Global Partnerships

Funding

Global Partnerships can offer both strategic and open funding calls in support of developing and strengthening our global relationships. Information regarding active funding calls can be found below.

  • Unless otherwise stated in the guidelines, these funding calls are all largely defined as:
  • Open to eligible members of the University of Exeter (acting as the lead PI).
    • Will constitute a competitive bid process, during which applications will be,
    • Peer-reviewed and assessed by theme / discipline / faculty relevant academics,
    • Secondary review by members of the Global Partnerships Team and
    • Final funding decisions will be ratified by an appropriate senior member of staff (academic or professional services, as appropriate).

All Global Partnerships funding schemes seek to support high-impact proposals and initiatives that endeavour to both directly and indirectly support both Faculty and University level Global Strategy plans. Examples of this might include initiatives and proposals that seek to bring together teams from Exeter and our partners from across the globe in support of high-impact collaborative research and education.

To ensure good alignment to Faculty and University level global plans, potential applicants to any of the below schemes are highly encouraged to discuss their applications with their Faculty APVC Global and / or Global Partnerships Business Partner.

Please also note that Global Partnerships funding is largely calculated on a financial year-to-year basis. Occasionally, the lifetime of the initiatives that our funding calls support will cross over financial year-end. On such occasions project PIs will be asked to declare (in advance of receiving funds) how their award should be split across the financial year-end.

All internal funding awards allocated by Global Partnerships must be delivered in line with principles of the University Sustainable Travel Policy University Travel Policy 2024.

Funding opportunities

There are numerous external opportunities available for our Exeter academics and students. Please see below links for further information on scholarships, fellowships and exchanges:

The UQ-Exeter Institute funding scheme has two stages: the Workshop Grant Scheme and the Accelerator Grant Scheme.

An Accelerator Grant application should usually follow the successful completion of a Workshop Grant project and is intended to facilitate development of an application for an identified source of external funding.

The Workshop Grant Scheme is now open, with a closing date of 30th March 2026. The Accelerator Grant Scheme will open for applications in early July 2026.

Up to three Workshop Grant awards per institution of AU$14,500 (GB£7,500) each will be available to UQ and Exeter collaborators.

Scheme aims

Workshop Grants should be seen as the first step towards an application for external funding. Applications should be made jointly by UQ and Exeter staff for funding to support delivery of, and attendance at, collaborative events across the UQ-Exeter themes that will build links and foster new joint projects capable of securing external research grant, industry, or commercial funding.

The aims are to:

  • facilitate generation of ideas and exploration of novel concepts to a point at which external funding can be sought (which may require a second stage Accelerator Grant);
  • support enabling activities that bring together academic staff with excellent and complementary expertise and capability;
  • address challenges with potential for significant impact that could not be as effectively carried out by one partner on their own, demonstrating clear added value from the UQ-Exeter Institute;
  • promote and facilitate groundbreaking interdisciplinary research; or the development of new, shared educational provision leading to significant enhancement of the curriculum and student experience.

Themes

Joint applications from UQ and Exeter academics are sought across the four themes of the partnership:

How to apply

A completed UQ-Exeter Workshop 2026 - Application Form should be submitted to both institutions at the following email addresses by 30 March 2026:

Please refer to the UQ-Exeter Workshop 2026 - Guidelines before applying.

For any queries, please contact the Global Partnerships office at UQ: uq-exeter@uq.edu.au (UQ) or Exeter: UQ-ExeterInstitute@exeter.ac.uk.

 

Venice International University (VIU) consortium members are invited to submit proposals for VIU Graduate Activities.

If Exeter academics have an idea for an interdisciplinary PhD Academy, Graduate Seminar, or Summer School; if they would like to work with colleagues from other universities in the VIU membership; and if they think students might enjoy the opportunity to participate in an intensive residential programme in Venice, we hope they will consider submitting a proposal for a joint intensive graduate activity to Venice International University.

You can check out the latest offering of VIU Graduate Activities here. Several of them will be co-delivered by Exeter faculty members, in conjunction with faculty from international partner Universities. You can read in detail about how to propose graduate activities in the documents attached below

As far as possible, PHD academies and Graduate Seminars should be aligned to VIU’s Focus Areas, listed on the VIU home page, on the focus areas tab.

