SLU Urban Futures seed funding - Application guidelines

Last changed: 28 September 2023

SLU Urban Futures offers seed funding to support researchers develop transdisciplinary urban research. Applications should take a holistic and innovative approach to complex issues related to sustainable urban development, where collaboration across scientific disciplines is needed. Up to four applications per call are granted a maximum of SEK 50,000 each.

What can you apply for?

SLU Urban Futures will fund activities such as pilot studies, feasibility studies, literature reviews, and consortium-building activities that support the development of transdisciplinary research. The platform will announce two types of calls:

1. Targeted calls

Funding is aimed at supporting activities that will result in a project proposal to be submitted to a specific call from a funding body e.g. Formas, VR, Forte, Horizon EU or other relevant funding bodies.

For targeted calls, the funding must result in a transdisciplinary research proposal (within one of the UF themes of foodscapes, forestscapes or healthscapes). This proposal must involve more than one SLU faculty and partners from beyond academia (government agencies and municipalities, business, third sector organisations etc.).

2. Open calls

Funding is aimed at supporting a diversity of activities that contribute to the development of transdisciplinary urban research and capacity building related to sustainable urban development and is not specified for a funding call.

The activities must contribute to one or more SLU themes (foodscapes, forestscapes and healthscapes) and include more than one SLU faculty and partners from beyond academia.

Who can apply?

Employees at all SLU's faculties can apply. Faculty of Landscape Architecture, Horticulture and Crop Production Science (LTV), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science (VH), Faculty of Forest Sciences (S) and Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences (NJ).

Main applicants must be employed by SLU, co-applicants who do not work at SLU, are very welcome to take part in projects and activities.

When can you apply?

When SLU Urban Futures announces a call. All calls will be advertised on

the 'Current calls for funding page' at slu.se
the SLU Urban Futures website
the Future Platforms funding page
SLU Urban Futures' social media channels
the Urban Updates newsletter
via SLU e-mail lists.

How much can you apply for?

SLU Urban Futures announces grants for the sum of 50 000 SEK. The number of applications that will be granted funds will be announced in the seed funding call.

Here's how to apply

Download the application form, which is included as a fillable pdf on the seed funding announcement. Complete the pdf application form with all relevant details and email it to urbanfutures@slu.se. In the subject line of the email, please write Seed funding application.

The application form has given headings that make it easy to follow the call's application requirements. The summary description is important and should give a good picture of the project idea/activity, the project goals and implementation. The application can be written in Swedish or English.

Application requirements

Name of applicant and participant in the project / activity
Title of the project / activity
Brief summary description of the project idea / activity
Short goal description for the project / activity
Brief description of how the project relates to SLU Urban Futures' thematic focus
Brief description of the way in which the project is interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary
Brief description of how the project contributes to the SDG 11 goal
Description of collaboration with other faculties and/or external partners
Brief description of the plan for utilization and communication of the project's results
Brief description of budget - how you plan to use the funds

What is SLU Urban Futures' thematic focus?

The thematic focus of the platform includes spatial and socio-ecological sustainability perspectives on urban environments as habitat for various groups of humans as well as other-than-human actors, considering the multidimensional and multi-level interactions and dependencies between the urban-rural and urban-hinterland. Currently the platform highlights and supports the development of the following thematic areas:

Urban Foodscapes
Urban Healthscapes
Urban Forestscapes

In addition to the above thematic foci, the platform invites work that employs a critical Living Lab approach as a transdisciplinary work mode supporting transformative science:

Critical Living Lab Approach

What does SLU Urban Futures mean by transdisciplinary research?

Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research refers to research that includes theory, method or research approaches from more than one scientific discipline or scientific area. Multidisciplinary research uses theories, methods or approaches side by side, and in interdisciplinary research integrate theories, methods or approaches, to at least some extent. Transdisciplinary research also include knowledge other than academic knowledge, for example practical knowledge or experience-based knowledge. It is the applicant's responsibility to justify why the application is multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and/or transdisciplinary.

This happens after you have submitted your application

Once your application has been received, we will send an email-confirmation to the main applicant. Only the main applicants respond to the confirmation email with a return email and thus sign their application. Easily answer with the text: I confirm that it is my application and I hereby sign by replying to this confirmation email.

This happens when the call is closed

You cannot change or fill in any new information when the call is closed. You can only complete your application if the program manager for SLU Urban Futures asks for a supplement. Applicants are responsible for submitting these supplements.

Who can read your application?

All applications are prepared and read by SLU Urban Futures' evaluation group made up of SLU Urban Futures Platform Director, respective Hub Coordinator and the platform steering group, which includes representatives from all SLU faculties. They may not disseminate the applications or communicate the group's discussions to outsiders.

Applications submitted to us become public documents and are sent to the SLU registrar for archiving after the end of the application period. We do not disclose information, in case of a request to disclose, we refer to SLU's archives.

Decision

Decisions on approval of project funds is taken in SLU Urban Futures' evaluation group. Applicants will be notified of the decision with a brief motivation from the evaluation group, approximately three weeks after the end of the application period. Approved applications will be published on SLU Urban Futures' website and social media. Applicants are responsible for announcing the outcome of the application to other participants in the project. If the application period is extended, the date for notification is automatically extended.

Evaluation group

The proposals will be evaluated by the SLU Urban Futures Platform Director, respective Hub Coordinator and the platform steering group, which includes representatives from all SLU faculties. Any conflict of interest within the steering group will be handled according to SLU guidelines.

Assessment criteria

The assessment criteria form a basis for assessing project applications. Received applications are prioritized primarily after an overall assessment of how well the call's application requirements (see above) are met.

Payment of funds granted

When the applicant has received a decision regarding approved funds from SLU Urban Futures, the applicant informs the department's financial support. The department's financial support sets up a project number in Agresso, where the project's costs are booked. The project number is sent to the financial support at the unit for collaboration and development, Aria Farahi, aria.farahi.nobarian@slu.se, for payment to the project number.

Reporting of completed project

The main applicant is financially responsible for keeping the budget within approved project funding. Final reporting includes a 1) financial report and a 2) final project report and is mandatory to submit at the end of the project. Submission must be made no later than the specified final reporting date. If the final report has not been received by the final reporting date or the project has not been implemented, the funds are returned to SLU Urban Futures.

1) The following must be included in the financial report

An Agresso-report from the project, that shows the costs reported on the project number.

2) The following should be included in the final project report

Short summary describing the project/activity, 500-700 words
A brief explanation of project results and future roadmap, where you describe the recommended next steps to ensure that your Seed Funding project has a long-term effect and continued value for multi- inter- and/or transdisciplinary research in sustainable urban development.
Brief description of how the project has contributed to SDG 11
Two illustrative images related to the project
If relevant, web links to creative products that have come out of the project/activities that SLU Urban Futures can use to spread in social media and on our website. An example of such a creative product can be, for example, a film, a book or a conference.

Email the final report to urbanfutures@slu.se. Please note that the final project reports will be archived and thus be publicly available. If this creates problems for any reason, please notify urbanfutures@slu.se. The final project report, or parts of it, may be published on SLU Urban Futures' website. If the report cannot be public in its entirety, it is essential to announce this in correspondence with SLU Urban Futures.