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Introduction

To date, the University of Geneva has eight strategic partners with whom a Joint Seed Funding scheme is made available for the implementation of projects aimed at strengthening scientific collaboration between the institutions. These partners are:

University of Sydney | Princeton University | Hebrew University of Jerusalem | Renmin University of China | Yonsei University | Keio University | University of Exeter | University of Zurich

Calls for projects within each partnership take place, in principle, once a year.

What follows are the general rules and procedure to follow for the co-applicants of UNIGE. However, some points may differ in certain call for projects, in which case the latter applies.

If in doubt or if you can't find the answer to your question below, please contact us (details below).

Eligibility and selection

a. Each project must have two designated Principal Applicants (PAs): one from each partner university. Each PA is responsible for monitoring the project at their home university.

b. At UNIGE, the PA must hold a doctoral degree and an employment contract at the University of Geneva covering the entire duration of the envisionned project. Applications by PhD candidates must be endorsed and coordinated by senior applicants (with a PhD degree) on both sides as Principal Applicants.

c. If the PA leaves UNIGE during the project, he/she may propose a replacement. Otherwise, the project will end on the date of his/her departure and the unused funds cannot be transferred to another institution.

d. Teams of several people as well as the participation of young researchers are strongly encouraged.

e. All scientific disciplines are admitted and welcome.

f. Interdisciplinary projects as well as projects dealing with strategic themes such as sustainability (SDGs), digital issues as well as diversity and inclusivity are encouraged.

Examples of projects and eligible activities

• Organization of scientific conferences and workshops
• Work meetings with a view to setting up joint teaching and research
• Creation of innovative teaching material
• Invited teaching within existing programs bearing strategic importance
• Collaborative research stays for researchers and doctoral students
• Joint exploratory research for preparing external funding applications
• Joint work towards collective publications
• Summer schools

Duration

Projects are generally financed for one or two years (specified in the call for projects).

Deadline extensions are not possible unless duly justified.

Budget and expenses

The proposed budget must be submitted with the project proposal and approved by the selection committee. Changes to the budget may be requested by the selection committee.

Examples of eligible expenses include:

• Transportation

• Accommodation

• Catering, meals

• Logistics (material or venue hire if necessary and duly motivated)

• Consumables (e.g. chemical substances and small laboratory material for experiments)

• Equipment (if strictly necessary for the project, to be duly motivated)

• Recruitment of temporary staff (student research assistants in both partner institutions)

• Publications (translation, proof-reading, Open Access costs, max. 20% of the budget)

• Other (to be specified and duly motivated).

Examples of non eligible expenses include:

• Registration fees for: conference, seminar, summer school or continuing education
• Salaries of PAs or other academic staff
• Scholarships or student fellowships
• Travel and living expenses of students on an academic exchange
• Expenses related to the participation of third parties, except if duly justified
• Phone and internet charges
• Expenses not directly related to the carrying out of the project.

All expenditures must be made in accordance with the rules of each university. For UNIGE, please refer to: https://memento.unige.ch/doc/0083

Project expenditures must be in line with the budget approved by the selection committee.

Expenditures not directly related to the project can not be authorised and will not be covered by the joint funds.

The purchase of office equipment (computers, printers, etc.), laboratory equipment or any other material necessary for the project is only authorized upon approval by the International Relations and Partneships Office and only if announced and justified before the start of the project. The equipment purchased will have to remain at one of the two partner universities (to be specified) after the end of the project. The purchase of any other equipment is not permitted.

Publication costs and consumables should not constitute the majority of the budget.

Selection criteria

• The scientific / pedagogical merit of the project
• The strategic importance of the project and its contribution to the internationalization of the two universities
• The direct benefits of the project for the structures involved (faculty, institute...)
• Sustainability and viability of the project, prospects for external funding
• Adequacy between the planned activities and the requested budget
• The potential for dissemination and development of new contacts

Particular attention will be given to:

• Projects involving young researchers (PhDs, postdocs)
• Projects carried out as a team, not just in pairs
• Applicants who have not yet received funding

Procedure

a. The submission of projects is done online on this platform, via the list of "ongoing calls" (see tutorial).

b. The decision of the selection committee is communicated to both Principal Applicants by email.

c. For a selected project, each university provides half of the total budget to its PA, unless otherwise stated.

d. At UNIGE, the International Relations and Partnerships Office (IRPO) issues a letter of guarantee for a deficit up to the allocated amount, which the PA must use to request the opening of an institutional account to be used for this project alone.

e. At the end of the project, the PA must send to the IRPO within one month a short activity report (template available) and a financial report generated by the Finance Office.

f. Upon receipt of these reports and assessment of the adequacy of expenditures with the approved budget (see above), the IRPO transfers the final amount of actual expenditures to the project fund for closure. This implies that until the end of the project, the fund remains in deficit. The unspent amount cannot be transferred to another fund or used for other purposes.

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