1 April 2025

Innovative research and teaching often arise when disciplines come together. Answering societal issues requires an interdisciplinary approach, as such issues do not adhere to disciplinary boundaries: think of climate, health and migration. Breakthroughs in some fundamental scientific issues also lie on the border of disciplines and between disciplines. Leiden University wants to encourage these collaborations.

The university is therefore making 25 seed grants available each year between 2024 and 2026. These seed grants are for a maximum of €10,000 per project and are awarded to develop new interdisciplinary and/or interfaculty research collaborations and encounters.  

An application for the Kiem call must include colleagues (research staff and management and support staff) from at least two (and preferably more) faculties of Leiden University. These grants are not intended for projects focusing on the research of one individual researcher or to support primarily interuniversity projects.

Purposes and use of the Kiem grant

Proposals may focus on network building, organising seminars and workshops, conducting a pilot study, producing publications, creating research proposals, etc. The Kiem call funding is not intended to exempt the researcher from teaching, but it may be used for other personnel-related expenses, such as hiring student assistants or management assistants and support staff for meetings.

After an initial pilot round in 2023, in which 33 seed grants were awarded through a draw under this Kiem call, another 25 projects were able to start work in 2024. The content of the proposals varied widely: from the relationship between violence and other health problems, to how virtual building blocks bring the past to life, to how to promote interdisciplinary collaboration.

Want to know more and apply for a Kiem grant?

If more than 25 applications are submitted, once the applications have been assessed for the admissibility conditions, the awards for the Kiem call will be made by means of drawing lots.  
To find out more about the admissibility conditions, go to the project page.

You can prepare the complete application in this application form and then submit it via this Formdesk module. Applications must be submitted by 6 May 2025 09:00. 

An online information session on Kiem will take place on Thursday 10 April 2025 at 12:00 - 13:00. You can submit a question in advance at: kiemcall@bb.leidenuniv.nl.  

The draw will take place on 22 May 2025 at The Field in Leiden. Are you considering submitting an application? Make a note of the draw date.