International Research Seed Funding

The Council on Vertical Urbanism (CVU) is pleased to announce the call for submissions for its 2026 International Research Seed Funding, culminating with a $20,000 award and recognition at the 2026 VU Summit, 26–29 October in London. Thank you to Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited for sponsoring the 2026 competition.

The goal of the seed funding competition is to assist talented researchers in developing projects/ideas to a level that would secure additional, more significant funding in conjunction with CVU. Proposals should relate to the tall building typology/urban habitat, but are open to any topic/discipline, including but not limited to: architecture, construction, energy issues, energy harvesting, environmental engineering, façades, financial & cost issues, fire & life safety, geotechnics, humanities, infrastructure, interiors, maintenance & cleaning, materials, MEP engineering, policy making, resource management, seismic design, social aspects, structural engineering, systems development, urban planning, vertical transportation, wind engineering, etc. The proposals should have the potential to improve tall buildings and cities from a wide perspective.

The ideal final objective of the competition is an official CVU Research Report publication, much like those available here.

Acceptance of the award obligates applicants to develop the research in conjunction with CVU, including taking the research forward for more significant funding/development after the seed funding period, should that be appropriate based on the initial findings of the research.

• 20 July: Call for submissions
• 7 September: Submissions due
• September: Jury deliberates
• Late September: Winning team notified
• October: Winning team announced at 2026 VU Summit
• November 2026–April 2027: Research conducted

The evaluation of proposals will be undertaken by the CVU Expert Peer Review Committee, with guidance from the funding sponsor. The committee reflects a multi-disciplinary group of tall building/urban experts from around the world, with established research and publication records, as well as tall building experience in varying fields. After a first-round evaluation by the Expert Peer Review Committee, the top five proposals will be reviewed by a jury representing the Seed Funding Sponsor and CVU representatives, to determine the winner. CVU reserves the right to reject all applications and grant no awards.

All applications must be submitted in English. Applications should stand on their own merits and not be dependent on other pending research. All proposals should include information/details necessary for the Expert Peer Review Committee to understand the research ideas and anticipated outcomes. The final proposal should be completed using the online form provided and adhere to the formatting standards contained therein. In the proposal submitted, text or images from other research or publications should not be utilized without proper citation. All quotations and bibliographic references should be fully documented. The award funds are intended to finance the Award Recipient’s scientific work and may be used to cover all expenses which serve this purpose (including the necessary equipment and material, personnel, travel expenses directly related to the research itself, etc.). It may not be used to cover indirect costs of the institution, nor be used for dissemination (attending conferences, publishing papers/books, etc.). CVU will assist with the dissemination of progress and findings to the international community through its normal channels–publications, website, newsletters, etc.