McCoy Seed Fund

Overview

The McCoy Seed Fund supports the development of collaborative research projects between Museums Victoria and the University of Melbourne.  A sum of $100,000 has been allocated each year to support the Seed Fund scheme for projects that achieve this goal, drive greater impact from collaborative research, and produce preliminary outcomes that may inform applications for external, third-party funding.

Funding

A funding envelope of up to $100,000 has been allocated to support collaborative research projects.  Each project may request up to $20,000, noting applications with a smaller budget are also encouraged.  Projects must be designed to be completed within a 12-month period from the time of the award.

Eligibility

Each project must have Coordinating Investigators from the University of Melbourne and  the Museums Victoria Research Institute (MVRI).

MVRI: Research staff from MVRI can be either continuing or fixed-term with an end date no earlier than 31 January 2026.

UoM: Applicants must hold an appointment at UoM at Academic Level A (6) or higher with a minimum of 0.5 FTE for the duration of the award.  Honorary and adjunct academic staff are not eligible to apply.

All applications must be approved and signed off by both the Head of Department/School at UoM and the Head of Department at MVRI. Individuals can only be named as a CI on one awarded project per round.

Successful McCoy Seed Fund Projects

List of Projects Awarded Funding in recent rounds.

How to apply

1. Review the guidelines

   Read the McCoy Project Seed Fund guidelines (under Supporting Documents below).

2. Prepare and submit your application

   Log in to SmartyGrants to begin your application. Only one of the coordinating investigators will be able to create the application for your team, so you will need to decide who is responsible for submitting the application and collaborate on the application contents offline.To submit your application:

   • Complete the application form and upload supporting documentation in SmartyGrants by the due date. You will be automatically sent a generated PDF of the final application after submission.
   • MVRI applicants will need to include a letter of support from the appropriate MVRI Head of Department.
   • For UoM applicants, after submitting the application in SmartyGrants, submit the PDF file of the application via the Themis Grants Submission workbench for Head of Department/School approval. Further instructions are found below. Please note, you will need to add the Themis submission #ID to your SmartyGrants application. To do so you must first start a draft Themis submission and copy the submission #ID (the seven digit number starting with a '2') to your SmartyGrants application.

3. Themis submission

University of Melbourne PIs are also asked to attach the PDF of the application to a Themis Workbench submission in order to obtain their Head of Department's approval.

The scheme title in Themis is "McCoy Seed Funding Scheme". Select '2025' for Scheme Year.

Here are a few things that will help you with your Themis submission:

• Access the workbench via Themis Homepage  > UoM Research Self-Service > Grants and Contracts > Grants Submission Workbench.
• When filling out your submission details on the first page, select "4 - internal grant sponsored by UoM" as the type of submission.
• On the sponsorship page, search for " McCoy Seed Funding Scheme - 2025". Add the '%' mark before entering part of the scheme name (e.g., "%McCoy") and click on search.
• Ensure you attach a PDF copy of your SmartyGrants application.
• On the validation page, verify the listed Head of Department and change the status to 'Forwarded to HoD' before submitting. Do not add any other individuals (reviewers, etc.) on this page as it is not relevant to this program.
• The status of the workbench submission should be 'Forwarded to HoD' by the submission due date.
We understand that electronic approval from the Head of Department (HoD) may experience some delay. If you are unfamiliar with the approval process, your faculty research office can provide assistance.

Technical Support: In case you encounter any technical difficulties with the submission, kindly email res-devschemes@unimelb.edu.au with your Themis submission number (TS), and we will do our best to assist.

Supporting documents

2025 documents 

McCoy Project Seed Fund Guidelines (2025)

McCoy Project Seed Fund SmartyGrants Application Form (2025)

Instructions for creating a grant submission record in Themis.

Contacts

Manage Your Grant