Global Seed Funds in the UK

The MIT-Imperial Seed Fund aims to help kick-start early-stage projects between two of the world’s leading universities that lead to high impact research, discovery science, and the deployment of frontier technologies. The 2024 call is an open call for research collaborations in any discipline across all departments and research groups at each institution.

The fund aims to seed activity to support engagement with National Science Foundation (NSF) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Lead Agency Agreement and other related national and supra-national bodies/programs.

The funding may be used to support travel costs for exchange between the two teams: one at MIT, one at Imperial College London. Given the carbon footprint of travel, researchers are asked to consider which components of the proposed collaboration might be accomplished effectively via video, phone, or other creative technology solutions. 

The fund is open to all MIT and Imperial faculty members and research staff with principal investigator privileges (principal research scientists and senior research scientists). If you have questions about your Pl status, please consult your department. Proposals must be submitted jointly with colleagues from both institutions.

Grants will range between $30,000 and $50,000 for an eighteen-month project period. All teams have access to the online application portal, and any of the teams may take the lead in completing the application.

Grant awards will be evenly divided between and managed by the teams at MIT and Imperial College London to enable travel between the two locations. For instance, a $40,000 proposed budget should include:

1. Approximately $20,000 to be managed by the MIT team for:
   1. the MIT team to travel to London and/or
   2. workshops and meetings conducted at MIT
2. ​​​Approximately $20,000 to be managed by the Imperial College London team for:
   1. the ICL team to travel to Cambridge, MA and/or
   2. workshops and meetings conducted at ICL

Priority will be given to projects that:

• present a balanced exchange between the participants
• demonstrate complementarity between the teams
• involve undergraduate and graduate students
• demonstrate potential to win follow-on external funding

The MIT - Imperial College London Seed Fund is administered by MISTI Global Seed Funds. All general Global Seed Fund criteria, application and evaluation procedures apply.

$30,000-$50,000

Priority will be given to projects that:

• present a balanced exchange between the participants
• demonstrate complementarity between the teams
• involve undergraduate and graduate students
• demonstrate potential to win follow-on external funding