is to advance our vision for Open Education by enabling students to co-create their own knowledge through experimental projects and by empowering teachers to transform their teaching towards a sustainable Open Education future. This incubator fund is financed by the University of Groningen’s Open Science Programme. 

We call for project proposals that strive for more accessible, co-created, and impactful education. By awarding student- and teacher-led projects of various scales, this incubator fund lays a solid foundation for co-creating a UG-wide Open Educational future. 

The application form will open after the official launch on 18 February 2026.

Support for Grant Writing

The following workshops are available to all, and highly recommended to prospective applicants of the Incubator Fund.

• Getting started with Open Pedagogy: Use of OER for teaching
• Open Pedagogy for Learner Agency: Empowering Co-Creators in the Classroom
• Open Pedagogy beyond Classroom Walls: Co-creating Knowledge for the Benefit of All

Additionally, the following document by the Open Education Community of Practice can be used as a reference to implement Open Educational practices in a course.

What to Apply For

Transformational Grant (Staff)

This grant supports teachers and educational support staff in structurally embedding Open Education into the curriculum, helping to realize our Open Educational vision. We welcome project proposals of all scales with funding available up to a maximum of €20.000. Smaller initiatives are explicitly encouraged to apply!

Funding may be used to:

• Compensate internal expenses, including but not limited to:
  - Own hour allocation to the project.
  - Involvement of embedded experts from CIT, EDU Support, AV-Support, Teaching Academy Groningen, etc.
  - Rental and catering within RUG locations.
• Pay for external expenses, including but not limited to:
  - Externally hired videographer, animator, graphic designer, etc.
  - Rental and catering outside of RUG locations
  - Material costs, software license, etc.

Please note: Transformational grants aim to structurally embed Open Education within the regular curriculum. Applicants must justify how this one-time funding will create sustainable change and ensure project outcomes endure beyond the grant period.

Experimental Grant (Students)

This tier is for students to take initiative and ownership over their novel Open Educational project. Experimental grant proposals may apply for a maximum of €2.000.

This funding is intended to compensate costs incurred during the project and NOT for project participation. It may be used to:

• Compensate internal expenses, including but not limited to:
  - Involvement of embedded experts from CIT, ESI, AV-Support, Teaching Academy Groningen, etc. 

  - Allocate additional teaching hours for teacher and/or course coordinator 
  - Rental and catering within RUG locations.

• Pay for external expenses, including but not limited to:
  - Externally hired videographer, animator, graphic designer, etc. 

  - Rental and catering outside of RUG locations 
  - Material costs, software license, etc.

Eligibility

Transformational Grant

Teaching and educational support staff from the University of Groningen (UG) and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) can apply individually or as a team. Individuals may not apply with multiple projects, whether as a main applicant or co-applicant.

Experimental Grant 

Students from the University of Groningen (UG) and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) can apply individually or as a team for extracurricular activities, or as a group for activities within the regular curriculum. To encourage and facilitate students to apply for this grant, the evaluation committee will reach out to pre-selected applicants to further discuss terms for eligibility. This is necessary to ensure compliance with relevant quality assurance requirements.

Evaluation of Proposals

The application form will open with the launch of the incubator fund on 18th February 2026.

Proposals (max 1.500 words) must use and fill out the complete application form. Proposals will be evaluated on basis of applicant eligibility, and adherence to the following requirements:

• Must be aligned with the Open Education Community of Practice’s vision for Open Education.
• Must cover at least two of the three core action principles (Access, Learner Agency, Public Good). Check the following page for an explanation of the definition and the action principles.
• Must guarantee long-term open access and sustainability of project products, as justified in the licensing, sharing & sustainability section of the application form.
• Project proposals must be well-structured and realistic, as justified in the timeline & budget section of the application form.

Applications will be checked for eligibility and adherence to the requirements by an evaluation committee consisting of academics and educational experts with expertise in Open Education. Proposals that check eligibility and requirements will be pre-selected for the grant awards lottery. The final selection will be made at random from the pool of pre-selected proposals.

Timeline and Application Procedure

February 2026
The call for proposals opens on the 18th February 2026. 

March 2026
Applicants are not required but strongly encouraged to participate in the Education Festival 2026 and join the relevant incubator fund writing workshop. Furthermore, the CIT Education Support and Innovation department offers courses that will allow prospective applicants to deepen their knowledge and sharpen their applications on the three action principles. We therefore encourage prospective applicants to sign up to the following courses:

• Getting started with Open Pedagogy: Use of OER for teaching

• Open Pedagogy for Learner Agency: Empowering Co-Creators in the Classroom

• Open Pedagogy beyond Classroom Walls: Co-creating Knowledge for the Benefit of All

April 2026
For experimental grants, the evaluation committee will reach out to pre-selected applicants to discuss and clarify terms for eligibility. 

May 2026
The call for proposals closes on the 15th May 2026, 15:00. Applications must be submitted via the application form. 

June 2026
Evaluation committee announces the winning proposals on the 17th June 2026. 

August 2026
Winning projects officially start.

September 2026 - January 2027
Interim presentations of projects are expected to be delivered within an Open Education Community of Practice exchange session. 

February 2027
Projects must end no later than 26th February 2027. A template for the final report will be made available before the end of February 2027.

March 2027
Select projects may be asked to present their project during the 2027 Education Festival.

April 2027
Final report, including breakdown of actual costs, realized products and benefits, due on 22nd April 2027.