The Children’s Rights Research (CRR) Fund in association with Maastricht University (UM), and supported by University Fund Limburg, is offering grants of up to €2.500 for education projects and up to €5.000 for research projects related to children’s rights.
All applications must include at least one UM affiliated person on the project team. As such, all UM staff members and students may apply. If you are not affiliated with UM but would like to apply, then we offer a matchmaking service to help you connect with UM researchers who would be interested in collaborating on your project so you can apply to the CRR Fund together. (The deadline to be added to our matchmaking page is 15 October 2023).
UM students who intend to apply may be assisted by Dr. Marieke Hopman by means of a coaching interview (email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
You can find more information on the funding criteria and how to apply below. See the about us page for more information on the CRR Fund.
Applications should be sent by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Deadline 15 November 2023.
FUNDING CRITERIA
All the following criteria must be met in order for the application to eligible for the grant:
HOW TO APPLY
DISCLAIMER
1. ARE YOU INTERESTED IN USING OUR MATCHMAKING SERVICE TO FIND SOMEONE AT MAASTRICHT UNIVERSITY (UM) TO APPLY TO THE CHILDREN'S RIGHTS (CRR) FUND WITH?
All applications for the CRR Fund must include at least one UM affiliated person. However, for external children’s rights researchers and practitioners apply we offer a matchmaking service to help pair you up with someone from Maastricht University (student or staff member). If you find a match, then you can apply together. If you are interested in using our matchmaking service, then please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information on how to be added.
Matchmaking deadline: 15 October (after this date we will no longer add new profiles to the matchmaking service)
Grant application deadline: 15 November
Disclaimer: Please note the UM affiliated person’s role must be clearly stated in the application and their work must constitute at least 50 percent of the project’s overall work. Additionally, we cannot guarantee a match will be found.
2. ARE YOU A UM STUDENT OR STAFF MEMBER INTERESTED IN WORKING TOGETHER ON CHILDREN'S RIGHTS PROJECTS?
Check out the exciting projects listed below [Coming soon!]. All these experienced children’s rights researchers and/or practitioners are looking for UM affiliated people (students or staff members) to apply to the Children's Rights Research Fund for grants of between €2.500 and €5.000. If you see a project that you’re interested in working on then you can reach out directly to the researcher using the contact details on their project profile.
More information on how to apply for the Children’s Rights Research Fund can be found our call for funding page.
Grant application deadline: 15 November 2023
Disclaimer: All research teams must include at least one UM affiliated person (student or staff member) to be eligible for the grant. The UM affiliated person’s role must be clearly stated in the application and their work must constitute at least 50 percent of the overall project’s work. Researchers are not vetted by the CRR Fund.
Introduction
The Children’s Rights Research (CRR) Fund is connected to Maastricht University and the University Fund Limburg (SWOL). It aims to support research and education projects by staff and students from Maastricht University in the field of children’s rights, with the possibility to cooperate with third parties. The CRR Fund makes grants available twice a year.
Applications can be submitted for
Projects may take place in the Netherlands or in other countries. Collaborations with people or organisations are welcomed. However, applications should involve at least one Maastricht University student or staff member.
Funding criteria
The application (max. 3 pages A-4) must describe the goal(s) of the project, the timeline, the way it will be implemented, its intended outcome and, additionally, meet the following criteria:
The deadline for the first call in 2023 was 15 March 2023.
Eight applications have been received, all of them submitted by members of the staff of Maastricht University in cooperation with one or more third parties. No applications have been submitted by students from Maastricht University.
The jury was composed of Prof. Fons Coomans (chair), Dr. Philip Veerman and Mrs. Christiane Verfuurden. All the aforementioned are members of the Advisory Board of the CRR Fund.
Decision
The Jury decided to award four applications with a grant and not to fund the other applications. Hereafter the Jury will mention the projects that will be funded with a grant and briefly explains why the grant has been awarded.
The Jury was very positive about the active involvement of children in the project, but also about the strong children’s rights perspective throughout the project as a whole. The Jury thought the project to be well structured and feasible with a view to be carried out according to the timeline provided. A grant of € 4.000,- has been awarded for this project.
This project entails a collaborative action research with children (aged 11-12 years) living in Maastricht. It aims to investigate the perceptions children have of sustainable / unsustainable consumption behaviour and their approach to utilising circularity in their activities targeting their unsustainable consumption behaviour. The ultimate goal is to both change children’s attitude and behaviour towards sustainable development in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and to promote and empower children to become active and responsible urban citizens. The method that will be used is interactive workshops with children aimed at three purposes: exchanging ideas on views among children about pluriform societies; discussing ideas that exist among children about sustainable / unsustainable consumption behaviour; and making plans about community action involving children, parents and schools.
The Jury appreciated the link in the project between children’s rights, sustainable development and the day-to-day behaviour of children with a view to transforming these concepts to the local level by involving children actively through community action to be developed in workshops. The Jury was of the view that this project is embedded well in the growing (academic) literature on the subject. The Jury decided to grant € 2.600,- to this project.
The Jury is positive about the organisation and goals of the project, which seem to be feasible in light of the methodology that will be used. There is a strong component of children’s participation in the project, in particular because children are seen as experts by experience. In addition, the project has an interesting perspective on how participation rights of children can be researched and strengthened. It can also provide practical suggestions for legislative ideas on matters of participation of children. The Jury decided to grant € 4.750,- to this project.
The Jury very much appreciated the goal of this education project, namely giving a voice to children as victims of natural disasters. These voices often remain unheard or go unnoticed. The Jury is sympathetic towards this goal. In addition, this project is practical and result oriented by interactively involving children and listening to their needs, while at the same translating these into children’s rights and ways to protect and promote these under difficult physical circumstances on the ground. A grant of €2.500,- will be given to this project.
Second Call in 2023
A second round for applications for funding will take place later this year. The deadline is 15 October 2023. In particular, students from Maastricht University are encouraged to prepare and submit an application. They may consult Dr Marieke Hopman of the Children’s Rights Research Fund for advice (email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
Children’s Rights Research
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Fund
The Children’s Rights Research Fund supports research that aims to improve the living conditions of children all over the world.
More information
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