SERI Bilateral Joint Research Projects

SERI Bilateral Joint Research Projects — Seed

Supports Swiss and partner-country researchers through SERI bilateral projects for cross-border collaboration.

SERI's Bilateral Joint Research Projects programme funds Swiss researchers at higher education institutions and research institutes to conduct collaborative research with counterparts in BRICS countries and key partner nations. The eligible country pairs are Brazil, India, China, South Africa, Argentina, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam; the Russia partnership is currently paused. Each country pair has a designated Leading House — a Swiss higher education institution commissioned by SERI under the 2025-2028 mandate — that issues and manages calls for that bilateral relationship. The Swiss side receives up to CHF 250,000 over a project duration of typically three to four years, while the partner country's national agency co-funds its own researchers.

Eligibility is restricted to Swiss researchers affiliated with Swiss higher education institutions or research institutes; companies cannot apply directly as lead applicants. Each project requires a confirmed research partner at an institution in one of the eligible partner countries before a proposal can be submitted. The co-funded structure means neither side fully cross-subsidizes the other: SERI funds the Swiss team through the Leading House, and the partner agency funds the foreign team independently. Calls are periodic and tied to bilateral agreement timelines, not continuous year-round windows.

Applicants must contact the Leading House responsible for their target country pair to learn about current call status, deadlines, and proposal requirements. The 2025-2028 cycle designated five Swiss higher education institutions as Leading Houses, continuing a programme that has supported over 600 projects since 2008. Strong proposals demonstrate clear scientific complementarity between the Swiss and partner teams, a realistic joint research plan for the three-to-four-year duration, and alignment with the thematic focus set by the relevant Leading House call.