Seed fund

The seed fund provides an opportunity for scientific staff of the UG and UMCG to receive up to €5,000 for ongoing or future public engagement projects. All submissions are screened for eligibility by a jury consisting of University of Groningen and UMCG employees, after which five eligible projects are randomly selected to get the funding they requested. Indeed, the Public Engagement seed fund rewards those staff members of the UG and UMCG that want to engage the public without unnecessary competitiveness, and distributes available funding in a manner that acknowledges the element of luck in funding awards.

It takes time and effort to engage society in research, which is currently too often perceived as an investment without clear career benefits. Hopefully, the Public Engagement seed fund will provide  acknowledgement to  those UG and UMCG staff members who aim to engage the public, and will serve as encouragement for the rest.

The fund is not currently open for applications. Two rounds of applications have now taken place. The continuation of the fund beyond September 2023 is conditional on funding renewal by the UG.

If you have any questions, please email to pe rug.nl.

First Seed Funding call

Read more about the projects of the four lucky winners.

Second Seed Funding call

Read more about the projects of the five lucky winners.