¹û¶³´«Ã½

Stellenbosch University and ¹û¶³´«Ã½ (¹û¶³´«Ã½) Joint Seed Fund

Key Dates

Applications open: Wednesday 23rd September 2026

Application closes: Friday 30th October 2026

Awards begin: Friday 1st January 2027

Duration: up to 24 months

Frequency: One call per year

Core Documents

Application form and submission portal

Stellenbosch-¹û¶³´«Ã½ Joint Seed Fund Guidelines

Stellenbosch-¹û¶³´«Ã½ Joint Seed Fund Budget Tables

Stellenbosch-¹û¶³´«Ã½ Joint Seed Fund Project Summary and Case for Support

Fund Objectives

The Stellenbosch-¹û¶³´«Ã½ Seed Fund is designed to flexibly support Stellenbosch and ¹û¶³´«Ã½ researchers and professional service staff to establish new links and advance existing collaborations, by enabling activities such as:

• organisation of virtual, hybrid or in-person workshops, conferences, symposia;
• preliminary research, experiments and pilot studies;
• meetings to facilitate planning and development of external funding proposals;
• reciprocal or non-reciprocal visits to establish new collaborations.

Proposals should address the following points:

• Research projects should articulate the challenge the team is seeking to address, and how they are placed within the broader research landscape to do this;
• Education projects should outline ways that the project will help to internationalise teaching and learning at Stellenbosch and ¹û¶³´«Ã½
• Clear definition of the objectives, outcomes and impact – including external funding targets;
• Demonstrate why neither university could tackle the challenge alone – or the additionality achieved through collaboration;
• Articulate what the funding will enable and why it is an appropriate funding source for the activity;
• Be balanced in benefit and be of strategic interest to both Stellenbosch and ¹û¶³´«Ã½;
• Reflect the most efficient and effective means to achieve the project objectives.

Fund

The Stellenbosch-¹û¶³´«Ã½ Seed Fund provides funding of up to ZAR R100,000, for expenses incurred by Stellenbosch and GBP £5,000, for expenses incurred by ¹û¶³´«Ã½.

We welcome proposals that offer most effective means of achieving the objectives, including those below the maximum funding threshold.

Examples of allowable expenditure include:

• Reasonable travel and visa costs;

  (Please visit ¹û¶³´«Ã½'s FP16 and ¹û¶³´«Ã½'s Travel Hub before booking any travel).

• Accommodation and subsistence costs (it is expected that Stellenbosch staff participating in activities located at the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ will stay in on-campus accommodation. ¹û¶³´«Ã½ staff visiting Stellenbosch will be provided with a list of accommodation options on campus or in town.

• Reasonable event/workshop costs (activities should be held on campus or justification provided for alternative locations);

• Research/educational support (e.g. access charges, virtual platforms, consumables, transcription costs, research assistant hourly rates), not typically exceeding 20% of the total project budget.

The Seed Fund will not typically fund:

• Infrastructure and equipment;
• Overhead/central support charges;
• Non-Stellenbosch or ¹û¶³´«Ã½ staff expenses (including travel and accommodation);
• Salaries of existing staff and honoraria (e.g., the funds cannot be used to buy out Project Lead time to undertake the project);
• Per diems (expenses must be base on receipts)
• Car Hir
• Conference registrations and related travel/accommodation costs (unless presenting results of the project)
• Costs already incurred prior to submission of the proposal.

Eligibility:

The Stellenbosch-¹û¶³´«Ã½ Seed Fund is open to staff from all academic departments and research units as well as all professional service staff.

Applicants must be permanent or fixed-term, full or part-time staff. For applicants on fixed-term contracts, the duration of contract must extend beyond the project completion date.

How to apply:

Please complete the electronic application at this link.

Applications must include:

• Completed electronic application form;
• Completed Project Summary and Case for Support document;
• Completed budget tables in Excel;
• Two short CVs - one from each of the Principal Applicants from Stellenbosch and ¹û¶³´«Ã½;
• Two statements of Support (an e-mail from Head of Department/School/Centre) - one from each of Stellenbosch and ¹û¶³´«Ã½

Inspiring spaces to support your collaboration

Please do take full advantage of our ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Venice Centre which offers an enriching environment for joint research, education and engagement. The centre provides dedicated facilities, strong local networks, and a supportive team on the ground, making it an ideal base for workshops, project development, and international partnership-building. For more information on our ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Venice Centre please contact Bryan Brazeau,

B.Brazeau@warwick.ac.uk