Home Internal Funding Opportunities Seed Grant AY 2024-2025

Seed Grant AY 2024-2025

OVERVIEW 

The primary objective of VinUni’s Seed Grant Program is to offer initial funding for the formulation of external funding proposals. Its goal is to assist in generating preliminary outcomes, thereby enhancing the likelihood of proposal success.  The Grant is meant to help VinUni faculty and/or researchers to kickstart their research and proposal development process, but it will not fund ongoing or indefinitely open-ended research endeavors.

The themes for this AY 24-25 will focus on:
(1) Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainability;
(2) Personalized Healthcare, Precision Medicine, Therapeutics and Health Systems;
(3) Green Transformation and Green Growth.  

FOCUS AREAS

VinUni’s research leverages the strengths of all Colleges’ research and training programs. It emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, fosters diversity, and promotes impactful solutions to address national and global challenges. These efforts are driven by translational and multidisciplinary projects. Key areas of focus include, but are not limited to:

No

Areas

Description

Research Topics
1 Food Safety and Enhanced Wellbeing Ensuring the safety of food supply chains and improving access to healthcare Real-time monitoring and traceability system for food supply chains; Portable health clinics for remote areas using telemedicine.
2 Smart Healthcare Implementing advanced technologies to improve healthcare delivery, efficiency, and patient outcomes AI-driven tools for disease detection/drug trials; Rehabilitation robotics; Precision digital pathology; Patient rehabilitation; Mobile health application.
3 Precision Medicine, Therapeutics and Health Systems Personalizing medical treatments tailored to individual genetic, environmental, and lifestyle differences Databases for personalized medicine; AI-driven predictive models for disease; Tailored treatment plans; Gene Therapy; Health System Resilience.
4 Cultural and Mental Health Preserving cultural heritage and expanding mental health services to enhance societal well-being Digitizing and preserving Vietnam’s cultural heritage for future generations; Expanding mental health services and awareness in rural areas.
5 Sustainable Economic Development Boosting local economies through innovation-driven entrepreneurship and transitioning to a green economy Innovation-driven entrepreneurship programs to boost local economies; Economic strategies for green transformation and green growth.
6 Policy Development Creating and evaluating strategies and regulations to address societal issues and achieve specific goals Policy effectiveness analysis; Comparative policy studies.
7 Capital Commitment Green Finance, Climate Finance (COP28) Environmental challenges, Sustainable/green projects.
8 Air and Water Pollution Addressing air and water pollution affecting urban and rural areas in Vietnam Development and implementation of low-cost air quality monitoring networks; Innovative water purification systems using nanotechnology for rural communities; Indoor air quality.
9 Waste Management Tackling electronic waste, plastic and wastewater treatment Development of effective waste management systems; Advanced wastewater treatment technologies for industrial zones.
10 Green Mobility and Energy Sustainability Promoting renewable energy sources and sustainable energy practices Energy Optimization, EV smart charging, integration of renewable energy sources into the national grid; Digital platform; Robotics, green and smart innovative materials.

ELIGIBILITY

Each faculty member and/or researcher may submit a proposal for only one project category per funding cycle and can be awarded one project per category throughout their tenure at VinUni. 

FUNDING AMOUNT

Starting AY24-25, VinUni’s internal funding will be collectively referred to as the Seed Grant Program, with new funding categories formed based on the potential reach and funding amount of the supported initiatives. This will enable more simplified and efficient management of research projects. 

The following are specifics on the new funding mechanism:  

Categories  Description  Number of projects  Funding Amount  
SIGNATURE    These projects must have a national impact and potential for international recognition, attract substantial external funding, involve high interdisciplinary issues, address pressing issues, and create signature stories for VinUni. They aim to advance research excellence with academic and socioeconomic impacts within Vietnam and globally. The expected outcomes include large-scale impact, prototype development, and excellent research findings published in Nature, Science, Cell, ranked A/A* conferences, or other top 5% of leading journals classified by field, discipline/sub-discipline by Scimago.   

The Signature track’s philosophy is to have each project incorporate cross colleges. The Signature track allows for a minimum of three Principal Investigators. The Signature track PIs should be able to become a Key Research Group (in Vietnamese: Nhóm nghiên cứu mạnh) as per Vietnam’s Decree 109/2022/NĐ-CP.  

Applicants must include external funding application as an outcome and/or matching fund in their submission.  

