FORTHEM Call for Ambitious Projects – Cultural Heritage Lab

FORTHEM Cultural Heritage Lab is pleased to announce the opening of its call for an ambitious project with external stakeholder.

The primary aim of the FORTHEM Labs is to strengthen co-creation processes by actively involving students and staff in the Labs’ collaborative activities.

1. Introduction

Each of the nine FORTHEM universities coordinates a Lab, with each Lab dedicated to a specific theme focused on addressing societal challenges through co-creation and collaboration among students, researchers, staff, external stakeholders, and partners across different countries and cultures. Rather than physical spaces, the Labs function as dynamic, collaborative networks of individuals working together on joint projects and initiatives. Their core objective is to strengthen co-creation processes by actively engaging students and staff in all activities.

2. Ambitious projects

This funding call invites students and staff of the FORTHEM Alliance to propose innovative, co-creative projects aligned with the themes of the Labs, aiming to strengthen connections between academic and non-academic stakeholders.
Projects may be carried out in physical, hybrid, or fully digital formats.
The Cultural Heritage Lab of the FORTHEM Alliance supports the selected projects. While each project is formally associated with a single Lab, collaboration with other Labs is encouraged. Cross-Lab initiatives are especially welcomed and may be eligible for increased funding.

3. Who can apply

All FORTHEM degree students (BA, MA, Ph.D.) and FORTHEM university staff, whether they are already a member of a Lab or not, can submit an application.

4. How to apply

Only one application per project needs to be submitted. It is possible to apply by sending an email to forthem@ulbsibiu.ro, using the attached form. External stakeholders can enclose with in the application their statute and curriculum vitae showing their ability to manage international projects on the Cultural Heritage Lab’s topics. Applications must be sent by 1st of June.

5. Minimal criteria and duties

As with all FORTHEM projects, each proposal must involve at least two FORTHEM Alliance partners and one external stakeholder. All components and phases of the project must be co-created in collaboration with either an external partner or a group of internal end-users.
The project’s objectives should be realistic and achievable, with implementation and reporting to be completed by June 30, 2026.

Upon completion, a final report detailing the outcomes must be submitted. Additionally, participants are expected to engage in at least one form of alliance-level communication or dissemination—such as a blog post, social media update, video, or similar format.

A project is considered officially concluded once it has been reported to the Cultural Heritage Lab, accompanied by an evaluation and reflection on its outcomes.

6. Application

Only one application per project needs to be submitted

Applications will be evaluated by the Cultural Heritage regular-lab meeting members consisting of academics from partner universities.

Applications need to clearly outline how they fit into the objective of the Cultural Heritage lab.

The selection panel will give particular attention to the following criteria:

• Academic quality.
• Impact on society and the FORTHEM Alliance.
• The project will address a societal problem and use the co-creation principles.
• At least two FORTHEM universities and one external partner must collaborate through all phases of the project.
• Engagement of external partner in all phases of the project.

Funding

Up to 15 000€ for one project.

7.  Eligible Costs

 Staff costs:

Costs of staff assigned to the action (both permanent and temporary) from the participating institutions/organizations, comprising actual salaries plus social security charges and other statutory costs included in their remuneration (i.e. interns).

The grant must be used to cover the costs of staff for all beneficiaries, when they are performing any tasks which are directly related to the achievement of the objectives of the European University.

Travel costs:

Contribution to the travel costs of participants to the venue of the activity, return.

Applicable for staff, students and doctoral candidates from the partner universities taking part in the project (e.g. for training and study activities, meetings, workshops and seminars).

Dissemination costs:

Dissemination of knowledge and information (e.g. advertising in the media, promotional materials and activities)

Other costs linked to:

Renting of premises for major events

Material (not equipment).

All costs must receive prior approval from the local FORTHEM office, in line with the budget, eligibility criteria, and legal procedures. Approved expenses may be adjusted based on the relevance of the request and the actual availability of funds at each university

8. Approval procedure

After the application, there will be the following steps:

• Eligibility check
• Evaluation of the content by the Lab’s Academic Coordinators
• Evaluation of the costs by the admin staff.
• The quality and content of the proposal will be evaluated taking into account the following criteria:
• Number of universities involved
• Relevance of the stakeholder(s) involved
• Number of staff involved in the different categories (students, academic and staff persons,
• external stakeholders)
• Overall quality of the project
• Feasibility of the project
• International relevance of the expected results.

9. Contacts
If you need expert advice about the project or assistance in identifying another FORTHEM university partner, please get in touch with the Admin. Coordinator of the Cultural Heritage Lab.

Admin. Coordinator
dainel.hunyadi@ulbsibiu.ro ; anca.serban@ulbsibiu.ro

Academic Coordinator
mihai.rusu@ulbsibiu.ro

Labs & Co-creation Workpackage Manager
Kjerstin Breinstein

Contact info Labs:
https://www.forthem-alliance.eu/objectives/labs