Innovation grants

Donor-funded small project grants of up to £5,000 are available to students and staff to support innovations in teaching, research and student life.

Two windows of opportunity open at the University for six weeks each year to support creative ideas that need a financial kick start. Students and staff are invited to present innovative project ideas or activities during spring and autumn to compete for a share of around £150,000. The next window runs from runs from Thursday 18 February until 12 noon on Thursday 31 March 2016.

Completely funded through donations to the Edinburgh Fund, Innovation Initiative grants are an opportunity for graduates and friends of the University to invest in its future and support new thinking in research, teaching and student life.

Past projects

• £2,270 helped Dr Adam Kirrander in Chemistry to create an interactive and educational computer game for Explorathon 2015, an event celebrating science and the work of European researchers that took place at the National Museum of Scotland.
• £1,984 enabled a group of students to set up The Swap and Reuse HUB co-op (SHRUB). This student-led cooperative aims to provide a centre for reusing items and learning about reuse through skill sharing, exchanging and upcycling.
• £3,600 enabled Spyros Kizis, a student from Edinburgh College of Art, to design an eco-friendly furniture collection made out of artichoke thistle reinforced plastic - a material he designed himself.

We were so grateful to receive an Innovative Initiative Grant; it allowed us to set up our shop, paint the premise and buy tools for 'repairing workshops' that we will be running.

Further information

Further information including guidelines, checklists, full terms and conditions and details regarding how to submit your application can be found on the Innovations Initiative Grants  website.