Postdoc.Mobility: The SNSF is awarding 200 mobility fellowships and return grants

"A research stay abroad is often a key experience for researchers at the start of their careers," says Marc Zbinden, Head of Careers at the SNSF. "It promotes independence in a new environment, enables important contacts to be made and is usually also a unique life experience." The SNSF supports such stays abroad with Postdoc.Mobility fellowships. This scheme enables researchers to carry out their project at first-class international research institutions and then return to Switzerland (see the box for the results of the current call).

Investigating online search behaviour

Joachim Baumann from the University of Zurich will take advantage of this opportunity to do a research stay at Stanford University. During his Postdoc.Mobility fellowship, he will investigate the online search behaviour of users. Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, the use of AI in society has changed dramatically. Search queries are now increasingly being initiated via AI tools rather than via traditional search engines. Despite widespread use, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of how people use AI tools. The opportunities and risks of using these programmes on a daily basis have also not yet been systematically investigated – which is what Joachim Baumann wants to change.

Two other approved projects

Postdoc.Mobility grants include contributions towards living costs, a flat rate for travel expenses and, if applicable, research and conference costs. Fellowship holders can also apply for funding for the research period immediately after their return to Switzerland.

The following two researchers will also be supported by the SNSF:

• Rebecca Cooper, who graduated from the University of Fribourg, will develop new deep learning models at the Natural History Museum in Oslo with the help of simulations and artificial intelligence. These models should help to answer open questions in palaeontology. Above all, she wants to use these models to better estimate species formation, extinction and distribution at global and regional levels while also investigating possible environmental causes for increases in diversity. This is particularly important because the fossil record is incomplete, and the standard methods used up to now only partially reflect the changes in species diversity.

• Loïc Pignolo from the University of St. Gallen is heading to Lyon and London with his Postdoc.Mobility fellowship. He will investigate how digital platforms are changing the demands placed on service providers and the extent to which this leads to disadvantages by using the example of household tasks such as cleaning, childcare and elderly care. The increased use of online platforms has led to service providers increasingly investing time and money in self-marketing and their online identity. Providers need to understand the norms and algorithms of these platforms to ensure their visibility. This, in turn, can lead to disadvantages, as not everyone has the same resources at their disposal.