Details on the application process for all graduate activities at VIU can be found here.

We invite academic staff to submit proposals for intensive graduate activities by submitting the appropriate VIU Graduate Activities Proposal Form (below), according to the following deadlines:

Summer/Autumn/Winter Schools to take place in 2027

Friday 13th March 2026: Submit Proposal (using proposal form ‘Summer Spring Winter school 2027’, attached).

Friday 10th April 2026: evaluation and approval of proposals put forward during the VIU Academic Council.

PhD Academies and Graduate Seminars to take place in 2028

Friday 4th September 2026: Submit Proposal (using proposal form ‘VIU Graduate Activities 2028’, attached).

The proposals put forward from Exeter will be discussed during VIU Academic Council meetings in October/November 2026. 

VIU Proposals Intensive Graduate Activities Annexes

VIU Proposals Intensive Graduate Activities

VIU - Brochure How to Propose

VIU Summer Spring Winter School 2027 Proposal Form

VIU Graduate Activities 2028 Proposal Form

 

Other funding opportunities and links

We are pleased to share that the CUHK Internationalisation Faculty Mobility Scheme is now open for applications. It supports faculty members to visit CUHK (inbound) and/or host visits of CUHK faculty members (outbound). As Exeter is one of their priority partners, researchers may wish to make use of the scheme to initiate and to strengthen their collaboration with their CUHK peers.

The scheme encourages the development of collaborative research projects primarily in four strategic research areas, i.e. China: Tradition & Modernity; Innovative Biomedicine; Information & Automation Technology; and Environment & Sustainability. Strong applications in other research areas will also be considered. Researchers may develop joint projects through applications made by CUHK faculty.

 

Inbound Track

Your faculty members to visit CUHK

Outbound Track

CUHK faculty members to visit your institution

Award Provisions

Hotel/on-campus accommodation for up to 7 nights.

An economy class return air ticket & accommodation support for up to 7 nights.

Webpage for Guidelines & Application

Link

Link

Visit Period

January-December 2026

Application Deadline

31 October 2025

Any questions or queries should be directed to Ms. Olivia Kwok at oliviakwok@cuhk.edu.hk.

​Université Paris-Saclay make up to 150 ‘Excellence Scholarships’ available to support international internship opportunities - allowing some of their best students to have an international experience during their studies, and to develop professional and inter-cultural skills. Together with Saclay International Affairs we invite Exeter faculty to share internship offers they could make available to Saclay students - with the aims of…

  • increasing the attractiveness of Saclay’s programme,
  • strengthening Saclay - Exeter cooperation,
  • opening new collaborative opportunities between our institutions.

The opportunities are open to Undergraduate and Masters level students – i.e. Bachelor degree: BUT2/BUT3/Licence 2/Licence 3 level; Master degree: Students of engineering school/Ecole Normale Supérieure/Master 1/Master 2 level.

These internships must start between 1st January and 1st December 2025;  and run for a minimum duration of 4 weeks for undergraduate students and for a minimum of 6 weeks for postgraduate students. Please see guidance notes below for more information.

IDEX International Internship Scholarship Guidelines 2024

If you would like to submit an internship offer, please fill in this form: Internship Offers for UPSaclay IDEX Internship Applicants/Laureates (office.com)

​The UUKi 'Global research and innovation funding gateway' is a regularly updated​ depository of funding opportunities for international research and innovation collaboration and knowledge exchange, aimed at UK based researchers/institutions.

Global research and innovation funding gateway (universitiesuk.ac.uk)

The Fulbright University of Exeter Award covers a three-to-nine month project for researching, lecturing or teaching in or across any research-active departments at the university.

Find out more

The Fulbright All Disciplines Scholar Award allows academics and professionals to undertake lecturing and/or research in any discipline at any accredited US university for between three-to-twelve months.

More information can be found here and here.

For assistance with the application process, please contact:
Marie-Joelle West
M.A.West@exeter.ac.uk 

The Fullbright Commission are looking to applicants who can engage with the USA in an atmosphere of openness, academic integrity and intellectual freedom, thereby promoting mutual understanding.

There are several Postgraduate Awards available each year. The All Disciplines Award is by far the most competitive, so it’s important to apply for an award that best fits your experience and interest.

