FAQ
T4EU Seed Funding Programme
Application Process
The application phase is from 30 June to 30 September 2025. The deadline for submission is 30 September 2025.
Each project team must submit
- the application form (technical description of their project),
- a budget breakdown
- and support letters confirming that their faculties are aware of the proposal submission and can cover the minimum of 20% own contribution’.
Please send all documents to
t4eu-seedfunding@uni-saarland.de
Ensure that your local T4EU project managers are copied in on the correspondence and that the title is clear.
If you have any questions, please contact t4eu-seedfunding@uni-saarland.de.
Yes, T4EU is organising two online information sessions:
- 23 July 2025
- 20 August 2025
If you would like to attend the virtual session, please email t4eu-seedfunding@uni-saarland.de to receive the meeting link.
The sessions will be recorded and made available on the website afterward.
Non-T4EU partners can join the project consortium but are not allowed to receive funding from the T4EU seed funding programme.
Please note that no further annexes will be evaluated. Please only submit the application form, the budget breakdown and the faculty support letter.
Applicants will be informed of the results at the end of November 2025.
Relevance and impact:
- Contribution to the relevant KPIs and milestones of the T4EU initiative
- Number of students / lifelong learners benefitting from the offer
- Sustainable integration into the institutions’ regular study offer
- Transferability to other study programmes and / or disciplines
- Funding is open to subjects and topics from all academic fields. However, priority will be given to initiatives addressing the alliance’s focus areas (social, digital and environmental transformation; knowledge entrepreneurialism).
- Alignment with T4EU values (multilingualism and interdisciplinarity)
Quality of the proposal – project design and implementation:
- Clear description of the path towards a long-term offer (master’s programmes typically bearing 60 – 120 ECTS, bachelor programmes typically bearing 180 – 240 ECTS)
- Realistic and thought-through planning
- Adequate personnel resources available
- Reasonable budgeting
Set up of the project
- Use the T4EU partnering tool: Register in Connect4Research to identify researchers or teaching staff with shared interests. Please note that registering in Connect4Research is mandatory for applying in the T4EU seed funding programme.
- Use T4EU Contacts: Reach out through the T4EU alliance network—each partner university has contact persons or liaison offices that may help identify potential collaborators.
- Participate in T4EU Events: Join T4EU workshops, conferences or dedicated matchmaking events where project ideas and partnerships are actively encouraged.
- Previous Collaborations: Consider reaching out to past collaborators from previous projects who may be interested in a new initiative.
Connect4Research is a partnering and infrastructure-sharing tool designed for researchers and academic staff within the T4EU alliance. As the tool facilitates matchmaking between potential collaborators, it is mandatory to register in Connect4Research to apply for T4EU seed funding. It is also ideal for young researchers and PhD candidates seeking to build connections and engage in interdisciplinary projects.
Yes. All applicants must be registered on the platform. This will help you find project partners and expand your academic network. However, using connect4research to form your project team is not mandatory.
Funding line A) “Explore collaboration”:
- Explore and establish contacts for teaching & learning collaboration / consortia:
- List of contacts at the different partner universities
- Describe joint topics and fields for collaboration
- Define ideas for collaboration for the next steps towards creating sustainable educational or training offers:
- Describe the offers (e.g., jointly offered courses, mobility windows, etc.), how they will be organized and the number of ECTS.
- Describe in which existing or future / new study or training programmes the future offers can be integrated and explain how this will be done. If possible, state how many students will benefit from the offer(s).
- Define a roadmap of the next steps with a timeline and the people responsible for implementing the collaboration ideas.
- Describe the potential for further development in the future
Funding line B) “Develop teaching and learning collaboration”:
- Develop educational and/or training offers, e.g.:
- Blended / joint / collaborative courses (all study cycles and lifelong learning),
- PhD tracks,
- Mobility windows
- New formats of collaborative teaching,
- and/or didactical materials for joint offers.
Ensure that the necessary agreements are signed and the course curricula and teaching materials are finalised by the end of the project.
- Clearly define the path towards a Joint Programme (double, multiple or joint degrees; all study cycles and lifelong learning):
- Describe the Joint Programme (academic field(s), focus, orientation and target group).
- Define a roadmap incl. timeline, responsible persons and the necessary formalities at the partner universities involved.
- Describe the potential for development and synergies with research.
Projects are expected to last between 12 and 14 months.
The coordinator should serve as the main spokesperson for the project and act as the primary point of contact with the central seed funding unit. Ideally, the coordinator should be someone with project management experience who can oversee the project’s overall progress, manage timelines, and submit the final report (technical report). If the workload is not shared equally, it would make sense for the coordinator to come from the university that is responsible for most of the work.
Minimum project partner: Two members from the T4EU partner universities
Maximum project partners: There is no fixed limit on the number of project partners. However, please bear in mind that the project budget is capped, so having a larger consortium will not result in additional funding (see the maximum grant amount per project). The number of partners should be appropriate for the scope of the project and contribute meaningfully to its success.
