FeME is delighted to announce the launch of three seed funds designed to support inclusive, community-centred, and climate-responsive engineering across the FeME network. Together, these calls strengthen the foundations of co-created research, equitable training, and responsible innovation – advancing our mission to reshape engineering so it better serves society.
Challenge Discovery Seed Fund
The Challenge Discovery Seed Fund supports interdisciplinary teams to explore real-world engineering challenges through early-stage discovery visits and co-creation with communities and FeME Challenge Partners. Guided by Failure Mode 2: Inspired Engineering and Failure Mode 6: Agile Engineering, this Stage 1 call enables teams to scope complex problems linked to climate change mitigation and adaptation across Transport & Logistics, Energy, Water Crises, and Biodiversity.
This fund kicks off FeME’s multi-phase Challenge Discovery Programme (2026–2028), which includes a Design Challenge, Action Visit seed funding, and a mentored Grant Writing Studio. Teams receive up to £2,000 for travel and local engagement and will be paired with a FeME mentor.
Deadline: 31 January 2026, 5pm GMT.
Data for Change Training Fund
The Data for Change Training Fund (Failure Mode 3: Connected Engineering) supports projects addressing critical training gaps that limit progress toward climate resilience and environmental justice. This fund enables applicants to design and deliver training that strengthens community capacity for:
- Low-tech climate data tools in low-resource or Global South settings
- Data storytelling for climate advocacy, including participatory mapping and accessible visualisation
Hosted by Failure Mode 3, the fund backs efforts to improve how engineering knowledge and data skills are shared across diverse regions and communities, ensuring equitable participation in climate decision-making. Awards of up to £5,000, plus travel support, are available for early-career researchers, practitioners, and community partners.
Deadline: Applications open on 13 January and close on 13 February, 2026, 5pm GMT.
Represent and Innovate Seed Fund
The Represent and Innovate Seed Fund supports early-career researchers and practitioners to generate prototypes, pilots, methods, policy insights, and community-led innovations that strengthen representation and inclusive practice in engineering.
Rooted in Failure Mode 4: Inclusive Engineering, the fund backs work led by, or benefiting, underrepresented groups – including women and gender minorities, racially minoritised groups, disabled and neurodivergent people, LGBTQ+ communities, first-generation backgrounds, carers and others underrepresented in engineering. Projects run for six months with awards of £2,000–£5,000 and may span participatory design, inclusive engineering methods, toolkits, datasets, or creative outputs.
Deadline: 28 February 2026, 5pm GMT
FeME supports inclusive, equitable engineering
Across all three seed funds, FeME provides:
- EDI-aware assessment processes
- Focus on collaborative applications with underrepresented communities
- Commitments to open knowledge, ethical practice, and equitable authorship
- Opportunities to join a growing network of interdisciplinary peers, mentors, and partners
- Application support and accessibility pathways, including FeME’s Caring Pot
These calls reflect FeME’s belief that engineering must be co-created, inclusive, and responsive to diverse lived experiences – particularly as climate change and biodiversity loss disproportionately affect underrepresented communities.
Apply Now!
Full guidelines, eligibility details, and application links for all three funds are available on the FeME website: https://feme.ac.uk/feme-seed-fund
For queries, contact: feme@ed.ac.uk
Help us reimagine engineering – one discovery visit, one training programme, and one inclusive innovation at a time.