Harnessing ACU member expertise to support Commonwealth member states in translating policy into action.
Applications open: 28 April 2026
Applications close: 9 June 2026, 3PM UTC
The ACU’s Expert Groups seek to bridge academic policy gaps and strengthen links with different Commonwealth government departments. Expert Groups harness member expertise to advance key policy priorities and build strategic partnerships with policymakers, civil society, practitioner bodies and ACU members to support their implementation.
Purposefully aligned with key Commonwealth mandates, ACU Expert Groups bring together academic leaders from ACU member institutions across the Commonwealth working in selected thematic areas of sustainable development.
To engage even more ACU members in this work, the ACU funds a dedicated grant scheme to support university projects in areas thematically linked to each Expert Group.
The current Expert Groups and topics that are eligible for ACU Expert Group grant funding for this current cycle are:
ACU Health Expert Group Grants
|
Theme |
Description |
|
Building a climate-resilient health and care workforce
|
Embedding climate literacy, One Health approaches and resilience planning within medical curricula to enhance the skills and preparedness of health and care workers to deliver safe, high-quality services amid rapid climate and environmental change. |
|
Digital and technological innovations in health and care workforce |
Data-driven and technological innovations that enhance the digital skills of health and care workers, address workforce shortages, enhance efficiency, and deliver better patient outcomes in a changing demographic and epidemiological landscape. |
|
Health and care workforce education and training |
Strengthening health and care workforce education through more inclusive and practice-relevant models to tackle skills gaps and imbalances in health and care workforce distribution. These include interprofessional curricula, community or industry-based training, traditional/indigenous knowledge and equitable mobility pathways. |
ACU Oceans Expert Group Grants
|
Theme |
Description |
|
Blue finance and blue economy |
Solutions that help coastal communities build fair, sustainable ocean livelihoods, across fisheries, aquaculture and marine enterprise, and create practical blue finance opportunities that attract investment and support long term community and ocean resilience. |
|
Coastal and marine ecosystems |
Projects that support the conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of coastal and marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, mangroves, and marine protected areas, to strengthen biodiversity, community wellbeing, and long-term ecological resilience. |
|
Education and skills for ocean governance |
Training, skills development and education models that equip communities, government, and industry to share knowledge and manage ocean resources sustainably, support blue economy growth, and build capacity for resilient and inclusive ocean governance. |
|
Technology and data for ocean action |
Tools, technologies, and data methods, developed through engagement or partnership with, communities, industry and governments to better monitor, manage, and protect ocean resources. |
ACU Sustainable Urbanisation Expert Group Grants
|
Theme |
Description |
|
Housing |
Practical solutions to improve the availability, affordability, resilience and sustainability of homes in rapidly urbanising contexts. |
|
Integrated planning |
Initiatives that strengthen cross-sector or community-driven approaches to urban development, connecting land use, infrastructure, environment, and service delivery, to create more equitable, inclusive, and climate resilient urban systems. |
|
Technology and data for urban governance |
Innovative digital, AI and/or data-driven solutions that enhance evidence-informed decision making, and improve how urban authorities and local communities operate, manage or engage with cities and key municipal services. |
|
Urban finance and local economic development |
Tools, training and approaches that enable cities to raise, manage, and direct funding more effectively to address urban development priorities and strategies to enable local economic development. |
What will the grants include?
Three grants will be awarded of up to 4,000 GBP for each Expert Group (a total of 9 awards is available across all Expert Groups).
What are the eligibility requirements?
- Applicants must be a staff member at an ACU member university.
How to apply
- Review the application guidance.
- For answers to more general questions on ACU grants, you can also look at our grant FAQs.
Submit an application through the online application form:
- If you already have a MyACU account, you can access the grant application form here (link available when applications are open).
- If you do not already have a MyACU account, please ensure that you first register for an account here and then follow the instructions in the registration email to log in to the system before accessing the application form
More information
