The AUHA Seed Fund promotes sustainable collaboration between researchers from the various AUHA institutions by providing time and space to develop a joint application dossier with an external grant provider.
In 2025, UAntwerp supported the AUHA Seed Fund by allowing the selection of association-wide cooperation with partners in the Global South. Three projects were selected:
- Boosting Food Security and Climate Adaptation in Cuba through Smart Irrigation Systems - coordinated by Antwerp Maritime Academy (Werner Jacobs), with UAntwerp (Tabari Hossein) and Universidad Central "Marta Abreu" de Las Villas in Cuba (Alain Martinez)
- Seeking LUCAE with Sepia - Darwin’s Last Universal Aesthetic Experience and Interspecies Co-Creation - coordinated by UAntwerp (Gudrun De Boeck), with KdG/Sint Lucas Antwerpen (Petra Van Brabant), UAntwerpen (Jan Verpooten) and University of Cape Town in South Africa (George Mahashe)
- Curmeric®, a Cuban natural Curcuma longa formulation: defining its clinical and molecular effects, thereby strengthening phyto-pharmacological and OMICs research in four Cuban institutions, and improving Curcuma longa agroecological production for its social impact on local development - coordinated by UAntwerp (Xaveer Van Ostade), with KdG (Veerle Soyez), UAntwerp (Emmy Tuenter), Tropical Institute Pedro Kouri in Cuba (Lizette Gil-del Valle) and Centre for Applied Technologies and Nuclear Development in Cuba (Tania Valdes-Gonzelez)
More info can be found on the AUHA website.