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Seed funding

We are pleased to announce the 2026 call for the York-Maastricht Research Seed Fund.

 

This fund is the third round of YMP seed funding and is designed to catalyse high-impact, international research collaborations that address themes of strategic importance to both universities.

The YMP Seed Fund provides funding for one-year collaborative research projects on key themes, and we are looking for projects that use this internal investment to build a robust foundation — including preliminary data, proof of concepts, and strong team relationships — to make the collaboration highly competitive and help prepare you and your project for major external research grants such as Horizon Europe, ERC, UKRI, or NWO as the next step.

The key themes for 2026 are:

  • Bioeconomy (including biodiversity, planetary health, crops, agritech, green chemistry)
  • Culture and heritage
  • Robotics and AI
  • Sustainability
  • Health and neuroscience

The YMP seed funding aims to:

  • Encourage effective collaboration between academics from Maastricht and York to drive high quality research
  • Develop new collaborations on joint priority themes, emphasising scale and focus
  • Provide a pathway – and support to develop applications for – major external research grants
  • Provide international research training opportunities
  • Establish strong and sustainable continued research collaboration between the participating academics and departments 
  • Support the development of long-term strategic research alliances between the two universities.
  • Actively promote and facilitate academic exchanges for research visits between Maastricht and York

Eligibility

Applications for round three are open to researchers of any discipline at Maastricht and York, whose proposed research project falls into one of the key thematic areas outlined above. Any member of research staff at the University of York or Maastricht University is eligible, provided that they hold a PhD at the time of application, and that their employment contract extends beyond 31 July 2027. The project budget will be split between both universities and funding at each institution will be managed by Maastricht and York research offices according to the regulations of each university.

Eligible applications must also include a defined plan and outcomes, and a pathway to one or more external funding applications built into their proposed collaborative project.

Evaluation criteria

Applications will be assessed by a joint Maastricht-York panel, and must clearly demonstrate:

  • Academic excellence: a novel and rigorous approach to a well-defined project
  • Research synergy: how the combined expertise of Maastricht and York creates a "value-add" for this project that neither partner could achieve alone
  • Sustainability: a clear pathway to external funding, with a concrete identification of the specific external funding body and call the team intends to target following the seed phase
  • Feasibility: A clear timeline for achieving preliminary results (and making an external funding application?) within the 12-month window

Application process

  1. Download the YMP Seed Funding Application form
  2. Secure departmental approval from both institutions
  3. Submit the final PDF of your application to ymp@york.ac.uk

Deadline: 30 June 2026, 12 midnight GMT.