UoM Global Fund
After several years of successful bilateral international research seed fund calls, The University of Manchester is launching a new biannual UoM Global Fund, in order to increase operational efficiencies and agility. The UoM Global Fund will run in the autumn and spring (UK) annually.
Staff can sign up to the International Strategic Partnership mailing list here to be kept up to date with seed funds in development and launch dates.
How the fund will support colleagues
The fund aims to encourage the building of international academic networks which produce world leading research and seek future external funding.
The call for the UoM Global Fund will run twice each year (in autumn and spring) with partner institutions joining calls at different times of the year.
The partner institutions participating in the UoM Global Fund in the autumn of 2026 will be announced in early August.
The full UoM Global Fund guidelines here should be read thoroughly before applying, this includes PI (institutional lead), team and budget eligibility.
Themes
The Global Fund encourages collaboration in key areas and in 26/27 these include our platforms for which we have significant interdisciplinary research and expertise across our University:
- Creative Industries
- Digital Futures
- Healthier Futures
- Sustainable Futures.
These themes are similar to the UoM Research Platforms, but you do not have to be a member of the platform to apply for this funding.
Projects and teams
Projects can include joint research projects (fully developed projects or feasibility/proof of concept studies) and researchers exchange visits/workshops critical to the project delivery. In most cases, each university offers £5,000 to support the projects (making a total of £10,000) with a few partnerships offering slightly more.
We aim to build long-lasting, productive scholarly networks, so the projects should bring together a team at least three researchers from each institution. An Early Career Researchers (ECRs) either as the principal investigators (PIs) or as member/s of the project team must also be included in the project proposal
Partner Institutions
It is expected that the following institutions will join the autumn call with other institutions joining in the spring, providing a more flexible approach to Global Fund partners in the future:
- Heidelberg University
- Manipal Academy of Higher Education
- Tel Aviv University
- University of Texas at Austin
- University of Washington
- Peking University
Autumn Timeline
- 7 September – call opens
- 27 October – application deadline
- Mid-December – applicants notified of outcome
- 1 February – projects can start.
Contact
If you have any queries about the call or how to apply, please contact international.partnerships@manchester.ac.uk