University of Oxford, TU Berlin and Siemens AG Seed Fund

Siemens AG (SAG), the University of Oxford (UoO) and Technische Universität Berlin (TUB) are calling for proposals in research areas at the intersection of methods and technologies and application sectors.

Methods and technology:

  • applied artificial intelligence
  • connectivity, IoT, sensors and edge computing
  • simulation and digital twin

Application sectors:

  • buildings, cities and energy systems
  • industry and manufacturing
  • mobility and transport systems

The aim of a seed project should be to develop trilateral partnerships and jointly apply for publicly funded projects. The involvement of at least two out of Oxford, TU Berlin and Siemens is a prerequisite. The Involvement of all three is strongly encouraged. It is now confirmed that the United Kingdom will continue to participate in Horizon Europe, so this EU framework is highly feasible but other programmes are also possible.

The seed fund management team offers matchmaking for interested researchers with first in-scope project ideas to help identify complementary team partners at the other organisations. If you are interested in this, informally reach out to your organisation's point of contact to get started.

This call is open to any salaried faculty member or equivalent at post-doctoral level or above from Oxford and TU Berlin as well as any Siemens employee involved in R&D. All disciplines are eligible. Projects must be jointly submitted and may include additional participation from other institutions or companies.

Funding

The seed fund aims to support 4 projects for no longer than 9 months. Seed funding will be available from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022. Within each project the Oxford participant can receive up to £15,000 and the TU Berlin participant can receive up to €20,000. Siemens project partners are asked to define their input in the application and put in their own costs that will be covered by their respective units.

If successful, recipients of seed funding in Oxford and Berlin will be required to abide by the policies and practices of their respective institutions regarding ethical conduct of research, reporting and reimbursement of expenditures. Siemens partners will not receive direct funds but will be asked to transparently define their input and cover their own costs as part of the financial budget table.

The Werner-von-Siemens Centre for Industry and Science e.V. has partnered with the seed fund team and offers its space and support for a workshop in Berlin Siemensstadt for project definition or consortium building to the seed-funded projects at no cost.

Submission documents

The application must include a narrative project description of no more than 3 pages addressing:

  • overview description of the field of study and general intellectual context of the project suitable for a non-specialist audience
  • outline of the proposed project and its specific objectives as well as its operation and functions including a project timeline and how the competencies within the team match
  • list of potential calls identified or expectations regarding future targetable calls
  • attachments:
    • short CVs of the principal investigators at each institution (up to 2 pages)
    • a list of prospective recipients on all sides and their estimated time input
    • a financial budget table per partner specified by the eligible claims categories

Eligible claims

  • direct personnel costs (for identifying common interests and writing grant proposals)
  • consumable costs (services needed or materials for prototypes)
  • travel, accommodation and other associated costs (for joint workshops or exchanges)

Evaluation Criteria

All proposals will be evaluated by a trilateral selection committee based on the following criteria:

  • clear description and importance of the proposed research topic
  • coherent collaborative work program for the seed funding phase
  • the potential to lead to successful joint grant applications
  • the track record and competency mix of the principal investigators

Submission and reporting

  • application window: 1 October 2021 to 12 December 2021 at 11:59pm GMT
  • outcome notification: 17 December 2021
  • funding activity: 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 – maximum of 9 months project duration
  • progress reports: recipients must report briefly in a final report at project completion and are encouraged to keep the management team updated during the project via an informal mid-project report
  • payment of the grant: payment and post-award financial management will be administered through the respective institutions at TU Berlin and Oxford

A single, jointly prepared application must be submitted in English as PDF via email to the seed fund management team. Any questions regarding the seed fund, application process or matchmaking requests are encouraged and can be directed to the seed fund management team as well.

Seed fund management team

Ilaria Carrara Cagni (SAG): +49 173 2532539, ilaria.carrara_cagni@siemens.com

Andy Gilchrist (Oxford): +44 7714 598113, andy.gilchrist@mpls.ox.ac.uk

Hayri Göcke (TUB): +49 173 9019705, hayri.goecke@cki.tu-berlin.de

Internal funding

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