Internationalisation

Ignition Grants were established to:

• Facilitate and support joint initiatives that will strengthen the two universities’ strategic priorities,
• Develop interdisciplinary cutting-edge research to create academic and societal impact.

Applicants are encouraged to submit funding applications for innovative and sustainable programs built around collaborative research linking the Universities of Sydney and Glasgow. Proposals for learning and teaching initiatives may also be considered if included as part of a larger collaborative research proposal.

Preference will be given to projects that involve staff from many levels, such as PhD or masters by research students, postdocs, Early and Mid-Career Researchers (EMCR) and researchers on sabbatical leave rather than just a one-to-one staff research project.

Projects which are multidisciplinary in nature are also encouraged. Proposals which seek to address the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are highly encouraged.

Application submission

All applications must be jointly submitted by a Chief Investigator from University of Sydney and a Chief Investigator from the University of Glasgow. All applications will also require the endorsement of the relevant Head of School from both institutions.

Please send a note of interest or any questions to the International Affairs Team at externalrelations-partnershipfunding@glasgow.ac.uk

Application details

The proposal must address the selection criteria (Quality & Relevance, Execution, Impact) and include the following elements:

• Project timeline (a timeline form is built into the online application)
• Project budget (a budget form is built into the online application)
• CV of the Chief Investigator of each university (maximum two pages in length).

All applications must be submitted online via the USyd Funding Schemes Site: http://sydney.edu.au/award-schemes

As the application software is based in Sydney, applications are initially opened by the Chief Investigator from USyd using their UniKey and password. Once this is done, Chief Investigators from Glasgow will be able to access and edit the applications following an invitation from USyd Chief Investigators to be a 'Member' of the bid.

Full details are available in the Ignition Grants - Guidelines for Applicants.

Eligibility

Proposals are invited from academic staff from all disciplines at Universities of Glasgow and Sydney and their affiliated Research Centres and Institutes.

Chief Investigators must be employed on a full-time, part-time (appointed at least 0.5 FTE), fixed term or continuing basis. If on a fixed term contract, the end date must be beyond the funding period.

PhD students, masters by research students, post-docs, and research assistants/associates are not eligible to apply as Chief Investigators but they are welcome to join the applications.

Eligible grant activities

Activities that will be considered for funding include:

• Airfares: Only travel on economy class return airfares will be considered;
• Other travel expenses (e.g. train, rental car);
• Costs for hosting a seminar/conference or workshop;
• Accommodation and subsistence;
• Consumables; and
• Publications and printing costs.

Funding deadline

Please note, the project deadline for successful recipients is 31 July 2024.  All funding must utilised by this date.

Funding and reporting obligations

Further to the eligibility criteria and funding details, all successful Ignition Grant recipients will be expected to complete a final report by 30 October 2024 with an update to this report submitted before 31 July 2025. This is part of the financial and reporting obligations incumbent on successful recipients.

Evidence of external funding submissions will be required in final project reports. See sections 7 and 14 of the Ignition Grants - Guidelines for Applicants for more details.

 2022/2023 recipients

2020-2021

The fund did not run due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

2019-2020 funding update