Then please click the red button on this page and download the full text of the just-published Call for Proposal Seed Grants. Sustainable Prosperity is one of the four UvA themes indentified as such in the UvA Instellingsplan ‘Inspiring Generations 2021-2026'.

Interdisciplinary

Involvement of a minimum of two faculties is required, and participation of even more faculties is strongly encouraged.

Apply before 23 May 2024

The intention for the projects of this first round is to start as early as possible. We expect to launch a second call in the autumn of 2024, in which 2-3 additional seed grants can be awarded. 

USP Seed Grants: €15-50k

For the 2024 round, for Sustainable Prosperity, €200K is available. These USP seed grants can range from €15 to 50k. If the Steering Group does not allocate the full amount in the current round, it will open a second call for proposals in the fall. 

The Sustainable Prosperity Steering Group gives priority to new collaborations which have not been honoured before. 

For the general conditions and information on the assessment procedure that apply to all IP themes, please consult the text of the UvA call.

For applications under the Sustainable Prosperity theme, the following additional information and guidance applies:

Substantive orientation 

The Sustainable Prosperity theme seeks to promote transformative, forward-looking research on the challenges as recognized in e.g. the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN and the EU Green Deal, taking into account the impact of individual societies on each other and on the world as a whole.  

Such research should help steer human development in a safer and more equitable direction. Safer by avoiding the negative effects of global environmental change for all forms of life on earth, taking into account planetary boundaries. More equitable by ensuring that all people have and maintain access to the resources that underpin human well-being, now and in the future. 

We support and engage in research on the complexity of, and interconnections between, actors and processes, and underlying economic and legal systems that contribute to sustainability challenges, and which should also be the basis for solution directions and the necessary system transition. 

Research can examine possible solutions (e.g. safe and sustainable-by-design materials and products, but also new financing instruments or paradigm shifts) in conjunction with the necessary adjustments in regulation, communication and practices of companies and consumers, locally, nationally, Europe-wide and internationally. Understanding how technology, regulation and behavioral change of individuals, groups and organizations can benefit sustainability, must go hand in hand with studies of distributional issues and underlying interests. 

UvA Sustainability Platform (USP) 

The research under the Sustainable Prosperity theme is carried out within the UvA Sustainability Platform. This is a UvA-wide community committed to making a positive sustainability impact through interdisciplinary research and collaboration with external partners. 

Under the umbrella of USP, eight interdisciplinary research projects have been funded so far. Five of these are seed grant projects (small innovative interfaculty research projects or grant proposal preparations) and three are mid-size projects (larger projects that build on existing research ties between UvA scholars from different faculties and that anticipate to be able to draw in non-academic parties). 

On our website you can find links to and information on research groups that are active within the theme sustainable prosperity, and the names of UvA researchers that are engaged in (interdisciplinary) sustainability research (see list of USP associates) 

If you have any questions, please contact Elles Tukker at usp@uva.nl.