Applications are now open for Higher Education and the SDGs Challenge Grants to fund collaborative work around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Open to professional and academic staff at ACU member universities, the grants focus on the following ACU Higher Education and the SDGs Network priority themes:
- Teaching and learning
- Research
- Estates and stewardship
- Engagement and impact
- Partnerships
From sourcing energy-saving and clean energy options for Fijian schools to supporting women’s economic empowerment by addressing the financial literacy and gender-based disparities in access to finance – the grants have been used to fund a diverse range of activities, projects, workshops, and events. Applications could include ideas for:
- Virtual exchange or collaboration, teaching or professional practice collaboration. Sharing and co-development of learning materials, tools, training, and approaches to support contingency and continuity of operations planning at higher education institutions (HEIs)
- Virtual fellowships, comparative analyses, research management, and uptake capacity-building
- Integrating sustainable development into operations
- Sharing SDG learning content and materials
- Developing SDG-focused research strategies
- Co-creating research for impact, community engagement, and partnerships for the goals
Before submitting your application, they encourage you to read the application guidance for ACU Challenge Grants.
Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with others – whether that is with member universities to promote further Commonwealth partnerships or other organizations such as local governments. This will be looked on favorably, but it is not essential.
Grant applications that allow matching or additional funds from the applicant’s institution are looked on favorably, but this is not essential. Applications will be assessed on the following criteria:
- Project goals and feasibility
- Impact and outputs
- Experience and skills of the project lead and institution support
- Alignment with the themes of the ACU Higher Education and the SDGs Network
- Collaboration
Grantees are required to submit a short interim update halfway through their project and a comprehensive final report within one month of completing their project.
Additionally, any outputs developed through the grants (e.g., toolkits or papers) should be made available to be shared with Higher Education and the SDGs Network, in order to increase impact.
Benefits
- Four grants of GBP 2,500 are available.
Eligibilities
Applications will be assessed on the following criteria:
- Project goals and feasibility
- Impact and outputs
- Experience and skills of the project lead and institution support
- Alignment with the themes of the ACU Higher Education and the SDGs Network
- Collaboration
If your university has previously received an ACU Higher Education and the SDGs Challenge Grant, you are not eligible to apply again. Please check their grantees’ pages to see if this applies to your university.
Eligible Regions: Open for AllApplication Process
- If you already have a MyACU account, you can access the grant application form given on their official website.
- If you do not already have a MyACU account, please ensure that you first register for an account and then follow the instructions in the registration email to log in to the system before accessing the application form.
To apply, you will need to:
- Supply an outline of the project and a detailed time plan, including what it will involve and how it will address the Higher Education and the SDGs Network’s themes. The project time plan is requested for a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 12 months.
- Submit a letter of support from your university’s executive head (or equivalent), or another senior member of your institution, to demonstrate their support for the program of work proposed and the ways they will provide support for your project. The letter should also act as a reference for the project lead.
- Attach the project lead’s CV.
Application Deadline: May 2, 2023
Application ClosedOfficial link
