The HUC Research Leadership Group is pleased to announce the results of the 2026 HUC Matching Seed Fund call, an initiative designed to strengthen research collaboration among the universities within the HUC network.
The 2026 edition demonstrated significant growth in both participation and institutional commitment:
- 56 proposals submitted (+75% compared to the previous call)
- 131 lead researchers involved (+85%)
- USD 204,000 committed by participating universities (+17%)
- Participation from 10 of the 11 HUC universities
These results reflect a growing interest in the development of collaborative research projects and reinforce the program’s role as a key instrument for fostering international academic cooperation across the network.
In total, the evaluation process identified:
- 5 projects with mixed evaluations, which remain under review and further definition.
The proposals covered a wide range of strategic areas, including public health, sustainability, innovation, education, and institutional development, with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinarity and inter-institutional cooperation.
The fund, which provides a minimum of USD 12,000 per project, aims to promote the creation of new research partnerships and support projects with the potential to scale toward larger international funding opportunities.
The results also highlight the growing participation of researchers in collaborative initiatives and an increasing interest in building sustainable research networks among HUC universities.
HUC reaffirms its commitment to advancing a shared research agenda that contributes to addressing global challenges through a regional and collaborative approach.