Call for grant applications 2022 – develop your Openlab master’s project
Openlab are happy to once again announce a call for CIVIS grant applications for further development of projects and concepts created within Openlab’s master’s course.
Students and teams who have graduated Openlab’s master’s course are welcome to apply with their projects. The selected projects will receive 1 000 – 5 000 Euro to cover costs associated with further development, testing, implementation and commuication.
BACKGROUND
Openlab creates conditions for societal innovation and solutions to complex societal challenges in the Stockholm region through collaboration and user-centered design methodology. The master’s course Challenges for the growing city / Innovations for societal challenges is given by four universities in collaboration, where the students learn design thinking to propose solutions to a challenge from the City of Stockholm or the Stockholm Region.
The CIVIS network, where Openlab is a part, works with collaboration between universities in Europe based on education, research, innovation and civic engagement.
Through this grant opportunity, Openlab and CIVIS want to create possibilities for students to further develop and implement the proposals developed in the course, in dialouge with the public sector clients, with the aim of creating societal impact.
WHO CAN APPLY?
The application is open to students/student groups who have completed Openlab’s master’s course or is currently a student in the course.
At least one of the group members must have been registered as a student at Stockholm University during the master’s course. This requirement is due to CIVIS’ (financiers of the grant) connection to Stockholm University.
The application must apply to a project that has been developed within Openlab’s master’s course.
Previous recipients of the grant might be eligible for the CIVIS/Openlab grant 2022. For more information contact Ivar.bjorkman@openlab.se.
Terms for current students in Openlab’s master’s course:
Current students (spring semester 2022) who wish to apply for the grant must send a preliminary application/expression of interest before the application deadline March 4th. The students then have until May 5th midnight to complete their application with a final proposal and application documents. For information about what to include in the expression of interest, please contact Mats Danielsson mats.danielson@su.se.
THEMES AND OBJECTIVES
The project needs to be related to one or several of CIVIS five overarching themes:
- Climate, Environment, Energy,
- Health,
- Society, Culture, Heritage,
- Digital and Technological Transformations,
- Cities, Territories, Mobilities.
The projects should also relate to one of two objectives:
- To collaborate with local stakeholders for prototyping solutions that contribute to and respond to local needs.
- To enable project growth and its capacity to give rise to larger projects with more ambitious goals.
THE GRANT
Applicants can apply for € 1 000 – 5 000 for eligible costs related to the continuation of the master’s course project. The total budget for the call is up to € 10 000.
Eligible costs include:
- Costs for compliance testing, certification, or possible homologation,
- Communication expenses,
- Software,
- External services,
- Consumables,
- Local transport fees,
- Low-cost equipment purchase or rental,
- Internet and telecommunications,
- Conference registrations.
The grant will be paid in arrears to cover expenses, after submitting receipts or invoices to CIVIS at Stockholm university or Openlab, using CIVIS templates. Note that the grant does not entail a cash payment nor does it cover compensation for work hours in the project, according to CIVIS regulations.
Grant recipients will also be offered meetings/coaching sessions with Openlab representatives.
APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS
Timeline
February 7th, 2022: Application opens
March 4th, 2022: Deadline for application
March 11th, 2022: Announcement of grant recipients
July 31st, 2022: Final deadline for project completion
August 31st, 2022: Final project report
Selection process
A jury selects projects according to the specified criteria. The jury will be comprised of the Openlab director and teachers from Openlab’s master’s course. The decision of the jury can not be appealed.
APPLICATION DOCUMENTS
- The full names, affiliations, and contact information of the Project Main Applicant and all participating work team members, plus a contact person at the challenge giver’s organization. The applying students can come from any of the four Openlab universities. One of the applicants must have been registered through Stockholm University.
- A letter of recommendation from the challenge giver.
- A budget describing how the grant will be used (see criteria for eligible costs).
- Relevant CIVIS theme(s) for the project.
- A preliminary project plan, including a time plan (minimum 500 and maximum 1000 words).
- A description of the next steps.
Submit your application documents via email to ivar.bjorkman@openlab.se.
About CIVIS
The call is developed within the framework of CIVIS – European Civic University Alliance, a European University Alliance which Stockholm University is part of together with seven other universities in Europe. One mission of CIVIS is to build open labs in order to share knowledge, experience, commitment, and intellectual stimulation with local societies, and to strengthen the ways in which the university and the surrounding community cooperate. In this, Stockholm University closely collaborates with Openlab Stockholm.
