Submission deadline: December 17, 2023, 11:59 PM

The Idea and Innovation anagement of Freie Universität Berlin is aligned with the goals of the FU climate emergency declaration and invests in new approaches for climate protection and sustainable developments at our university. For the third time, all university members can apply with their ideas.

Goal of the Call for Proposals in 2023

Under the title "FUturist," we support ideas that contribute to sustainability transformations at Freie Universität Berlin.

An important focus of this year's call is to strengthen engagement, visibility, collaboration, and transfer within Freie Universität Berlin.

This year, four proposals can be selected that demonstrate how teaching or research:

• Strengthen sustainability-oriented engagement;
• Improve visibility and communication about sustainable developments;
• Demonstrate local to international collaboration related to sustainable development;
• Or showcase sustainability transfer.

Additionally, there is a prize for ideas that strengthen sustainability- and climate-related campus activities within one's institutional responsibility area, e.g., IT, waste, energy, procurement, mobility, to bring us closer to our climate protection goals.

Overall, five ideas can be funded, totaling up to €25,000. The funding amount for a project is €5,000, with 4 spots allocated for the field of teaching and/or research and 1 spot for sustainability- and climate-related campus activities.

The funds are earmarked for the project.

Target Groups, Funding Criteria, and Required Documents

This call is open to all students and employees of Freie Universität Berlin. Funding can be awarded to individuals or teams, with one person serving as the applicant and contact person responsible for the project. Only one idea can be submitted per person or team. Projects can be carried out in collaboration with other departments or institutions, which has proven helpful in the past.

Support is provided for ideas whose implementation has not yet begun. It is possible to submit proposals that build on existing activities. Eligible are only actual expenses necessary for implementing the idea.

Applications and all attachments must be submitted as PDFs by email (sabine.heckmann@fu-berlin.de) by December 17, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Please use this file as a template.

The application should include the following information (max. 6 pages including financial plan):

1. Information about participating individuals and FU proof
2. Brief description of the project idea and intended impact
3. Approach/method
4. Rough project plan
5. Rough financial plan with expenditure items
6. Risk assessment

Additionally:

• Informal consent for publication
• Self-declaration regarding the protection of third-party rights.

Important: Only complete applications will be considered for funding decisions.

Applicants will be informed of the funding decision by February 1, 2024.

The selection will be made by an interdisciplinary jury.

The innovation potential of the project, the quality of the submissions, and the relevance will be assessed. There is no legal recourse against the decision. The funded projects will be presented on our website.

All funded ideas, their descriptions, participating individuals, and later results will be made accessible to the public. The ideas and achieved goals to date will be presented at the FUturist event in the summer for the next stage of development. The funding period runs from February 1, 2024, until the end of 2024.

Contact and Further Information

For further details, please refer to the FAQ with the most important explanations for this call.

For questions, please contact Sabine Heckmann, Project Coordination Ideas & Innovation Management at the Sustainability & Energy Office.

Schwendenerstraße 17, 14195 Berlin | Tel: 030 838 – 70984 | Email: sabine.heckmann@fu-berlin.de

We look forward to your ideas for sustainable development at Freie Universität Berlin