UTS has joined the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), a leading global higher education network connecting 23 research-intensive universities in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. WUN offers special programs for career development including networking opportunities for researchers.
Applications for WUN RDF 2024 are now closed, reopening next year.
Opportunities for academics
WUN Research Development Fund
The Worldwide Universities Network Research Development Fund (WUN RDF) is an annual competitive fund that aims to bring together researchers from WUN member universities to undertake innovative, high quality, sustainable research that addresses global challenges.
WUN RDF Funding
The WUN RDF offers grants of up to £10,000 (A$19,000) to foster innovative, international collaborative research programs. Matching cash contributions are encouraged but not required and will not factor in the review. UTS will contribute up to A$5,000 towards each successful UTS application, where necessary and justifiable.
For information on what expenditure categories WUN RDF funds support, please refer to ‘Annex: Permitted Uses of RDF Funds’ in the 2024 WUN RDF Guidelines.
Eligibility
The RDF is open to academic staff (faculty members) at WUN member universities.
UTS academics may participate in these projects as Principal Investigators or Co-Investigators. Each WUN member university may submit a maximum of two applications with its researchers as Principal Investigators.
There is no limit to the number of applications that can be submitted by other WUN member universities, which include UTS researchers as Co-Investigators.
Each project must engage at least three WUN member universities, including UTS, in at least two regions. WUN regions are defined as Latin America, North America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The collaboration can include non-WUN universities and other external partners, but must have an active core of WUN member universities. Projects led by early career researchers are especially encouraged.
2024 Focus Areas
In line with the WUN Strategic Plan 2023-2026, the WUN RDF encourages proposals that address problems in one or more of the following areas within the context of sustainable development:
- Social justice and human rights; inequality
- Sustainable world: cities and urbanisation; energy transitions; water and food security
- Mental health; child and maternal health; ageing
- Responsible and ethical applications of Artificial Intelligence
Important Information for this round
Early Career Researchers. Proposals are welcome from researchers across all career stages. Projects whose teams include (or are led by) early career researchers, are especially encouraged. Projects led by early career researchers (principal investigators) will be given extra points during the review. On the application form, we ask applicants to indicate if their university considers them an early career researcher.
It is a requirement that applications are not an extension of, or minor variations on, previous RDF funded projects. This is contained in the 2024 WUN RDF Guidelines Assessment Criteria ‘How applications are assessed: Academic Quality’ section as follows: – Is the project academically rigorous, and does it address a new research problem or take an existing WUN research program in a significantly new direction?
To learn about the assessment criteria, categories of expenditure and reporting, please read the the 2024 WUN RDF Guidelines carefully.
UTS Call for Letters of Intent
The Letter of Intent (LOI) is an informal one-page overview of your proposed research idea. It is an internal process at UTS prior to submitting two applications via the WUN platform. Two LOIs will be selected at UTS to be developed into full proposals.
The LOI should address:
- Project summary
- Assessment criteria
- List of co-investigators and their corresponding universities
- Funding requested
- Categories of expenditure you are planning to use funding for
Please note that you should only submit an LOI if your intention is that UTS will be the lead institution on your project.
How to submit an LOI
- Identify collaborators from the WUN member universities list, who are interested in submitting a joint proposal.
- Download the LOI form PDF to view a preview of the questions. Discuss and prepare the proposal with your collaborators.
Application process timeline
| 2 September 2024 | Deadline for submission of LOIs (Please note that an LOI is only required if your intention is to be the Principal Investigator on a project) |
| 19 September 2024 | Announcement of two LOIs that will be invited to develop into full proposals |
| 3 October 2024 | Draft of full proposal submitted online for faculty assessment prior to final submission to WUN |
| 18 October 2024 (11pm AEST) | Online submission of UTS applications via the WUN application portal |
| 15 December 2024 | WUN announces results |
| February 2025 | Funds made available |
Contact us
Innes Ireland
Deputy Director, Global Engagement
UTS WUN Coordinator
Email: innes.ireland@uts.edu.au
Ana Paula Ruiz
Manager, Global Partnerships
Email: ana.ruiz@uts.edu.au
Kumar Jain
Engagement Manager, Global Partnerships
Email: kumar.jain@uts.edu.au
WUN Member Universities
View the list of WUN member universities (WUN website) or below:
Australia
University of Technology Sydney
Brazil
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Canada
University of Alberta
Ghana
University of Ghana
Germany
Ruhr University Bochum
Greater China
Chinese University of Hong Kong
National Cheng Kung University
Renmin University of China
Japan
University of Tsukuba
Mexico
Tecnológico de Monterrey
New Zealand
The University of Auckland
South Africa
University of Cape Town
University of Pretoria
Switzerland
University of Lausanne
Thailand
Mahidol University
The Netherlands
Maastricht University
Uganda
Makerere University
UK
University of Exeter
University of Sheffield
University of Bristol
University of Leeds
University of York
USA
University of Rochester