Notre Dame-Durham University Seed Grant Program

The University of Notre Dame du Lac (Notre Dame), USA and Durham University (Durham), UK, are pleased to announce the continuation of the Notre Dame-Durham Seed Grant Program. Through this jointly funded, jointly advertised program both institutions are inviting proposals for joint research projects with the potential to both achieve international recognition and to generate continued external research funds for both partners. Project selection for the Seed Grant Program will be competitive and made jointly by Notre Dame and Durham.

Contact

For more information, please contact:

Sevda Arslan
Program Director for Faculty Support and Partnerships
Notre Dame Global
Email: sarslan@nd.edu

Megan Olshefski
International Partnerships Manager
Durham University International Office
Email: megan.l.olshefski@durham.ac.uk

See past recipients

---

Eligibility

• Applicants must hold an academic position at either Durham or Notre Dame. At Notre Dame, applicants must be regular full-time faculty.
• At least one Notre Dame and one Durham researcher must be listed as PIs. PIs must have a contract that outlasts the term of the grant.

Funding and Expenses

Each project investigator will be funded by their respective institution. Requests for funding from each institution should be roughly equal.

• Joint awards up to $32,000 (₤24,000) can be made for each joint research project
• Funding will be available for joint research projects of between 12 months to 24 months duration.
• Notre Dame-Durham Seed Grant projects will start between 1 June 2026 and 1 July 2026.
• Unspent funds at the end of the award period will be returned to the awarding institution

Eligible Expenses

Each institution will support its own researchers who are involved in the research project. Full details of all anticipated costs/activities must be clearly itemized as follows:

• A clear breakdown of expected costs by institution must be provided in the budget. Awarded funds cannot be transferred between universities.
• The budget plan should indicate spending over the full duration of the proposed project.
• Budget justification will be required including justifying all budget lines and ensuring all requests are reasonable.

Expenses for the Notre Dame-Durham Seed Grant Program can be used for the following:

• Consumables
• Core facility charges
• Travel expenses* for faculty and students to meet, plan research and review research results
• Costs associated with organizing meetings and workshops (e.g., rooms, catering, etc.)
• Personnel:
  • At Notre Dame: Partial Notre Dame graduate student/postdoc stipend and benefits (graduate student assistants must be involved in the faculty fellow’s collaborative research and writing in ways that contribute to the student’s intellectual formation). Please note that you must allow approximately an additional 12% in the budget for fringe benefits for graduate students and 22% for postdoctoral researchers)
  • At Durham: Assistance from a research assistant (on a taxable fees basis ONLY)**

Ineligible Expenses

• • Computers, Software, Equipment*
  • Faculty Salary
  • Teaching buy-out
  • Business start-up costs
  • Tuition fees or stipends
  • Significant shipping costs
  • Travel/accommodation for non-Notre Dame/Durham partners
  • External consultants

*By exception only requests for items of equipment are considered though not encouraged. For any such requests the applicant must be able to demonstrate that the items are both absolutely necessary and not available from other

Criteria and Outcomes

Proposals from all disciplines and/or thematic areas are welcomed.

Plans for international dissemination of the research output should be outlined in the proposal in addition to goals for larger joint international and national funding grants.

The following outcomes are considered optimal:

• Joint peer-reviewed publication(s)
• At least one joint application to an external funding body

Other measurable outcomes or impacts are encouraged as relevant to the discipline(s).

Non-Exhaustive List of Potential Funding Opportunities

Proposals should be in keeping with the strategic plans of both institutions:

University of Notre Dame Strategic Framework Durham University Strategic Plan

How to Apply

Proposals are to be prepared jointly and submitted in English by the Durham PI. To initiate the proposal development effort for the Seed Grant Program, Notre Dame and Durham faculty must take the lead in reaching out to each other in their area of expertise.

ND-Durham Seed Grant Sample Application

Timeline

• Launch: November 1, 2025
• Deadline: January 31, 2026 (23.59 GMT)
• Selection Panel: February 2026
• Notifications expected: April 2026
• Project Start: between 1 June 2026 - 1 July 2026 (a delay may occur for a project if the Compliance Reviews at one or both institutions necessitates a longer time)
• Maximum Project Length: 2 years
• Unspent funds at the end of the project will be returned to the respective institution

Selection Process

Proposals will be jointly evaluated by a senior faculty panel from both Notre Dame and Durham.

Applications will be assessed according to the following criteria (roughly weighted equally):

• Academic quality of the proposed joint research including scope, significance, originality and value for money
• Importance of this seed funding for the anticipated future success of external funding grant applications
• Clarity and feasibility of goals, including the potential external funding source(s) and time frame for submission
• Alignment with the strategic goals of both universities

Reporting Requirements

A Project Completion Report must be completed by award holders upon completion of the work defined in the funding application. Submissions to external funding agencies are to be reported and provided to the contacts at the respective institutions.

For 2-year Projects:

• A progress report is due at the end of the first year; and,
• A progress report is required, and a Project Completion Report must be completed by the project leaders at the end of the funding period.

 

---