The Fund’s objective is to support new initiatives by providing seed-funding for:

• workshops and meetings (in person and online)
• short-term individual visits for researchers to facilitate research-led activities.

It is designed to enable individuals/groups to identify complementary strengths and co-produce ideas for new joint activities that cannot be achieved by either side alone. Bids for access to funding should target one or more of the outcomes below:

• Draw up joint proposals for funding from respective funding agencies;
• Joint proposals for funding and engagement with business/ industry;
• Joint submissions to high impact academic journals;
• Joint research and/or activities leading to new intellectual property or development of prototypes for commercialisation;
• Joint proposals to support talent development and mobility (e.g. mobility of PhD students and Postdoctoral Researchers);
• Joint proposals to city/ regional government/ other entities for civic impact. 

The available budget is GBP £50,000.00/ 500,000 CNY per side for each of the next 3 years (we expect this to support between 5 – 10 projects).

The fund will support the development of collaborations in areas of complementary strength. SJTU and UoL primarily encourage applications in the following priority research areas; however, outstanding applications in other areas can be submitted.

• Innovation in Marine Sciences, Maritime and Ocean Sciences: e.g., climate change, blue economy, shipping and port smart operations, logistics and supply chain management, net zero and decarbonisation (including tidal energy and offshore structures);
• Health and Biomedicine e.g., pharmacy, pharmacology and TCM, women’s health & pediatrics, mental health, drug safety innovation and vaccine research, public health
• Creative Industries and Social Sciences: e.g., media and design, film and new media, architecture, world literature and translation, IP law, international law. 

Faculty and staff wishing to access funding should do so by submitting a written project proposal within the application template.

A complete proposal MUST contain:

•  A completed online application  that includes a clearly articulated description of the project including: the identification of the primary applicants (a minimum of one co-applicant from each of SJTU and UoL); the motivation for the collaboration; the identified synergy; the short- and long-term objectives and anticipated outcomes as described in paragraph 2 of this document; which SDGs will be advanced by the project (see: https://sdgs.un.org/goals); and identification of likely future funding opportunities including how  government funded programs could be utilized.
• An application must also include:

üA detailed timeline with milestones, as appropriate

üA detailed budget templates

Third party universities, or institutions, for-profit, or not-for-profit organisations may join an application, on the condition that it/they bring matching funds to the project.

The primary applicants must hold permanent positions or a longer fixed term position at their respective universities. Fixed term applicants must hold a contract with a remaining tenure length that will enable one or more of the objectives set out above to be achieved.

Eligible expense budget items include:

Funding from UoL:

• Travel costs (economy class airfare only)
• Visas if applicable
• Accommodation costs
• Per-diems, or expenses by individual receipts in accordance with travel guidelines of the home institution
• Hosting (meeting rooms, food and beverage, etc.)
• Workshop, or seminar materials (hand-outs, etc.)
• Laboratory consumables related to the project
• Access to data or facilities

Funding from SJTU:

• At least 90% of the grant: International travel expenses for researchers and/or students associated with the project
• No more than 10% of the grant: labor cost

All eligible expenses MUST occur within the dates set for the funding of the project.

The budget and milestones will be carefully evaluated and a lesser amount may be awarded to a successful project than that which was applied for.

The Fund is limited to one financial year of activities from the date of the award.

Applicants must comply with their organisation’s policies and legal requirements in their proposals and in carrying them out if successful.

It is expected that reasonable opportunities for continued funding should be identified in each application.  Successful applicants will be required to provide a short final report with key achievements and outcomes against the criteria given in the objectives section above, including the amount of follow-on funding applied for and confirmed within 3 months of the grant ending. 

Funds will be awarded on a competitive basis. Use of external mobility schemes would be advantageous.

Funding will be awarded by a review panel made up of equal representatives from SJTU and UoL with each partner selecting appropriate representatives. This will be co-chaired by Prof Weidong LIU at SJTU and Prof Tariq Ali, at UoL.

Applications will be evaluated together. Applications should be submitted by

• 15th November 12:00 am midnight GMT

Applicants will be informed of the outcome by the beginning of January 2025, with funding available as soon as possible within the capacity of each organisation’s administrative processes.

All decisions are final and may not be appealed.

Applications must be completed online (pdf) at the following link:

 https://forms.office.com/Pages/DesignPageV2.aspx?subpage=design&FormId=MVElUymxEECG4UdL_X6Adi7S1oO7bflPlOh3sTclhZtUOFhSQlVZRVJGSDlBUkE0REpUSUYxTUdENy4u&Token=8cc7261a718541088b1ea0b63e629631 - For University of Liverpool & SJTU

Enquiries should be addressed to your institution’s contact point:

University of Liverpool - Dr Xiaofeng Wu (xfwu@liverpool.ac.uk), International Partnerships Manager, Global Engagement and Partnerships.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University – Ms Xiuxing Yan (simonayan@sjtu.edu.cn)  Mr Wei Cao (caowei@sjtu.edu.cn), Division of Global Cooperation and Exchange, SJTU

An online information section for this seed funding call will be announced in due course, once both parties have reached an agreement.