Small Grants Scheme 2026-27: call for applications

Got an idea to make the University more sustainable? Staff and students are invited to apply for the Small Grants Scheme.

gardening equipment on grass
In 2025-26, the Business School used the Small Grants Scheme to develop their skills in biodiverse gardening at Buccleuch Place

In March 2026, the University launched the Regenerative Sustainability Strategy: a step change in the University’s environmental ambitions, going further than minimising environmental harm by proactively restoring natural systems to benefit both nature and people. 

Regenerative sustainability: our pathway beyond net zero 

Alongside the strategic and large-scale activities detailed in the strategy, the University invites staff and students* to propose local projects that help deliver on the strategy’s objectives.  

Small Grants Scheme 

A fund has been established to support projects proposed by staff and students across our institution: the Small Grants Scheme. We seek applications for any projects which align with the goals of the strategy described in the application form. 

The Small Grants Scheme seeks to fund: 

  • Pilot projects to trial new technologies or techniques 
  • Climate action outside of work already planned by the Estates department 
  • Biodiversity and nature improvement actions 
  • Reducing our chemical footprint 
  • Circular economy approaches 
  • Incorporating climate and nature into curricula 
  • Regenerative approaches to research 
  • Engagement, behaviour change and culture 

Successful Small Grants Scheme applications in 2025/26 

In 2025/26, we funded 11 successful projects totalling £56k: 

  1. Developing resources for Climate Modelling in the Maths curriculum 
  1. Reusable takeaway cups at ECA cafe 
  1. Reducing lab plastic waste with glassware replacements at Roslin Institute 
  1. Closed-Loop recycling of 3D printed plastic waste using shredding and injection moulding technology at Informatics mechanical workshop, Appleton Tower 
  1. Insatallation of dishwashers to allow reusable cups at Exchange Cafe and KB Cafe 
  1. Ceramic cups for Canopy cafe 
  1. Biodiversity Skills Development in the Business School garden at Buccleuch Place 
  1. Photography Eco Darkroom Garden Project at ECA 
  1. QMRI Biodiversity Project   
  1. Single-centre clinical audit of single-use consumables, oxygen and inhalant anaesthetic usage in equine and small animal anaesthesia  
  1. Leanpath food waste reduction software 

As a student representative, the Small Grants Scheme genuinely helped me make a project happen I never could have otherwise.

I knew the University's catering department needed funds to invest in dishwashers and ceramic mugs for cafes only serving single-use cups, but I thought there would be no way for me to secure project funding as a student.

Now, three more cafes serve reusable mugs thanks to SRS funding! I sincerely hope the grant fund continues in the future so more passionate students can fund the change they want to see at their University.

Tori Geehreng EUSA Campaign Representative for Institutional Sustainability

The funding from the Small Grants Scheme supported pressure-testing circular economy practices in our café outlets, enabling cross-departmental collaboration and establishing a solid foundation for a larger-scale project in the future.

Lauren McLeron SRS Climate, Biodiversity and Sustainability Behaviour Change Programme Manager

How to apply

If you have an idea, or have seen something which could be improved, please complete the below application form by 5pm on Friday 21st August 2026. 

Small Grants Scheme for sustainability: application form 

Applications will be reviewed by SRS and applicants informed of the decision by the end of August 2026.  

More information 

*Note for student applicants: Student applications are welcomed. These should be created in collaboration with a named member of staff in order for the funds to be successfully transferred internally.    

All applications (staff or student) must demonstrate collaboration and approval from relevant stakeholders. For example, if you were looking to make changes to waste and recycling arrangements, we would ask that you engage with and gain support from the Waste Office prior to making your application.  

It should be noted that this fund exists in addition to, and complementary to other work and funding streams at the University to support the Regenerative Sustainability Strategy. Due to the existence of the Estates Energy Masterplan and associated funding and centrally planned work relating to that, it is unlikely that applications seeking to make energy efficiency improvements through material / equipment changes in buildings would be funded from this Small Grants Scheme.  

The total value of the fund is limited, and as such we ask applicants to limit requests to around £10k maximum. There is no lower limit for application funding values. 

Payment of your grant will not be made upfront but will be transferred once you have confirmed your spend and receipted the goods on People and Money - contact us if this is likely to cause issues for you. Spend cannot be carried over into the next academic year, so the financial aspects of the project (your spend, and the consequent reimbursement from SRS) must be fully completed before the end of this academic year.  

Successful applicants must ensure the money is spent, goods receipted, evidence of the transaction provided and the journal transfer requested from SRS by 5pm on Friday 4th June 2027 to ensure the fund transfer is cleared within the University’s financial year.  

This gives roughly 9 months from receiving approval from SRS to having completed the project and finances.  Please bear this timescale in mind when proposing your project.  To speed up the spend process following approval of funding, applicants could look to gather quotes during the application period. 

Successful applicants will be asked to provide an interim report in December 2026 and a final report in July 2027 to describe the actual impact of their project, and how that differed from what was expected prior to commencing the project, so we can learn from successes and also from barriers. 

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