Igniting Collaboration: 2025 Joint Seed Fund Projects
We are proud to announce the launch of a series of collaborative projects supported by the Stellenbosch–Warwick Joint Seed Fund in 2025. These initiatives, spanning a 24-month period, are designed to foster meaningful academic exchange and innovation by empowering research and professional service staff from both institutions. Through the establishment of new partnerships and the strengthening of existing collaborations, these projects aim to catalyse impactful interdisciplinary work across borders.
We invite you to explore the projects below to discover the diverse and dynamic activities made possible through this joint seed fund award.
Round One
Tackling Superbugs with Smart Science
Antibiotic resistance is a serious threat to public health around the world. Some germs, especially a group known as Gram-negative bacteria, have changed over time, and with overuse of antibiotics, they’re no longer responding to even our strongest drugs.
This research project is taking a bold step towards solving that problem. The team is working to create new types of antibiotic drugs that attack bacteria in two powerful ways: by changing the natural balance of the metals inside bacterial cells, which they need to survive, and by disrupting important enzymes that bacteria use to function.
Powering Tomorrow: A UK–South Africa Alliance for Green Hydrogen InnovationLink opens in a new window
Stellenbosch University in South Africa and the University of Warwick in the UK have partnered to address one of the world’s biggest challenges: finding cleaner, more sustainable energy sources.
Their collaboration is focused on green hydrogen, produced from renewable resources like solar and wind power. Green hydrogen has enormous potential to reduce carbon emissions, especially in industries where switching to electricity isn’t currently practical.
Co-Creating Inclusive Technology Enhanced Learning in the Health ProfessionsLink opens in a new window
This partnership between Warwick Medical School and Stellenbosch University is focused on improving how technology is used to support inclusive, ethical and globally relevant teaching in health education.
Building on a three-week Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) exchange between postgraduate students from both universities earlier this year, the project connects lecturers, students and learning designers to co-create learning and teaching tools that reflect real world diversity.
It fosters a space to share insights by working together to create teaching strategies that leverage diverse cultural, geographic, and disciplinary perspectives to address shared design challenges such as resource constraints, assessment loads, and the ethical integration of artificial intelligence (AI).