The University of Illinois System and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) have agreed to establish a seed funding research program for the 2026–2027 academic year.
This program will fund projects in the following thematic areas: Food, Health, Water, and Energy. The overarching goal is to contribute towards solving problems related to Poverty, the Environment, and Sustainable Well-being. Transdisciplinary approaches will be particularly welcome.
This call for proposals invites submissions under this joint program. Only joint proposals with at least one principal investigator from each university will be eligible to apply for funding under this program. Only tenure-track faculty can serve as principal investigators.
All proposals will be evaluated by a joint review committee composed of faculty and scientists appointed by the President of the University of Illinois System and the Rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, or their designee. The decisions of the joint review committee will be final. Both universities will have equal representation on the committee. Evaluation criteria will include:
- Technical quality
- Relevance of the topic
- Potential future collaborations and external funding
- Evidence of previous international work
- Participation of graduate and/or undergraduate students
Each institution will contribute USD $100,000 annually to the collaborative program. Funds will not be transferable between institutions, and each university will exclusively support its own faculty participating in the approved projects.
Each proposal may request up to USD $40,000 total per project, allocated as USD $20,000 for the University of Illinois team and USD $20,000 for the UNAM team, for the entire duration of the project. Five projects will be funded per year.
Proposals should be submitted by April 15, 2026 in English and Spanish as a single PDF document, to the e-mail ui-mexico@uillinois.edu and complete the following Webtools form: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1858307293. The Illinois Mexican & Mexican-American Students Initiative (I-MMAS) and the Coordination for Scientific Research UNAM will jointly manage the entire request for proposal process.
Results will be announced on May 15, 2026. Funds will be available beginning in June 2026. Funds allocated by each institution to selected projects must be fully expended no later than December 31, 2027.