Outline proposals must follow the structure of the outline proposal template (provided in mySNF) and must be submitted online via mySNF. The outline proposal is restricted to 15 pages, excluding the bibliography.
Outline proposal
A presentation that includes a well-founded vision of the proposed NCCR as a whole and makes a convincing argument for supporting the initiative, while also addressing the NCCR selection criteria Outline proposals must be structured as follows:
- Executive summary
- Presentation of the background and the ambitions of the NCCR, including:
- main research questions and their significance for science and society
- analysis of the present research landscape (existing structures, networks, etc.) and elucidation of the critical mass, the strategic fit and the planned structural development within the home institution(s) and within Switzerland
- mid- and long-term vision for the initiative (beyond phase I and beyond SNSF funding)
- planning and justification of the overall duration of the NCCR and the level of SNSF funding
- justification of the need for an NCCR to reach the goals
- Coherent research programme for the first four years, including:
- state of the art, intended contributions to the state of the art, added value created by the NCCR, the innovative and interdisciplinary potential, international embeddedness
- sketches of the individual projects: research question, state of the art, intended contributions to the state of the art, contributions to the overall questions of the NCCR
- If applicable: comment on potential ethical / legal issues
- Goals and strategy in the fields of knowledge and technology transfer, promotion of young researchers and gender equality, communication
- Concept for the organisation, management and leadership of the NCCR
- Bibliography of the research programme (list of references, including concluded and/or ongoing work referred to in the research plan).
Annexes:
- CV and major achievements as well as research output of director and co-director, including an additional section on management-related skills and experience
- CV and major achievements as well as research output of further applicants (see instructions on mySNF)
- Budget for phase 1 (see template on mySNF)
- Letter(s) of support from the home institution(s) (see template on mySNF)
Five to six months after the submission deadline for outline proposals, the SNSF will inform the applicants about the outcome of the evaluation and the rating of their outline proposal. Applicants then notify the SNSF within one month whether they intend to submit a full proposal.