Open calls

• Collaboration: Students from a minimum of two ERUA member universities apply together for a project in which they will all be actively involved.*
• ERUA Contribution: Make clear how the project benefits ERUA (e.g. relation to its thematic areas and mission & values) and contributes to student wellbeing
• Quality: Proof that you have the necessary expertise or experience in the topic of the project or are planning to involve an expert (e.g. by letter of intent)
• Inclusion and accessibility: Check our guideline for inclusive and accessible projects and explain how you will consider these aspects.*
• Target group: Ideally, (one part of) your project benefits a broad range of students (this also applies to a small workshop that results in an exhibition, where the exhibition is open to more people)
• Relevance: Which current and relevant topics does your project involve?
• Sustainability: How are you planning to consider sustainability within your project and is there any long-term impact of the result?
• Realistic: Submit a realistic budget calculation (up to 5,000 € gross) and timeline (up to a duration of eight months, starting between February and April 2025).

The Jury is composed of a diverse group of students and staff from different universities and fields of action, such as the Student Board and Work Package teams.

*In addition to  considering the quality of the projects, the jury is committed to take care of a fair distribution of projects across the ERUA universities with each call.

• Monday, October 21^st, 2024 at 15:30 WEST/16:30 CEST/17:30 EEST
  Online Info Session via Zoom (this is the Zoom link for the online info session).
• Sunday, December 10th, 2024 – Deadline for application.
• Friday, January 20th, 2025 – Announcement of Results
• February to April 2025 – Start of the project implementation
• September to November 2025 – End of project implementation
• November-December 2025 – Reporting phase

The next joint bottom-up project call will be launched in April/ May 2025

At each ERUA member university, a person will be dedicated to supporting you with the implementation of the project. Please contact and involve that person as an advisor as soon as you plan to apply for funding. You will need the confirmation of that person to apply.

List of local contact persons

Funding can only happen in accordance to EU standards.

Below you will find some criteria that can be helpful as an orientation (this is not a legal document). Nevertheless, before you start the project, your budget will be checked by the team and jointly amended, if there is any concern of eligibility. .

You can apply for:

• Fees & Travels for external experts, e.g. artists/ trainers/ speakers
• Rent for rooms/ equipment (please try to use university facilities for free first)
• Printings (posters etc)
• Catering (non-alcoholic, local university standards, “local” = location of project event)
• Compensation for project lead (based on local standards for student employment, local = university of the respective student)
• Travel of the team and ERUA university members: These costs are eligible but they should not be included in the project budget (up to 5,000.00 €). Please add and list these travels as separate costs. (see application form and Q&A)

Please mind:

• No payment to associated partners.
• No purchase of equipment
• No entrance fee/ paid ticket for participants accepted.
• No co-financing through external partners.
• Usually, no fees for staff from ERUA universities
• Usually, no fees for equipment/ rooms/ facilities at ERUA universities.

STEP 1: Carefully check the Bottom-Up Project Call for ERUA Students, read all information and documents on the website carefully. Mind to check the important dates, the guideline for inclusive and accessible projects, and the Project proposal application form.

STEP 2: Draft a project idea or think of topics you are passionate about. 

STEP 3: Join the Online Info Session:

STEP 4: Find your team (of students from a minimum of two ERUA member universities). If you need assistance, here are some ideas:

• join an ERUA activity (ERUA-Website) and connect with fellow ERUA students
• Send us a request for collaborators, adding a short description of your project idea or topic of interest. Please use this form. Your request will appear on this platform where you can also find other students’ requests and get in touch. The team will support you in connecting with other students. In case of any questions please contact us via erua-students@europa-uni.de

STEP 5: Meet your team, agree on different responsibilities and how you would like to work together, the next steps, and a timeline. Discuss more details of the project. Make sure your team and project fit all the criteria and that you can all handle the workload beside your studies.

STEP 7: Involve local Advisor – Get in touch with the local advisor of each university (see above) represented in your team. Together with them, identify project partners, experts and available infrastructures

STEP 6: Draft – As a team, check the application process and all necessary documents, prepare a first concept draft

STEP 8: Prepare and submit your application via erua-students@europa-uni.de Mind to include all necessary information.
Deadline for submission: December 10th, 2024.

STEP 9: Celebrate the submission with your team and wait for response.

STEP 10: Regularly check your emails. We might need to contact you for clarification/ adjustments. Keep your local advisor updated.
Results will be announced latest by January 20th, 2025.

Download the checklist here.

• Project proposal application form
• Checklist for the submission
• Guideline for inclusive and accessible projects
• Photo consent form – will be added later (before start of projects)
• Reporting document (after project implementation)

Please submit your proposal (one doc or pdf file) via email to erua-students@europa-uni.de

By submitting your project you agree that you have carefully read all information provided on this website and that in case of being selected you will write a report and share material (including pictures, videos) for the ERUA magazine, website and social media.

*You have accessibility concerns for your own participation in the call?
Please contact Niki Kasis (she/ her) via kasis@europa-uni.de
We are happy to find a solution together with you to make your participation possible.

Looking for collaborators from other institutions? Check the existing project ideas and requests for collaboration and get in touch or fill in this project idea description form and send it to erua-students@europa-uni.de.

Questions or comments on the call itself? Please check the Q&A below or contact the ERUA Project Call Team through erua-students@europa-uni.de, if you miss the answer to your question..

Wanna learn more about ERUA in general? Contact your local ERUA Student Ambassadors

What does ERUA mean by “project”?

