219 fellowships: opportunities abroad through Postdoc.Mobility

Through the Postdoc.Mobility scheme, the SNSF supports early-career researchers who receive funding to undertake a research project abroad or to return to Switzerland. For researchers at the start of their careers, such continuing education stays abroad are often crucial to their professional and personal development.

For all research disciplines

As part of the latest call, the SNSF is providing 26.7 million Swiss francs to fund 219 research projects (see box). Postdoc.Mobility fellowships include a contribution towards living costs, a flat-rate amount for travel expenses and, where applicable, support for research and conference costs. Fellowship holders can also apply for support for their initial research period after their return to Switzerland. The Postdoc.Mobility calls are open to all research disciplines.

The projects receiving funding include the following:

• Sleep and mental health: Around a third of adults suffer from sleep deprivation or sleep disorders. These are closely linked to increased body weight, changes in eating habits and metabolic disorders. Irregularities in REM sleep (dream sleep) can also be a sign of severe depression. Seher Kosar is conducting research at New York University (United States) into how neural mechanisms in the brain consolidate food-related memories during the REM sleep phase and thereby influence eating behaviour. The aim is to gain a better understanding of how sleep, diet and mental health are linked.

• Understanding landslides better: Landslides claim thousands of lives every year and cause damage amounting to around 15 billion Swiss francs worldwide. Rising temperatures are altering snow formation and melting patterns. Snow-induced landslides are becoming more frequent and more severe. Océane Hames is conducting research at the Université Grenoble Alpes (France) into the relationships between snow, soil moisture and slope stability. The aim is to better assess current and future risks of landslides under various climate scenarios. She is therefore laying the foundations for more reliable early-warning systems.

• Using nostalgia to cope with crises: Nostalgia is the term used to describe looking back on the past with emotion – and is associated with positive memories, longing or a desire for familiarity. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in the number of films, TV series and books released in North America that hark back to the 1980s and 1990s. Do such nostalgic references help people to come to terms with their experiences of the pandemic? Malaika Sutter is investigating this question at York University (Canada). She aims to show how such ‘reparative nostalgia’ helps people to regain a sense of direction, control, joy and belonging in times of crisis.