Seed Grants are small grants that aim to facilitate new research initiatives and projects that would not be able to develop without a these grants. These projects have the prospect to grow into something bigger and more durable. Past Seed Grants have formed the seed for successful grant applications, long-term research projects, ongoing interdisciplinary collaborations, and monographs, edited volumes and special issues. The maximum budget per Seed Grant is €2500.

We especially appreciate initiatives that bring together academic research and work on Urban Studies from different disciplines and programme groups within the CUS, enable exchange and collaborations between researchers from the Centre and researchers from abroad, and facilitate a dialogue between academic researchers and stakeholders in the city of Amsterdam and other places. Proposals involving PhD students, (research) master students or aiming at developing new research proposals are particularly welcomed.

Calls for Seed Grants open multiple times a year and are published in the CUS Newsletter and News section.

Seed Grants XL serve to support and facilitate bigger and innovative research initiatives of CUS’ research staff, both permanent and temporary which cannot be realised within the budget of a regular Seed Grant.  A maximum of up to €10.000 per Seed Grant XL is awarded.

Seed Grants XL are awarded once a year. The first upcoming call will open late 2021 and will be published in the CUS Newsletter and on our homepage.

CUS Travel Grants enable junior members to broaden their horizon and visit partner universities and/or centers relevant to their research. The grant is awarded to PhD candidates who are in the post-field work phase of their research project.

The Travel Grants contribute to the Centre’s mission to facilitate exchange and collaborations between researchers from CUS and researchers from abroad, and enable an ongoing international dialogue and exploration of potential collaborations. We especially appreciate applications that bridge between different disciplines and/or between academic research and societal practices. The grants are provided to assist CUS’ PhD candidates in their dissertation work, so they can gain valuable international experience and set up promising collaborations with (potential) partners abroad.

The Joint Seed Grants are provided to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue between urban scholars in the humanities and in the social sciences, and to stimulate original research in the field of Urban Studies. In particular, we aim to enable exchange and collaborations between researchers from the Amsterdam Centre for Cultural Heritage and Identity (ACHI), the Amsterdam Centre for Urban History (ACUH), the ASCA Cities Project and the Centre for Urban Studies (CUS). 

We believe that collaborations between these two domains can be advantageous in an academic funding landscape that is not only becoming increasingly competitive, but in which the social sciences and humanities are more and more conjoined in grant calls and funding schemes. Moreover, we find that research projects intrinsically strengthen from a combination of the societal imperative that social sciences researchers regard highly and the cultural interest and long-term perspective premised by humanities researchers.

Teaching buyout grants are provided for the equivalent of 0,1 FTE for one year (or a total of 162,5 hours), to assist permanent staff in writing a major research grant application or in the development of a project that benefits the researcher as well as the Centre for Urban Studies and its mission (i.e. the promotion of interdisciplinary collaboration). An additional and important (but not exclusive) selection criterion is the contribution to the development of the thematic focus of the Centre on the ‘urban commons’ (for more information on the thematic focus, and on the broader mission of CUS, see the 2018-2022 strategic plan).

Fellowships are provided to support recently graduated master students who are aspiring to a PhD position, or PhD students who are aspiring to a Post Doc position, both from within and outside of the UvA. The grants will support a three month stay at the University of Amsterdam specifically aimed at writing a research proposal to secure funding for a PhD or Post Doc position at the University of Amsterdam. The broader goal is to stimulate original research and interdisciplinary collaboration in the field of Urban Studies. An additional and important (but not exclusive) aim is the contribution to the development of the thematic focus of the Centre on the ‘urban commons’ (for more information on the thematic focus, and on the broader mission of CUS, see the 2018-2022 strategic plan).

The Centre for Urban Studies awards a 10.000 euro Visiting Scholar Grant that aims at stimulating new, innovative and collaborative research and initiatives. Hereby, this program goes beyond the existing formats supporting short international visits for participation in public lectures, PhD-workshops, and/or research seminars (which will all still remain possible with this grant). The primary aim of the visit should be engaging with CUS researchers and students, not carrying out own research, or own writing (it is not a mini-sabbatical).