Scientific & Technological Cooperation Programme Switzerland-Russia: 25 projects approved
By the end of April 2015, the SNSF had received 51 proposals for the Scientific & Technological Cooperation Programme Switzerland-Russia (STCPSR). Twenty-five projects were awarded a grant.
The State Secretariat for Research, Education and Innovation (SERI) and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (MES) commissioned the SNSF, the Russian Foundation for Humanities (RFH) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) to issue a call for Joint Research Projects (JRPs) in collaboration with the MES. The JRPs enable researchers in Switzerland and in Russia to engage in collaborative research. Most of the projects will run for three years and the grants will cover similar costs as those incurred in national SNSF projects (research funds, salaries, etc.).
Separate evaluation processes
The submitted project proposals were evaluated separately by the SNSF and its Russian partner organisations in line with the procedures defined by each side. The results of the evaluations were then compared and 25 projects approved; they cover the pre-announced subject areas of the call as follows:
- Quantum technologies and photonics; robotics; composites: 10
- Historical sciences; social sciences, political sciences; philology, study of art, study of literature: 10
- Systems biology and bioinformatics: 5
The SNSF will cover the costs of CHF 5.9 million for the Swiss part of the research, and the partner organisations the costs incurred in Russia.