Project funding: fewer applications – amount of requested funding remains stable

Statistics pictogram with pie chart. © SNSF

In the summer semester of 2015, researchers submitted 1,114 applications for project funding to the SNSF, requesting grants worth CHF 480 million in total.

While the total number of applications declined by almost 6%, the requested funding remained stable compared to summer semester
2014. The decline in the number of submitted applications was in evidence in all areas of research.

The decline was strongest in mathematics, the natural and engineering sciences, as well as in biology and medicine (-8% and -6% respectively), but less pronounced in the humanities and
social sciences (-3%). In terms of the amount of funds requested, the humanities and social sciences, as well as mathematics, the natural and engineering sciences, registered a slight decrease (-1% and -2% respectively) whereas a minor increase was recorded in biology and medicine (+3%).

The SNSF will evaluate the submitted proposals in the coming months and communicate its funding decisions by October 2015.