Winning projects of the 5th edition of SeedProjects@UC presented at the Senate Hall

The winning projects of the 5th edition of the Seeds@UC initiative were presented yesterday at the UC Senate Hall. The funding programme, promoted by the UC Strategic Areas Team and the Interdisciplinary Research Institute of the University of Coimbra (IIIUC) and sponsored by Santander Universidades, supports five interdisciplinary research projects - one in each of the strategic areas of the University of Coimbra.

Each winning proposal will receive a maximum of €20,000 from a total funding pool of €100,000. For the 2024 edition, João Ramalho-Santos, UC Vice-Rector for research, explained that the organising committee decided to "maintain the five strategic areas of the UC and reduce the number of evaluation criteria", adding, "We also invited alumni to sit on the jury".

With proposals in the fields of health, sustainability, energy, space waste or cultural heritage, there are 'many and quite interesting [projects]', says João Ramalho-Santos. The aim of the Seeds@UC funding programme is for these interdisciplinary projects "to be the springboard for other opportunities, such as European Research Council (ERC) grants".

Amílcar Falcão, Rector of the University of Coimbra, said that "These are very interesting projects that are part of the university of the future". At the UC, researchers find "an ecosystem that is well equipped to go further" and this competition should be seen as "an opportunity". "There are excellent proposals here that could lead to larger projects," he added.