£35,000 Urban Urgencies Research Grant

The Urban Studies Foundation (USF) is pleased to launch a new research funding initiative to seed-fund collaborative primary research proposals that engage with the theme Urban Urgencies.

Focus: rapid‑response research tackling climate emergency, housing insecurity, pandemics, democracy threats, AI/technology impacts, and other urban crises.

Benefits include:

• Up to £35,000 GBP per project (up to six awards)
• Support for innovative, rapid‑response urban research
• Collaboration with non‑academic partners
• Modest overheads for host institutions in OECD ODA‑recipient countries
• Dissemination support for academic and public outputs (policy briefs, reports, etc.)

• Must propose collaborative primary research relevant to urban studies
• Must include at least one non‑academic partner organisation
• Must situate project within urgent urban challenges (climate, housing, health, democracy, AI, etc.)
• Must commit to producing both academic and public‑facing outputs
• Applications must follow USF guidance documents and include CVs, letters of support, and budget evidence
• Graduate student
• Running a project or organization
• Working (full-time or part-time)