SNSF Project funding reaches record levels - October 2025

© Constantine Johnny

SNSF Project funding reaches an all-time high with 1,451 applications and 1.3 billion francs requested – while federal funding is stagnating. The SNSF is analysing the underlying reasons and reviewing its existing measures.

The SNSF's Project funding scheme supports high-quality basic research. The SNSF's largest funding scheme is aimed at experienced researchers based at universities or other authorised research institutions in Switzerland.

While the contributions by the federal government have increased only moderately in recent years, both the number of applications submitted and the amounts requested have risen drastically. Project funding reached new highs in October 2025: A total of 1,451 applications were received, requesting a total of 1.3 billion francs. For comparison, in 2021 there were 944 applications (Project funding and Sinergia) for a total of 774 million francs.

High demand with limited resources

The strong and sustained increase in demand emphasises the great need for financial support for ambitious scientific projects. Since federal funding has not increased to the same extent, the rising number of applications is leading to steadily decreasing chances of success for researchers.

With its nationwide, rigorous but fair competition procedures that are in accordance with the highest international standards, the SNSF ensures that only the best projects are funded. Even today, the SNSF has to reject numerous research projects that it should actually be supporting. As a result, the Swiss economy and society are deprived of essential research findings. The impending cuts in federal funding for the SNSF will further exacerbate this situation.

"We are analysing the reasons behind this strong and steady increase in demand and are also reviewing our existing measures to manage competition," says Pascal Fischer, Head of Project Funding. For example, limits on the number of simultaneous project grants per researcher and upper limits on the funding requested per project have already been implemented. The aim of these measures is to distribute the available funds in a targeted and sustainable manner.

Applications will be evaluated in the coming months according to the procedure described on the SNSF website (see link below). The funding decisions will be communicated in spring 2026.