SLU news

SLU Urban Futures announces a new open call (UF Open) - Apply for seed funding for transdisciplinary projects within sustainable urban development

Published: 08 April 2019
Arms writing on a laptop.

Researchers, PhD students and teachers at SLU – no matter what faculty or department you belong to – have a new chance to apply for seed funding supporting multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary research projects or publications aiming at enhancing urban sustainability. Up to five applications will be granted a maximum of 50 000 SEK each. The last day to apply is May 6th.

SLU Urban Futures

SLU Urban Futures is a strategic research platform with the mission to inspire and support the faculties of SLU to initiate, develop and strengthen multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary research, education and collaboration within the field of sustainable urban development. The platform publishes open calls two times a year.

What projects are we looking for?

SLU Urban Futures wants to further stimulate projects:

- that are just starting and in need of an incentive to prepare next steps for taking off, typically for applying at a funding body; f.ex. a consortium needs to be composed or brought together, topics identified and research questions formulated – in this case SLU Urban Futures can help with funding travel costs to network meetings or conferences in order to distinguish state-of-the-art research and bring potential consortium members together.

- that have so far been developed on a local level/ on one particular sector of SLU and are in need of an incentive to open up to other researchers/ teachers/ actors of society, ideally international ones, or other fields of knowledge and know-how, ideally in transdisciplinary constellations; f.ex. a campus-based research project needs to prepare its ‘Generation 2.0’– in this case SLU Urban Futures can help with funding working hours for staff to organise the shift, including network meetings, presentations, outreach etc.

- that are under development and need a review article to scrutinise a field of knowledge, a synthetic article to help frame a question, a common publication of a future consortium, an overview publication to bring together knowledge across related research projects, a popular scientific publication (f.ex. non-academic professional literature) to increase impact on society - in this case SLU Urban Futures can help with funding working hours for staff, equipment for building archives or processing image material, open access costs, production costs. 

The examples above are indicative – we are open to many other well motivated cases for support.

What do we mean by transdisciplinary research?

Multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary research is here defined as research that comprises theory, method or research approaches from more than one scientific discipline or fields of research. In multidisciplinary research the different theories, methods or approaches are used side by side, and in interdisciplinary research they are, at least to some extent, integrated. Transdisciplinary research is distinguished in its recognition and inclusion of other types of knowledge than scientific knowledge, such as practice and experience based knowledge and knowhow. It is the responsibility of the applicant to motivate in what way their project is multi-, inter-, or transdisciplinary.

Who can apply?

The main applicant must be employed by SLU. People who do not work at SLU are welcome to participate in projects and activities. Projects and activities must have SLU as a sender. The budget can include:

  • Working time for SLU employees
  • Travel costs for project participants, no matter employment
  • Consultants in process support (f.ex. facilitation) and communication (incl. printing costs)
  • Costs for materials, food and venues

Evaluation

Applications are evaluated in relation to the extent of which the proposal:

  • Holds strategic potential
  • Contributes to the development of transdisciplinary research at SLU
  • Relates to the thematic focus of SLU Urban Futures
  • Aims at disclosing new funding sources
  • Initiates new/international collaborations
  • Proposes an adequate budget

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 actor, and on urban-rural and urban-hinterland dependencies and interactions.

How to apply

Click on the green button above to get to the application form. The application can be written in Swedish or English. You can choose English language by clicking on the flag. If you do not already have an account you need to first create one. If you have any questions, please e-mail urbanfutures@slu.se.

  • Last day to apply is May 6, 2019
  • Decision day May 13, 2019