Budget
Exploring projects | Developing projects |
€ 10 000 | With 2 universities: € 15 000 |
With 3 universities € 22 000 |
You can apply for amounts up to the maximum grant, thus, also for lower sums. Your budget should be calculated reasonably and adequately for your activities.
Each project partner may receive a maximum of 50% of the total budget (except for non-T4EU partners who are not eligible for funding).
Applicants should allocate the grant according to each partner’s role, responsibilities, and contribution to the project. Please ensure that you comply with the eligibility criteria described below.
- Personnel costs are eligible if clearly justified (e.g., for conceptualisation or preparation), but teaching hours and student stipends are not covered.
- Travel costs should be covered by the sending university, preferably using Erasmus+ schemes. The host university cannot pay travel costs of visiting students and staff. Sustainable travel is encouraged.
- Eligible costs include materials, consumables, blended/on-site workshops, external services (e.g., moderators, translators)
- The proposal must show that activities are new and not part of existing work.
- Grant writing activities (e.g., for ERASMUS+ or other EU funding, etc.) are not eligible; these must be funded by your institution.
- Equipment purchases and general overhead costs are not eligible.
- Overhead costs cannot be included in the budget plan.
- The seed fund cannot be used to fund ongoing activities.
Please note that the T4EU seed funding grant will cover a maximum of 80% of the total project costs. Applicants must finance the remaining 20% through an “own contribution”, which is typically provided in the form of staff cost / working hours or other in-cash or in-kind contributions.
Example: If you apply for the “Explore” T4EU seed funding grant of € 10,000, your total project costs are € 12,500. In this case, you must contribute €2,500 (i.e. 20% of the total project budget) from your own resources (“own contribution”).
The central seed funding unit will issue ‘letters of confirmation’ by the end of November 2025 (for the 2nd call), confirming that your project team has been awarded a grant. Participating universities can then begin managing the funds in accordance with their respective internal procedures as part of their T4EU project funding.
Each participant must comply with the internal regulations of their home institution. While some universities may require receipts or supporting documentation, others may not. Please contact your local T4EU team to find out about the procedures that apply to you.
Generally, providing a financial report to the central seed funding unit is not required.
Each participant must comply with the internal regulations of their home institution. While some universities may require receipts or supporting documentation, others may not. Please contact your local T4EU team to find out about the procedures that apply to you. Please note that the centrally managed T4EU Seed Funding Programme is only responsible for transferring the awarded amounts to the participating universities and does not manage the funds beyond this.
Evaluation
Relevance and impact:
- Contribution to the relevant KPIs and milestones of the T4EU initiative
- Number of students / lifelong learners benefitting from the offer
- Sustainable integration into the institutions’ regular study offer
- Transferability to other study programmes and / or disciplines
- Funding is open to subjects and topics from all academic fields. However, priority will be given to initiatives addressing the alliance’s focus areas (social, digital and environmental transformation; knowledge entrepreneurialism).
- Alignment with T4EU values (multilingualism and interdisciplinarity)
Quality of the proposal – project design and implementation:
- Clear description of the path towards a long-term offer (master’s programmes typically bearing 60 – 120 ECTS, bachelor programmes typically bearing 180 – 240 ECTS)
- Realistic and thought-through planning
- Adequate personnel resources available
- Reasonable budgeting
Each university has nominated two experts to independently evaluate the submitted proposals. Evaluators will not assess proposals from their own institution.
Applicants will be informed via email at the end of November 2025 if their proposal has been awarded a seed funding grant. They will also receive a short evaluation report indicating why their application was successful or not.
Yes. The selection committee will prepare a short evaluation report for each project team.
Selection
All applicants will be notified of the evaluation results via email. The local T4EU project managers will be notified as well.
Yes, you can find the timeline for the next calls on the T4EU website.
The central seed funding unit will issue ‘letters of confirmation’ by the end of November 2025 (for the 2nd call), confirming that your project team has been awarded a grant. Participating universities can then begin managing the funds in accordance with their respective internal procedures.
Projects are expected to begin their activities immediately after the grant is awarded, and no later than January 2026.
Project implementation
Yes, all project teams are required to submit a final report (brief technical report) within two months of the project’s completion including all products or outcomes of the project. A report template will be provided.
No. However, your university may apply internal financial monitoring in line with your local guidelines. Please reach out to the T4EU team at your university to receive more information.
Awarded project teams are expected to present their results as part of a T4EU event (e.g. T4EU Strategic Assembly / matchmaking event / T4EU week / similar occasions).
A brief project presentation will also be featured on the T4EU website (short text about the results and achievements).
Yes, you may apply for follow-up funding under a next call (if one is announced). Please note that the selection process will be competitive, even if your project has received funding in a previous round of the T4EU seed funding programme.
