2.4 million francs for the first SPIRIT projects

Research cooperation with the Global South: the SNSF funds five projects under the SPIRIT programme. The collaborating teams are from Kenya, Colombia, Malaysia, Nepal, Uganda, Iran and Switzerland.

SPIRIT finances original, team-oriented projects involving two to four research groups in all disciplines and without thematic limitations. In particular, it aims to promote women and young researchers. The SNSF launched the programme in 2019.

The five projects, which cover various disciplines, were selected in a two-phase evaluation process. A joint project by the University of Lausanne, Monash University in Malaysia and the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Kenya will study the gut microbiome of honey bees. Another project brings together researchers from ETH Zurich and Tribhuvan University in Nepal to study behavioural biases against energy-efficient vehicles in Nepal. The other selected projects involve researchers from the University of Bern, the University of Lausanne and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CIDEIM medical education and research centre in Colombia, Makerere University in Uganda and the Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Iran.

The SNSF has made available a total budget of 2.4 million francs for the five research projects, or a maximum of 500,000 francs per project. They have a duration of between 36 and 48 months.