Submit your ideas now: “Glow up our campus!” kicks off its second round

Now is the time to turn your ideas for our campus into reality! With Glow up our campus!, the second round of funding is now underway, once again giving members of our university community the opportunity to bring projects to life that make our campus even more attractive, vibrant and welcoming.

Rector Prof. Peter Middendorf invites all members of the university community: „Through ‚Glow up our campus!‘, we’ve seen what can happen when good ideas meet creativity and initiative. Initial ideas have led to concrete changes on our campus. We want to build on that: With this second round, we’re once again inviting the entire university community to actively help shape our campus—as a place where we enjoy spending time, developing ideas, and learning together. I look forward to many new ideas and to continuing to develop our campus together."

• Community Formats supports creative and visible initiatives that bring people together, encourage exchange and help strengthen the sense of community on campus.
• Campus Design supports projects that sustainably enhance the quality, usability and appeal of our campus spaces through structural, design or infrastructure improvements. The aim is to further develop our campuses as inspiring
  and at tractive places for people to meet, connect and exchange ideas. Funding is available both for independent initiatives that contribute to the ongoing development of our campus locations and for projects connected to IBA’27, which will be featured at the Stadtmitte and Vaihingen campuses from April to October.

A great idea needs the time and capacity to become a reality. Please keep in mind that successful applicants will be responsible for implementing their own projects – so make sure you have the resources needed to bring your idea to life!

We want to support projects that can be put into action quickly and that:

• bring fresh energy to campus through creative ideas,
• create spaces for people to connect, bringing together students, staff and campus initiatives,
• make research and science tangible through real-world applications,
• encourage collaboration and collective engagement,
• enhance and beautify campus spaces through improvement measures that do not involve major renovation work, or
• create events with broad appeal and a strong draw for the campus community.

Applications are open to all professors, academic and non-academic staff, and students (with a supervisor employed by the University), as well as student groups and employees of the Central Administration and non-academic services. We’re not just looking for good ideas, but for people who are eager to bring them to life together with their own team and see them through to completion—with financial and organizational support, of course.

A total funding budget of up to € 200,000 is available. The funds will be allocated to the selected projects and may be used to cover the following types of expenses:

• Materials and investment costs
• Student assistant positions
• Compensation for students.

Community Formats: Funding of up to € 5,000 per project is available.
Campus Design Projects: Funding of up to € 20,000 per project is available.

• Alignment – The project should align closely with the funding goals and ideally appeal to as broad an audience as
  possible.
• Feasibility – The idea should be practical and ready to get underway shortly after funding is approved, with implemen- tation or long-term establishment completed by summer 2027. Applicants should provide the necessary personnel
  resources—either on their own or in collaboration with their own team—to actively shape the implementation and over- see the project until its completion. Community Formats may be implemented flexibly throughout 2027.
• A realistic financial and timeline plan – The proposed budget and schedule should be appropriate and well planned.

Submit your project idea using the application form by October 30, 2026 to campus-glow-up@uni-stuttgart.de

Following an initial review and selection process, the most promising projects will be invited to the Glow up our campus! pitch event on December 3, 2026. Applicants will have the opportunity to present their ideas in a short pitch. The jury and audience will then jointly decide which projects will receive funding.

Selected projects are expected to get underway promptly so that they can already help make the campus more attractive and vibrant in spring and summer 2027. Funding will be allocated to the project lead’s organizational unit as a dedicated project fund and must be used during 2027. Once the project has been completed, a brief report including documentation of how the funds were used must be submitted. In addition, meaningful photos must be provided for communication on the University website and social media channels. The provided logo templates must also be used when creating printed materials and social media posts.

For projects requiring technical, legal or infrastructure-related coordination, the relevant expertise will be brought in to provide support through a central project team. Please contact the team at an early stage when planning your project following approval of the funding.

• Second call as PDF file
• Application form

• FAQ