• There is no restriction in terms of format or topic. The Cambridge Dictionary defines a project as “a piece of planned work or an activity that is finished over a period of time and intended to achieve a particular purpose”. So, it should have a clear timing, with a clear beginning and end, and it should have clear goals and outcomes (not necessarily a product, but some result). This could be for example: A workshop, an exhibition, a sports event, a joint research, a cross-campus student organisation activity, a festival with local communities… It can happen online or on-site.

If we want to apply for a project, how do we know whether it should be submitted under the bottom-up project call or under a different work package or area of ERUA?

• ERUA has a broad focus as it concerns the university as a whole. You might have an idea which would fit very well to ERUA’s research clusters or ERUA’s efforts to foster social entrepreneurship. Or, you are planning a workshop, which could also happen in the framework of ERUA’s teaching offers, or you would like to do a theatre performance at an already existing event, such as the ERUA summit.
• Please go ahead and feel encouraged to submit your idea here as a project. We will consider all submitted ideas within the work of ERUA, as they are an important feedback showing the needs and wishes of ERUA students.. If the jury and team sees potential in your project and it fits better to a different category than this project-call, we will forward the idea to the respective colleagues and take advantage of possible synergies.

We would like to propose an annual event. Is this possible?

• You will apply for one project implementation first, but you can clearly state that, if successful, the project is meant to be repeated.
• You will apply again, referring to the previous version and reflecting on the lessons learned and how you are going to improve or change the project, if necessary.

We will need some travel funding for the project, is this included in the 5,000 €?

• The 5,000 € is meant primarily for the project expenses. Please list all necessary travel costs as a separate cost category. The ERUA team will then make every effort to find ways between the partners to cover these in case your project is accepted. Still, there might be a need for adjustment, in case the travel expenses cannot be covered (fully).

We need more funding to make it a good project. Can we apply for more?

• The projects will be funded up to 5,000 Euros each, so you should propose a version of your project that would work within this financial scope. Still, you are free to add to your proposal a possible upgraded version and what this would cost. In case another project applies for less funding or another possibility shows up and is accepted by the jury, there might be some possibility to get funding on top.

We need to buy equipment, can we do that?

• No equipment can be bought, only rented. If possible, please take advantage of existing equipment provided by your university free of charge.

Can we involve co-financing, e.g. of a local company that supports my project?

• No co-financing from non-university organisations is allowed. This should be a clear ERUA project. Still, you are allowed to involve more partners and add their logos, but the project has to be financed on its own through ERUA. Please contact the team in case of any doubts or questions.

Can we apply for a collaboration with ERUA-external partners?

• Yes, you can involve partners but please consider that this should be a clear ERUA-project and no co-financing of the project through partners is allowed. Please also mind that associated partners cannot receive any funding.

Can we apply for a joint project outside Europe?

• If it has a clear added value for ERUA, this is possible. Please make the framework and value very clear, there should be an established institutional relation (e.g. Critical Edge Alliance) when travelling beyond Europe and security protocols (e.g. activity at an event organised by a University or an official network). In this case, the team might contact you to clarify the conditions.

I am a student at one of the associated partner universities (Konstanz, Roskilde). Am I allowed to apply?

• Yes, but please involve members from two ERUA member universities at least, and an ERUA member should be the project lead.

Do we have to do the project in English?

• No obligation. ERUA is committed to multilingualism in the Alliance. Application and project documentation/ reporting etc. need to be provided (also) in English. But locally, you are free to do your project in the language that helps to include your participants best. Please just explain this in your application.

When submitting our proposal, we forgot one crucial piece of information. What can we do?

• Please contact erua-students@europa-uni.de, explain the situation and send the missing information as soon as possible, latest one week after the submission deadline. Depending on the process, it might still be added to your proposal.

How is the project going to be financed? Do we have to pre-pay?

• All payments will happen through the ERUA budget, ideally without any pre-payment by students. Example: You wish to pay a fee for an artist or rent equipment for your project that is not available in your university. ERUA (most probably through the European University Viadrina) will prepare the contract, get the invoice and pay the fee. Therefore, please start the process some time in advance (4 weeks minimum).

Will the involved students get any compensation (payment/ ECTS/ certificate) for their work?

• PAYMENT OR ECTS (either or):
  Payment: You can apply for financial compensation for the project lead in your proposal. Please provide an explanation on how you calculated the fee (based on local standards for student employment) and why you think it is important.

ECTS: Currently, there is no general regulation about receiving ECTS for participating in the project. Depending on your university, there might be some possibility to acknowledge ECTS. Please contact your Local Coordinator.

• Certificate: You can get a certificate after the successful implementation of the project. Please contact Niki Kasis via kasis@europa-uni.de
•  

This Call was jointly created by Students in ERUA’s Student Engagement Team, supported by Staff, with Advice of the ERUA Student Board. A huge THANK YOU to all contributors!

• Samuel Taviro – Student, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
• Adam Kucmierz, Zuzanna Siwinska, Tomasz Janicki – Students, SWPS University
• Eleonora Alexandrova – Administrative Staff, New Bulgarian University
• Niki Kasis – Academic Staff, European University Viadrina

ERUA is committed to fostering student engagement and co-creation in the alliance. The call is a competitive procedure to get ideas from students and support their implementation.

We, as ERUA Student Engagement Team and ERUA Student Board, see ERUA, our joint European University Alliance as a learning space and we are aware that for some students it might be the first time to design a project and apply for funding. We are welcoming collaborative ideas from all ERUA students, regardless of their previous experience. We do not hesitate to get in contact with you in case of any clarification need and we are happy to support as many student ideas as possible and in the best way possible, within this call and beyond.

Heads Up: We will launch a tutorship program in January/ February 2025, with helpful tools and learning resources.