The CIVICA Student Engagement Fund (SEF) is a mini-grant scheme that supports student-led projects and cross-campus collaboration across the CIVICA alliance.
The 2026/27 Student Engagement Fund call will launch soon
About the Student Engagement Fund (SEF)
Bring your ideas to life with CIVICA!
The Student Engagement Fund (SEF) offers mini-grants for student and early stage researcher-led projects that connect peers across CIVICA universities. Whether you’re passionate about sustainability, democracy, diversity or digital innovation, SEF gives you the resources to turn your ideas into action.
In the 2025/26 funding round, nine student-led projects brought together students from across the CIVICA alliance through a diverse range of initiatives, including policy hackathons, conferences, podcasts, sustainability projects and community initiatives. Explore all the winning projects here.
In the first 2024/25 funding round, successful projects took diverse forms, including conferences, short films, policy papers and hackathons. Explore all the winning projects here.
Apply for the Student Engagement Fund
Who can apply and what kind of projects get funded?
Students and early-stage researchers from at least two CIVICA universities team up to design and lead their own initiatives. Projects should clearly enrich the CIVICA student experience and create a positive impact in their communities. We encourage projects that tackle Europe’s big challenges and bring students together across borders.
For example, you might:
- Host a conference on democracy in the 21st century,
- Run a hackathon on AI and social sciences,
- Organise workshops on sustainability and climate action,
- Launch a campaign on diversity, equity and inclusion, or
- Create a cultural exchange project celebrating Europe’s languages and traditions
By aligning your project with CIVICA’s four thematic priorities, or broader EU goals such as sustainability, solidarity and intercultural understanding, you’ll strengthen your proposal and its impact.
How to apply
- Form your team: partner with students or associations from at least two CIVICA universities.
- Develop your idea: outline your project, budget and impact.
- Get pre-approval: check the links in the below list ('Where to Apply at your University') to secure budget pre-approval. Please note that the pre-approval deadline is earlier than the application deadline.
- Submit online via my.civica.eu before the deadline.
Download the full call documents and application form from the sidebar.
SEF timeline at a glance
The 2026/27 Student Engagement Fund call will launch soon. Check back here for key dates, including the application opening and deadline, project period and announcement of selected projects.
Where to Apply at your University
- Bocconi University
- Hertie School
- EUI
- IE University
- CEU
- SGH Warsaw
- LSE
- SSE
- Sciences Po (more information for Sciences Po students here)
- SNSPA
FAQs
The SEF is a mini-grant (seed funding) initiative that supports collaborative projects led by students and early-stage researchers (ESRs) from CIVICA universities. Its main goal is to encourage cross-campus cooperation among students, student associations, and ESRs, enhancing student engagement and experience within the CIVICA alliance.
Applications are open to:
• Officially registered student associations, or
• Informal teams of students and/or ESRs To be eligible, the team must represent at least two CIVICA universities. Projects that involve three or more CIVICA institutions are strongly encouraged.
No. SEF funding is exclusively for participants from CIVICA partner universities. Since the initiative is funded under the Erasmus+ programme, costs involving external (non-CIVICA) individuals or institutions are not eligible. SEF is designed as an internal CIVICA collaboration tool.
SEF can support a wide range of joint activities, including but not limited to:
• In-person or virtual events
• Competitions
• Conferences and workshops
• Hackathons
• Digital or collaborative online initiatives
Other creative formats are also welcome, as long as they meet the SEF selection and implementation criteria (see full guidelines). The SEF projects should not be solely dedicated to research.
SEF supports a wide variety of student- and researcher-led activities that promote European collaboration and intercultural exchange. To be eligible:
• The project must involve students and/or early-stage researchers (ESRs) from at least two CIVICA partner universities. (ESRs include PhD and postdoctoral researchers. If you have any doubts regarding your eligibility, please contact your university CIVICA WP9 coordinator).
• Proposals should clearly explain how the activity will help build a strong, engaged CIVICA student community through extracurricular collaboration.
• Projects should take advantage of the diversity and complementary strengths of the CIVICA network.
SEF projects are encouraged to align with key societal and academic challenges, particularly within the social sciences. Preferred themes include:
CIVICA’s four core priorities:
1. Societies in Transition, Crises of Earth
2. Democracy in the 21st Century
3. Europe Revisited
4. Data-Driven Technologies for the Social Sciences
Other relevant topics may include:
• Sustainability and climate action
• Multilingualism and cultural exchange
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Solidarity and civic engagement
• European identity and culture
• Global and societal challenges with a social science focus (e.g., economics, law, international relations, history, or European studies)
A project team can be formed in one of the following ways:
• By registered student associations from at least two CIVICA partner universities
• By an ad hoc team of students and/or ESRs representing at least two CIVICA universities
• Or a hybrid team, where some members come from formal student associations and others from informal student teams
To find partners, you can use the links to student organisations databases at respective CIVICA institutions
In order to assure effective project implementation, it is not possible for a student association or a student/ESR to participate in more than one project.
Yes. All SEF projects must fully comply with the local rules, policies, and procedures for student-led initiatives at each participating university.
SEF projects are funded locally by each CIVICA partner university. This means:
• Each CIVICA university allocates a set amount of funds to support SEF initiatives in which its students, student associations or ESR host or take part within the SEF framework. There is no central funding body; instead, each university manages the portion of the project budget that it is responsible for.
• All financial rules, procedures, and expense reporting must follow the local policies of the institution providing the funds.
• Local SEF coordinators are available to guide students and early-stage researchers (ESRs) through the funding and implementation process.
