The project “A small but fertile field: strengthening Southeast European Studies in Regensburg” (seeFField) aims to strengthen Southeast European Studies in Regensburg by integrating and critically examining various forms of knowledge production and knowledge transfer in academic as well as non-academic fields. The seeFField project collaborates with the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS) and other existing and emerging Area Studies initiatives at the University of Regensburg (UR). It is supported by the Volkswagen Foundation as a part of the programme "Weltwissen – Strukturelle Stärkung Kleiner Fächer" ("Global Knowledge – Structural Strengthening of Small Disciplines"). For further information about the project, see: https://seeffield.app.uni-regensburg.de/.

We are pleased to announce the call for applications for our 2023/2024 seed funding programme to commence in October 2023. This programme targets junior post-doctoral researchers, particularly (but not exclusively) from Southeastern Europe, who are historians, anthropologists, linguists, and/or scholars of cognate disciplines. It aims to provide financial support to kick-start new, innovative research projects, of up to 4,000 Euro per application. The funds will be awarded on the condition of a new and viable research or research project idea that follows the intellectual agenda and profile of seeFField. Openness to cross-disciplinary approaches and forms of exchange is a key precondition. The funds must be used in a project-related manner and in accordance with the principles and guidelines of the Volkswagen Foundation to cover for example, research costs, travel, research assistance, preparation workshops. We will award a total of two seed funding scholarships in the academic 2023/2024 year. The funds can be used locally, there is no need to come to Regensburg to be eligible for the seed funding programme.

Please submit your application (in one PDF document) until 16 July 2023, via the email address: seedfunding.see@ur.de (subject line: Application seed funding). The application documents must include:

- An outline of your new research topic and/or project idea (3–4 pages in German or English), explaining the relevance of the topic and your suitability to work on this topic
- A cover letter (max. one page) outlining your motivation to apply
- A detailed academic Curriculum Vitae, also naming two referees
- Copies of no more than three relevant articles (published or unpublished)
- A financial plan and a brief work plan and schedule (one page max). This needs to include a specification of a series of interim milestones with specified deliverables (such as an interim project, progress, or fieldwork report), as the seed funding will be paid in rates based on the submission of these deliverables

Please note: All application materials will be deleted after six months.