‘Seed funding’ available to support international collaborations

A competition for seed funding grants to support new areas of international collaboration between University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers and researchers affiliated with the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) has been announced by the Division of International Studies, with support from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and the Graduate School. Projects are to begin on or after May 1, 2012 and to be completed by December 31, 2012. The Worldwide Universities Network is an international alliance of leading higher education institutions. WUN builds on its partners’ commitment to quality and innovation in research and teaching by developing collaborations in interdisciplinary areas of global significance. The WUN member universities are:
  • University of Southampton (UK)
  • Nanjing University (China)
  • Pennsylvania State University (USA)
  • The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
  • The University of Auckland (New Zealand)
  • The University of Rochester (USA)
  • The University of Sydney (Australia)
  • The University of Western Australia (Australia)
  • University of Alberta (Canada)
  • University of Bergen (Norway)
  • University of Bristol (UK)
  • University of Cape Town (South Africa)
  • University of Leeds (UK)
  • University of Sheffield (UK)
  • University of Washington, Seattle (USA)
  • University of Wisconsin–Madison (USA)
  • University of York (UK)
  • Zhejiang University (China)
“Seed Funding” Project Development Grants are designed to support faculty and academic staff who seek to establish new research linkages via exchanges and jointly sponsored workshops and conferences. Projects must focus on one of these four core WUN research areas (Global Challenges):
  • Adapting to Climate Change
  • Understanding Cultures
  • Global Health – (Public Health – non-communicable disease)
  • Globalization of Higher Education and Research
Faculty and academic staff interested in applying for grants of $2,000-$5,000 should develop a proposal that contains:
  1.  Cover sheet with name and contact information of the project leader or co-leaders and project team, as well institutional and department affiliation/s; title of the project; amount requested; proposed start and end dates of the initiative. The nature of anticipated linkages with WUN partner institutions. Proposals should build a compelling case for the necessity of the global profile of the project and should clearly state why the partnership of the particular institutions is crucial to it.
  2. Project description (no more than four doubled-spaced pages in length), including its significance, proposed activities and expected outcomes.
  3. Summary CVs (include all WUN and non-WUN collaborators).
  4. Detailed, realistic preliminary budget (including all intramural and extramural sources of funding, current and pending).
Proposals drawing creatively on collaborative opportunities and indicating clear potential to secure extramural funding will be given priority. Previously supported WUN projects are not eligible to receive support in this round of funding. There are also expectations that collaborators in other WUN universities will seek some financial support from their own institutions, even if such funding is not formally in place before your proposal is submitted. Proposals should be submitted electronically to Erin Crawley, fellow@intl-institute.wisc.edu. Deadline is 4:30 p.m., March 15, 2012. A review committee—appointed by Gilles Bousquet, Dean of the Division of International Studies and Vice Provost for Globalization, and chaired by Associate Dean Amy Stambach—will rank submissions and submit recommendations to the Dean. Criteria will include:
  • Extent to which the project has the potential to initiate significant, sustainable collaborative research
  • Extent to which the project will be able to leverage the experience and expertise within the WUN partnership
  • Extent to which collaboration adds value to campus activities at Madison
  • Presence of UW or WUN partner matching support, financial or in kind
  • Preference will be given to partnerships that involve at least one non-US university in the WUN network
For any questions pertaining to WUN and the competition, please contact: Erin Crawley, Fellowships Advisor, at fellow@intl-institute.wisc.edu or 608-262-9632 The Division of International Studies plays a central role in promoting and facilitating global engagement and the development of global citizens across campus, helping to ensure UW–Madison’s position as a world-class public research university. Through partnerships, initiatives, and development activities, the Division advances international teaching, research, and collaboration in every school and college on campus.