Glasgow Changing Futures

The GCF Collaborative Seed Fund supports new teams at the University of Glasgow who combine diverse fields to co-design and co-produce solutions that take a systems, future-orientated perspective to local, national, and global challenges. 

Up to 26 awards of £5K and £15K, depending on the project, are available. 

Criteria and Eligibility 

Projects should clearly align to one of the GCF Challenge Areas:  

Sustainable Futures 

Healthy and Equitable Futures  

There is an additional opportunity for challenge-led collaborative activities beyond the GCF Challenge Areas above; these applications should be made under the GCF Area: 

Collaborative Futures 

Central to the fund are four core criteria. 

• Challenge-led, solutions-focused and future thinking 

• Collaboration across boundaries 

• Quality, credibility and strategic fit 

• Potential for progression and follow-on funding 

This call is open to University of Glasgow staff who are eligible to lead a funded internal project and who have the support required to deliver the proposed work. 

Applications should identify a lead applicant and are expected to include co-leads and/or co-applicants to support the collaborative nature of the project. 

The lead applicant must: 

• be a member of University of Glasgow staff 

• be able to take responsibility for project delivery and award management 

• have salary support in place for the period needed to oversee the project 

• be able to work with relevant local support teams on approvals, finance, recruitment, procurement and reporting 

Applications are encouraged to involve colleagues at different career stages from different Colleges and Professional Services areas. 

The fund is primarily intended to support internal collaboration across the University. Applicants should therefore show that the collaboration is genuine, purposeful, equitable and adds clear value to the proposed project.  

Applicant support 

For more information about the seed fund, including the applicants’ guide, FAQs, recordings of the information sessions, and details of the application clinic, please visit the GCF seed fund website. 

Queries about the fund and the application process should be directed to gcfseedfund@glasgow.ac.uk 

Application timeline 

Call Opens: Thursday 30 April 2026  

Application Deadline: Wednesday 3 June 2026 at 12:00 midday  

Review Period: June 2026  

Decisions Communicated: By end of July 2026  

Project Start Date: 1 October 2026  

Project End Date: 31 July 2027  

Project Funding: funded activity should be delivered within Academic Year 2026-27 and unspent funds will be returned to GCF after 31 July 2027. There is no possibility of project extension.

How to apply 

Applications are submitted through the application link on the GCF website, with a completed Project Proposal Form and Costing Template attached as part of the submission. The deadline for submission is 12:00 midday on Wednesday 3 June 2026. Late submissions will not be accepted.   

Background 

The fund is intended to extend and strengthen stronger internal connections; bring different forms of expertise together in new teams, often across Colleges, and support collaborative activity with clear potential for progression. The fund will primarily support research-focused activity; however, non-research proposals will be considered where there is a strong case for their relevance and potential.  

Seed funding is a focused and strategic approach to investing in collaboration, creating future opportunities and fostering change. It helps colleagues develop strong challenge-led ideas, build effective cross University teams and generate the early evidence, partnerships and momentum needed to enable further development and impact. In this way, GCF seed funding supports immediate innovation while also strengthening the University’s longer-term capacity, impact and reputation.  

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First published: 30 April 2026