Each university can allocate a maximum of 3,000 EUR per single initiative in which its students, student associations or ESR host or take part within the SEF framework and the maximum funding per SEF project is €10,000.
• The maximum amount available per AY 2025/26 will be determined by each home institution and it will be clearly indicated in the Call for Proposals.
• Each student association/dedicated project team will thus be funded by their respective home university for the respective portion
Each project team must prepare a cumulated budget for the joint project/initiative (max total value 10,000 EUR) which will include a partial budget per institution (max 3,000 EUR) detailing the expenses to be covered by each institution involved in the joint proposal. Please refer to the SEF Regulations for further details.
No. SEF projects cannot be co-financed with external resources.
For all eligibility criteria, please refer to the SEF Regulations and the Call for proposals.
In principle, visa costs may eligible. However, due to differences in procedures across CIVICA institutions, students should consult their local SEF coordinator to confirm eligibility before including visa-related expenses in the budget.
To apply for SEF funding, follow these steps:
1. Form a Team: Partner with students/student associations or early-stage researchers (ESRs) from at least two CIVICA universities.
2. Prepare a detailed concept of a joint project/initiative.
3. Prepare the Budget: submit a consolidated budget (maximum €10,000 total), including partial budgets per institution (no more than €3,000 per university).
4. Obtain Pre-Approvals: Secure proposal and budget pre-approvals by relevant bodies at each CIVICA partner university involved in the project. Please check and respect each institution’s internal deadlines and processes and refer to the SEF Regulations.
A complete SEF application must include:
• The project application form
• The budget file
• Proposal and budget pre-approvals from all involved CIVICA institutions
Templates for both the project and budget files are available at my.civica.eu. Read instructions carefully and complete all sections. Attach confirmations of proposal and budget pre-approval (email confirmations or formal documents are accepted). Incomplete applications (i.a. not including budget pre-approvals from all CIVICA institutions involved) will not be evaluated.
There is one call for applications each academic year. The schedule of the 2025/2026 SEF call for proposals can be found here.
• Each project team should have a project leader (student or early-stage researcher) and contact person(s) representing students/student associations from CIVICA partner universities participating in the project.
• Each project should also have a project advisor(s) representing the faculty or staff of at least one CIVICA university involved in the joint proposal to serve as an advisor throughout the planning and implementation of the project
Provide realistic cost estimates for the application. If unsure about travel or standard university-related expenses, ask your local SEF coordinator for guidance. Once approved, the funding cannot be increased.
Each institution must confirm the eligibility of its portion of the budget based on local rules. Pre-approval helps identify ineligible or problematic expenses early, improving your application’s chances. Submit your proposal well in advance of the deadline to allow time for feedback and revisions.
Each university has its own internal deadline and procedures on how to obtain preapprovals, please check these carefully
Submit your application through by the deadline specified in the call for proposals. Follow the official submission guidelines provided in the Call for proposals.
Each team can submit one application per call. In order to avoid excessive workload and ensure effective implementation of the projects, one student or ESR may only be involved in one project team
Maintain a balanced distribution of responsibilities, visibility, and benefits among all partner institutions
Yes.
Yes, application templates and guidelines are available on the CIVICA website.
Only non-monetary symbolic prizes (e.g., books, CIVICA merchandise) are allowed but please note that it is up to each home institution to advise its own students according to the local rules and the Erasmus+ rules
The centralized CIVICA SEF Committee makes the final funding decisions. Only projects that receive budget pre-approval from all involved institutions will be considered.
The SEF Committee is co-chaired by the CIVICA Secretariat and WP9 leader, and includes:
• One faculty/staff member from each CIVICA university (appointed by the Steering Committee or WP9 manager)
• All members of the CIVICA Student and ESR Board (one per institution)
Yes, they can! However:
• Student/ESR Board members who join a project cannot participate in evaluating SEF proposals. Their university will appoint a replacement evaluator.
• CIVICA Ambassadors may participate in projects as they are not involved in the evaluation process, so there is no conflict of interest.
Applications are evaluated based on:
• Quality and value added of the project (0–20 points)
• Impact on the respective students’ communities and on the CIVICA community as a whole, also in terms of number of students to be involved/reached, as well as the number of CIVICA Universities involved in the proposal (0-10 points)
• Thematic relevance to CIVICA or EU strategic priorities (0–10 points)
• Feasibility of the project (the possibility to achieve the goals of the project within the requested time-frame and planned activities) and budget adequacy, including cost efficiency and eligibility (0–10 points)
All applicants will be notified by the WP9 Coordinator (SGH Warsaw School of Economics) by the deadline stated in the call. Ensure all team members' email addresses in your application are correct.
Yes, a final report is mandatory. It must document both the outcomes of your project and how the funds were spent. You will receive reporting templates the WP9 Coordinator (SGH Warsaw School of Economics) to complete and submit.
In addition to the descriptive and financial reports, all lead institutions must also report:
• The number of SEF project participants, disaggregated by gender, for each supported event.
• A list of all dissemination activities conducted.
• The number of mobilities by study level (Bachelor, Master, PhD, or Staff) and mobility type (physical, blended, or virtual).
It depends on the specific rules of the participating CIVICA institution.
Any changes to the original project plan must be notified at each local SEF coordinator
Yes, all communications and materials related to the project must acknowledge CIVICA support. Deliverables (e.g., publications, websites, social media posts) must display the CIVICA logo and the co-funded by the EU logo.
Please refer to the CIVICA Communication Toolkit for brand guidelines, logos, and templates.
Should anything happen during the implementation of the SEF project, please contact your local SEF coordinator immediately.