The University of Coimbra (UC), with the support of the UC Strategic Areas Unit (NAE) and in collaboration with the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIIUC), is promoting the SeedProjects@UC initiative to fund interdisciplinary research proposed by early career researchers (i.e. up to ten years after the defence of their PhD), responding to complex scientific questions and societal challenges, and contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
The total funding for SeedProjects@UC in each edition is 100,000 euros, through a generous collaboration with the programme of Santander Universidades from Banco Santander Totta. Five projects are expected to be funded, one in each of the UC's strategic areas, which are aligned with the priorities of Horizon Europe.
SeedProjects@UC aims to promote the scientific independence and leadership skills of early career researchers, serving as a basis for future projects. In addition to the scientific excellence of the Principal Investigator, projects are funded on the basis of the interdisciplinary nature of the team and the project. Interdisciplinarity requires that the project team be made up of researchers from at least two UC research units from different scientific areas.