Visit the Fullbright Commission website for further details regarding all the awards available.

The Fulbright Specialist Programme allows universities, cultural centres, non-governmental organisations, and other institutions abroad to host a leading U.S. academic or professional to work on diverse, short-term collaborative projects. 

Information on eligibility and the application process for the Fulbright Specialist Programme can be found on the website.

Applications for this programme are accepted all year. The Bilateral Teaching Exchange Programme aims to strengthen the international teaching experience and exposure of Chinese University of Hong Hong (CUHK) faculty members by supporting term-time teaching opportunities at overseas universities.

Find more information here.

Through its Jean d'Alembert fellowship programme Université Paris-Saclay wants to allow highly qualified foreign scientists to stay for long periods (from 6 to 12 months) in one of the 275 laboratories of UPSaclay to conduct research, training & dissemination activities. Scientists from all disciplines and all countries are eligible. The topic and the period of the stay must be decided with the Paris-Saclay host laboratory before the application.

Eligibility:  

  • Junior Researchers: Candidates who have obtained their PhD less than ten years before the date of application;  
  • Senior Researcher: Candidates who have obtained their PhD at least ten years before the date of application.  

Benefits:  

  • Additional monthly salary of €2,800, which will be paid by Université Paris-Saclay during the presence in the lab (employment contract)
  • A maximum budget of €10,000 to cover expenses related to the beneficiary’s research activities in the host laboratory of Université Paris-Saclay

Applicants must mention in their scientific project the requested amount and the details of these expenses. Only operating expenses are eligible, personnel expenses are excluded. Duration: 6 months to 1 year For further query: The Jean d'Alembert fellowship program | Université Paris-Saclay (universite-paris-saclay.fr)

The Jean d’Alembert fellowship program Université Paris-Saclay 2024-2026 call for applications is now open, the next deadline is likely to be April 2025

 

The invited faculty programme offers funding to host international faculty members for 1 week to one month within UPSaclay constituent colleges, with the purpose of initiating new or reinforcing existing initiatives. Scientists from all disciplines and countries are eligible.

Successful applicants can receive up to €850 per week (for up to 4 weeks max) to cover their travel and business trip expenses.

Eligibility:

  • faculty members from Paris-Saclay partner institutions invited by their Paris-Saclay fellows.

Duration:

  • up to 4 weeks.

Disciplines/Nationalities:

  • no restriction

Applications are made by Saclay faculty members for external (to Saclay) faculty members that they wish to invite. Exeter faculty are therefore encouraged to contact Saclay counterparts and look into the Invited Faculty Programme with their contacts at Saclay. If help needed in connecting with faculty members at Saclay, please don’t hesitate to contact Stuart Westhead (s.westhead@exeter.ac.uk).

The call for proposals occurs in two waves, for stays in the first and second semester of the academic year. Each request (submitted by a Saclay academic) must specify the details of the proposed visiting researcher; proposed duration of stay and month of arrival; brief description of the reason for the stay; host research unit inviting researcher. A brief CV of the visiting researcher should be attached to the application.

Contacts in departments to whom applications should be submitted:

UFR Droit-Économie-Gestion departement-recherche.jean-monnet@universite-paris-saclay.fr

UFR Médecine recherche-faculte.medecine@universite-paris-saclay.fr

UFR Pharmacie elias.fattal@universite-paris-saclay.fr lorraine.thirion@universite-paris-saclay.fr

UFR Sciences missionnaires-invites.sciences@universite-paris-saclay.fr

UFR Sciences du Sport michel-ange.amorim@universite-paris-saclay.fr

The Shared Scholarship scheme is a joint initiative between the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and UK universities, to support students from developing Commonwealth countries who would not otherwise be able to study a Masters programme in the UK.

Applications for the 2021/22 Commonwealth Shared Scholarships are not yet open. More information on the scheme will be available on the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission’s website (link broken) in due course. Please note that all candidates are expected to have met our English Language Requirements before applying.

Scholarships are available to students of high academic quality from certain Commonwealth countries. You must apply well in advance through the Commonwealth Scholarship Agency in the country in which you have your permanent home. Full details are available on the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission’s website [broken link].

You can also check the Funding Database to search for all available scholarships offered by the University in each department.