Applications are now open for the 2024 ACU Higher Education & the SDGs Challenge Grants. Higher Education and the SDGs Network Grants fund collaborative work around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Open to professional and academic staff at ACU member universities, the grants focus on the priority themes of the ACU Higher Education and the SDGs Network:
- Engagement and impact
- Estates and stewardship
- Partnerships
- Research
- Teaching and learning
From sourcing energy-saving and clean energy options for Fijian schools, to supporting women's economic empowerment by addressing the financial literacy and gender-based disparities in access to finance - the grants have been used to fund a diverse range of activities, projects, workshops, and events.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must:
- Be a staff member at an ACU member university.
- Review the FAQs/Application Guidance.
- Submit an application through the online application form.
Applicants cannot:
- Be from a university that has previously received an ACU Higher Education and the SDGs Network Grant. Please check our grantees pages below to see if this applies to your university.
Applicants are encouraged to:
- Collaborate with other ACU member universities or other organisations such as local governments, to promote further Commonwealth partnerships. This will be looked on favourably.
- Consider matching or additional funding from their own university as part of the application. This will be looked on favourably, but is not essential.
Applications could include ideas for:
- Virtual exchange or collaboration, teaching or professional practice collaboration. Sharing and co-development of learning materials, tools, training and approaches to support contingency and continuity of operations planning at higher education institutions (HEIs).
- Virtual fellowships, comparative analyses, research management and uptake capacity-building.
- Integrating sustainable development into operations.
- Sharing SDG learning content and materials.
- Developing SDG-focused research strategies.
- Co-creating research for impact, community engagement, and partnerships for the goals.
Application Process
Go to Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) on crm.acu.ac.uk to apply
- f you already have a MyACU account, you can access the grant application form here.
- If you do not already have a MyACU account, please ensure that you first register for an account here and then follow the instructions in the registration email to log in to the system before accessing the application form.
