Before drafting an application, applicants should clarify the following points:
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Formal requirements for applications: Apart from the majority of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, applications have to be written in English. In those disciplines in which English is not mandatory, applicants may use one of Switzerland’s official languages. Furthermore, the research plan, CV and list of publications must meet the requirements stipulated by the SNSF. Applications must be complete and submitted by the applicable deadline.
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Overlap with ongoing projects and pending applications: Applicants may only submit one application as of each cut-off date. If an applicant already has an ongoing project supported by the SNSF and wants to submit a second application, the two projects must be clearly distinguishable from one another in terms of topic. Furthermore, the applicant must be in a position to make a substantial contribution to both projects supported by the SNSF. The thematic distinction of the projects must be defined when the application is submitted via mySNF. This also applies to ongoing projects that are financed by other funding bodies. In the event of any thematic overlaps with ongoing projects, the SNSF will carefully examine whether the latest proposed project adds significant scientific value. If an applicant submits identical or thematically overlapping applications to the SNSF and to other funding bodies during the same period, they are required to inform the SNSF about the status and outcome of the evaluation procedure being carried out at the other organisation. The SNSF does not support research that is already being funded by other institutions.
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Costs: Before drafting the application, applicants should consider which project costs they wish to apply for and whether these costs are eligible for SNSF funding. In project funding, applicants may not apply for funding of their own salary; the funding schemes of the Career division have been devised for this purpose. Applicants are also not allowed to be simultaneously employed within the scope of another SNSF project.
Costs that are eligible for project funding:
- Personnel costs (salaries and social security contributions of scientific and technical employees)
- Material costs, if they are directly linked to the research project, in particular material of enduring value, the cost of expendable items, field expenses, travel or expenses of third parties
- The costs associated with the use of infrastructure directly linked to the implementation of the research
- Costs and fees for scientific open access electronic publications
- Costs for granting access to research data (Open Research Data)
- Cost of organising conferences and workshops in the context of the funded research
- Costs of national and international cooperation and networking activities directly associated with the funded research
All eligible costs must be project-related. If positions for collaborators (doctoral students, postdocs or other employees) are to be covered by SNSF funding, the SNSF salary ranges and blanket amounts for social security contributions have to be applied, see annex 12 of the general implementation regulations.
Annex 12: Salary ranges, guidelines for employees funded under SNSF grants, and blanket amounts for social security contributions (PDF)
The SNSF also awards supplementary grants, e.g. for research stays abroad for doctoral students (mobility grants) as well as contributions to childcare (Flexibility Grants) for doctoral students and postdoctoral students with family commitments. The "Protected Research Time for Clinicians (PRTC)" initiative enables clinicians to devote at least 30 percent of their working hours to their SNSF-supported research project. With the aid of grants to relieve them of their teaching obligations, researchers in the fields of humanities and social sciences are able to be excused from some of their teaching duties so that they can pursue their research activities (cf. "Additional measures").