Technical University Munich - Imperial Education Seed Fund

Projects are expected to benefit students and staff at both institutions. Applicants must state the impact that the award will bring to both institutions in terms of student experience.

Projects which support development in the following areas are encouraged:

• Research-led education: projects that are informed by the most recent research in the relevant topic. This could entail encouraging students to participate in research projects;
• New applications for digital technologies: Projects that pursue innovative, inclusive and impactful online experiential learning opportunities;
• Multidisciplinary, global challenge topics that may be linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
• Student entrepreneurship: Projects that provide students with the knowledge, skills, and resources to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Exchange of academic and professional knowledge: Study visits or workshops to clearly and demonstrably aid the exchange of academic and professional knowledge, including sharing of good practice. Projects can be either curriculum based or extracurricular, but access should not be restricted to students in only one course or

Projects can be either  curriculum  based  or  extracurricular. The  policies  of  the  respective  institutions shall  apply  to  initiatives  requiring  adjustments  to course learning outcomes and evaluation and/or which require course approval.

This call has a total indicative budget of ~£20,000 from Imperial and EUR 20,000 from TUM, to be awarded to 4-5 successful TUM and Imperial collaborating teams.

Total project budget requests are not expected to exceed £10,000 resp. €10,000 (equal partitioning £5,000/ €5,000 or in differing amounts, e.g. £6,500/ €3,500). Funds can only be spent on activities which fit the purpose of this call. Applicants are asked to itemise their budget using the tables in the application form (please see application form for details). 

Eligible costs 

At Imperial, the fund is open to permanent members of staff only. At TUM, applicants must be professors.

Please complete the joint application form together with your TUM or Imperial partner for the project. Completed application forms must be submitted to both globalseedfunds@imperial.ac.uk and globalfunds@tum.de. Only applications submitted before the deadline to these email addresses, and not that of the named contact, will be considered.

One proposal per principal applicant per call is permitted.

Each application should have one principal applicant based at Imperial and one principal applicant at TUM and should contain:

• A written case for support to address the following questions:
• Alignment to call: A description of the project and collaboration proposed, a brief description of the intended use and impact of the Please refer to point 2 above for guidance.
• Impact on student experience: A description of how the project will benefit students at both institutions, and how it will facilitate students working together across institutions.
• Added value: Explanation of how the activities proposed generate demonstrable added value
• Sustainability and strategic value: A description of the long-term impact and development of the project
• TUM- Imperial partnership: A description of how the project team members from each institution will collaborate throughout the project

The panel will rank the proposals based on:

• excellence of education project
• how the activities proposed generate demonstrable added value that has potential to change teaching
• the difference the funding will make, including clear justification of why this fundin scheme is appropriate
• how and when the project outcomes will become embedded into standard educational practices at each institution
• innovative use of new learning formats
• impact on student experience
• Tum-Imperial partnership: the project demonstrates a full collaboration between TUM and Imperial team members in the design and delivery

TUM and Imperial will then jointly review applications to make a final decision on which applications will receive funding. Details of how to access funds at each institution and the reporting guidelines will be outlined in the award letter sent to successful applicants.

The deadline for the call is Thursday June 15th 2023

Decisions are expected to be announced by end of July 2023 

Starting date for these grants is expected to be 1 August 2023; the maximum award duration is 12 months

Grant end dates must not exceed 31 July 2024; extensions will not be granted