 3  Up to $150,000 per project  
CRITICAL    The primary aim of these projects is to cultivate excellent researchers for VinUni by promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and designing for immediate real-world applications. They seek to embed a sustainable research culture and environment that supports excellence in research across the university. The projects are committed to delivering high-quality publications, high-ranking conference papers (prioritizing Q1 SCOPUS Index journals and rank A/A* conferences), and Intellectual Property.  

The Outcome of the proposals under the Critical track must contribute to increasing VinUni’s Academic reputation and the number of publications for QS World University Rankings. 

 4  Up to $50,000 per project  
EMERGING    These projects support talent development and research capacity building, fostering collaboration and PROPELLING development. Expected outcomes include professional growth for early-career researchers. This program offers an accelerated pathway for researchers to kickstart their projects and enables researchers to transform their ideas into tangible outcomes, fostering innovation and exploration.   5 – 10 From $5,000 to $20,000 for early-career researchers  

IMPORTANT DATE

  • Call for Proposal: October 10, 2024
  • Application Deadline:  November 24, 2024 (17:00, GMT+7)
  • Final Result Announcement: January 20, 2024 (tentative)

Note: Proposals submitted after the deadline will NOT be accepted. This is not negotiable.  

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Please download and complete the forms in Step 1 and Step 2, and then proceed to fill out the MS Form in Step 3.
You can refer to this Quick guide to use MS Form, include how to save your submission for later edit if needed. The completed application package should include an Application Form, Budget Plan, and CVs of the project team members.  

For further inquiries, please send an email to the Research Management Office at research@vinuni.edu.vn. 

APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS

Each proposal will undergo a comprehensive review process, which includes evaluation by the members of the VinUniversity Research Affairs Committee (RAC). The review process might involve external reviewers, ethical review by the Institutional Review Board – IRB if needed, and financial review. Each proposal will be reviewed based on the following categories: 

Criteria   Weightage  Indicator   Description  
Impact in Betterment of Humanity   25%  Significance   The research addresses critical societal challenges and demonstrates substantial benefits for humanity.  
Measurable Outcomes   Clear evidence of positive impact on communities, public health, environment, or socio-economic conditions.  
Sustainability   Long-term potential for sustained impact and scalability of solutions.  
Talent Development   25%  Mentorship   Exceptional contributions to mentoring and developing the next generation of researchers and students.  
Educational Impact   Integrating research with teaching and learning.  
Inclusivity   Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in research teams and projects.  
Breakthrough Innovation   25%  Originality   Novel concepts, methods, or technologies that significantly advance the field.  
Interdisciplinary   Effective collaboration across disciplines, leading to innovative solutions.  
Recognition   Achievements recognized by peer-reviewed publications, patents, awards, or adoption by industry.  
External Funding   25%  Identifying potential external funding sources   Sources of funding with high potential of success  
Submitting proposal   Well-defined plan for external proposal submission  
Securing funding (e.g. matching fund)   Amount of external funding secured  

The success metrics and evaluation rubrics are outlined in VinUni Research Management Framework

The proposal form includes details and concrete items to support the above.  

Remark: The following factors might be taken into consideration if funding is insufficient for all high-scoring proposals: 

  1. Were you first-time and previously unfunded applicants in a given category? 
  2. Have you effectively used previous funding? For example, by securing external funding, producing impactful research (e.g., top Q1 papers, A/A* conference presentations, patents), or demonstrating commitment to meeting agreed-upon project deliverables on time. 

TIMEFRAME

Research projects funded through this program are expected to be completed within two years starting from the date of approval notice. However, longer project durations and extensions will be allowed as needed and will be evaluated by the RAC and approved by Vice Provost of Research and Innovation.  

REPORTING

  • The PI is required to submit progress reports every six months for the funded project, using provided templates. The PI is also required to report on any project risks or challenges encountered as part of the regular reporting. This will help the Research Management Office track potential issues early on.
  • Additionally, the PI is required to report on how research data is being stored, shared, or made accessible (e.g., through repositories). This is particularly important for ensuring reproducibility and compliance with open science initiatives.
  • In addition to reporting past financial updates, the PI should provide forecasts for the next six months, highlighting any expected variations or budget reallocation needs.
  • Whenever requested, the PI must provide the Research Management Office with all available project information, including, but not limited to,research activity and financial updates, marketing materials, and updates on scholarly publications and external funding.
  • At the conclusion of the project, the PI must submit comprehensive reports covering expenses, research outcomes, publications, manuscripts, working papers, and obtained external funding proposals.
  • In addition to written reports, the research team must present the outcomes in a workshop, symposium, or conference.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS