Pre-announcement: calls for bilateral programmes with China and India

This picture shows the Taj Mahal at dusk.© Keystone

For the programme phase 2013-2016, the SNSF will launch calls for Joint Research Projects (JRPs) with China and India in January 2014. The Sino-Swiss Science and Technology Cooperation (SSSTC) envisages that 10-15 projects will be funded, the Indo-Swiss Joint Research Programme (ISJRP) will support 20-26 projects.

The bilateral programmes, conducted under the auspices of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), are aimed at promoting and strengthening scientific cooperation with non-European countries that show high or promising research potential. In the 2013-2016 Swiss Education, Research and Innovation (ERI) Dispatch, the SERI mandates the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) to implement one of the funding schemes available within these programmes - the Joint Research Projects (JRPs) - for the five priority countries Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa.

A Joint Research Project can be funded with up to CHF 250,000, with projects normally running for three years. Even though the calls for India and China will be launched simultaneously, the two programmes are separate. Both calls will be open from 6 January to 31 March 2014. Projects within the following thematic areas will be funded:

Projects with China:

  • Translational biomedical research and medical technology

Projects with India:

  • Translational biomedical research and medical technology
  • Renewable energy research

Important role of Leading Houses

In their function as Leading Houses, ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne are in charge of other funding schemes for the the relevant priority countries. They also fulfil the important role of representing Swiss science and Swiss institutions of higher education.

Responsible for China: