Guide · 9 min read

SNSF Switzerland Research Grants 2026: Project Funding & Career Schemes Guide

The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) is among the best-funded research agencies in Europe per capita, with success rates around 40% for Project Funding — markedly higher than most national agencies. Researchers in Switzerland have access to a clear, well-resourced ladder from PhD to senior PI.

1. The main SNSF instruments

• Project Funding — the bottom-up workhorse. CHF 100k–CHF 500k per year, 2–4 years.
• Eccellenza Professorial Fellowships — for early- to mid-career researchers stepping into a tenured-track position. Up to CHF 1.5M over 5 years.
• PRIMA — Promoting Women in Research and Academia. Senior fellowship for women researchers, up to CHF 1.4M over 5 years.
• Postdoc.Mobility — postdoctoral mobility, 12–36 months abroad.
• Doc.CH / Doc.Mobility — doctoral funding lines.

2. Project Funding: eligibility

The PI must be employed at a Swiss research institution at the time of submission and during the project. Foreign-trained researchers welcome; Swiss residency is not required during application. The institution must guarantee infrastructure access for the project duration.

3. Submission cycle

Project Funding has two deadlines per year: 1 April and 1 October. Decision typically 5–6 months after submission. Funding starts on a defined date (typically 1 February or 1 August following the decision).

4. The proposal

Submitted via mySNF in English. Length is 20 pages. Structure:

• Research plan (15 pages) — current state, hypothesis, objectives, methodology, workplan, risk and feasibility, expected results, broader impact.
• References (3 pages)
• Open-research-data and open-access plans (1–2 pages, mandatory)

Plus annexes: PI CV (max 4 pages, structured), team CVs, ethics declarations, host commitment letter (rarely needed), and the budget justification.

5. Evaluation criteria

SNSF evaluates on five criteria with equal weight:

• Scientific relevance, originality and topicality
• Suitability of methods and feasibility
• Applicant’s scientific track record and expertise
• Broader impact (where applicable)
• Adequacy of resources requested

Two written reviews per proposal, harmonised by a Specialist Committee, then ranked by the Research Council. Funding cut-line typically lands at A grades on the first three criteria.

6. The hidden criterion: research-data plan

Since 2017, SNSF has required an open-research-data (ORD) plan. Reviewers explicitly score it. A strong ORD plan:

• Names specific repositories (Zenodo, OSF, discipline-specific repos).
• Specifies data formats and metadata standards.
• Defines an embargo period (if any) and justifies it.
• Identifies persistent identifiers (DOIs) for all datasets.

Boilerplate ORD plans cost real points. Treat the ORD plan as a ~1.5-page mini-section, not a footnote.

7. Common reasons for decline

• Hypothesis stated as “we will study” rather than as a falsifiable claim.
• Methodology described technique-by-technique without binding to hypotheses.
• Risk-and-feasibility section that’s a copy of the aims.
• ORD plan as boilerplate.
• Track record imbalance — PI dominates, team members underrepresented.

8. Tips

• Submit at the October deadline if you can — reviewer pool is fresher; April competes against ERC StG returners.
• 15-page research plan is generous compared to ANR pre-proposals; use it for figures and details.
• Open-access plan should name specific Swiss repositories (e.g. SwissCovid for digital health, Swissbib for life sciences).
• Get a Swiss colleague who has been on a Specialist Committee to read the draft.

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