Where research meets the people: 23 new Agora projects approved
Following the 7th call for proposals for its Agora funding scheme, the SNSF has approved 23 new projects submitted by researchers aiming to share their research with the public.
Of the 60 submitted project proposals, the SNSF will support 23 with a total amount of just over CHF 3.9 million, which corresponds to approximately 38% of the amount requested. 70% of the funded projects are related to the humanities and social sciences, 22% to mathematics, natural and engineering sciences and 9% to biology and medicine.
New president of the evaluation commission
At the last evaluation meeting, Mike Schäfer, professor at the Department of Communication and Media Research (IKMZ) of the University of Zurich, was elected president of the Agora evaluation commission. He replaces Frank Burnet, who had been the Agora president ever since the launch of the funding scheme.
Rolling call
As of March 2018, applicants will be able to submit projects requesting less than CHF 50,000 all year round. This measure has been taken to offer more flexibility to small projects and to reduce the waiting periods between submission and funding decision. The SNSF will strive to complete the evaluation within three months. We encourage interested researchers to plan for their project to start four months after submission.
The Agora map
The aim of most projects is to stage an event in Switzerland. The Agora map will offer an overview of these events and make them more visible. It will feature more and more events as time goes on.