The Wuhan-Essen Seed Program is a new initiative from the long-standing contractual cooperation partners HUST Tongji Medical College and UDE Medical Faculty. The aim is to strengthen academic collaboration, in particular through joint research, high-quality publications and staff mobility. The funding amounts to up to EUR 20,000 per year (UDE, Faculty of Medicine) and CNY 180,000 (HUST), in a co-funding principle with each party bearing its own costs. Implementation is to take place via annual joint calls for proposals in the years 2026 to 2028, with two Wuhan-Essen researcher tandems per year to be funded for a fixed duration of two years each. In particular, travel costs, joint seminars and consumables are eligible for funding. Salaries are not eligible for funding. Funding is subject to mutual positive selection decisions. A separate project agreement (covering, among other things, IP, publications, data/material transfer and ethics) must be concluded prior to the use of funds. The Seed Program Agreement as a framework runs until the end of 2028 and may be extended if deemed successful.

Eligibility

In Essen: junior academic and research staff, full-time faculty members or senior scientists of the Medical Faculty of the University of Duisburg-Essen

In Wuhan: full-time academic and research staff, full-time faculty members or senior scientists of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

Priority: young scholars and those with an established foundation for collaboration.

Applications from all medical disciplines are accepted.

Number of projects

Limited to two projects (= two researcher tandems) simultaneously.

Funding amount

On the German side: 10,000 EUR /project/ year from the Medical Faculty of the University of Duisburg-Essen.

On the Chinese side: up to 90,000 CNY/project/year from HUST

Duration of support

Fixed two-year term, with funds provided on an annual basis.

Recipient of the application documents

For the German side: applications by the researcher tandem shall be addressed to:

Prof. Mengji Lu, Institute for Virology, Medical Faculty of the University of Duisburg-Essen
mengji.lu@uni-due.de

For the Chinese side: applications by the researcher tandem shall be addressed to both:
Ms. Xian Yi, Research & Development Office, HUST: rdo@hust.edu.cn
Ms. Tongyue Song, Office of International Affairs, HUST: songtongyue@hust.edu.cn

Submission requirements and application documents

All projects for which funding is requested must be submitted to both parties in Germany and in China simultaneously in English language, in electronic form only.

• The application form (link to word file)
• CVs of the collaboration partners, including information on the duration of the current work contract and including a list of (joint) publications

Application period 15 July - 15 September 2026

Funding evaluation

On the German side: evaluation of the researcher tandem’s application by the Forschungskommission (The Medical Faculty’s Research Committee)

On the Chinese side: evaluation of the researcher tandem’s application by a selection group according to the regulations of the Tongji Medical College

Panel review: early October 2026

Results announcement & project launch

Early November 2026. Fund disbursement to the teams based in Essen and Wuhan.

Fund utilization

Starting in January 2027

For more information or questions please contact:

Prof. Mengji Lu Institute for Virology Robert-Koch-Haus Room No. 315 Tel. 0201-723 3530 mengji.lu@uni-due.de