SNSF Project Funding

SNSF Project Funding

Funds Swiss individual and team science projects across strategic research areas.

SNSF Project Funding is the Swiss National Science Foundation's largest funding scheme by volume, investing more than half a billion Swiss francs annually in new research projects. It is open to experienced researchers working at Swiss universities or other SNSF-eligible institutions and accepts proposals across any discipline — individual or collaborative, disciplinary or interdisciplinary. Two submission cycles operate each year with deadlines of 1 April and 1 October; the October 2026 cycle is the next upcoming window after the April 2026 deadline has passed.

Grants run for up to four years, with a maximum of CHF 250,000 per applicant per year. Personnel costs including social contributions are capped at CHF 200,000 of that annual ceiling; the minimum project grant is CHF 100,000. For collaborative projects with three or more applicants, the total grant is limited to CHF 3 million. Researchers may submit only one Project Funding proposal within any 12-month period, and as of 1 April 2026, a researcher may hold at most two simultaneous Project Funding grants — at least one of which must be a Weave, Lead Agency, or International Co-Investigator Scheme (ICIS) project. Applications in STEM, medicine, economics, and political science must be submitted in English; other fields may use an official Swiss language.

The former Sinergia collaborative scheme was merged into Project Funding in summer 2023 and no longer exists as a separate call. Projects involving researchers from SNSF partner countries must use the Weave, Lead Agency, or ICIS mechanisms rather than submitting as standard Project Funding proposals. Eligible costs cover staff salaries, direct research costs, and funding for scientific collaboration, networking, and communication — the lead applicant's own salary is paid by the institution, not the grant. Strong applications demonstrate a clearly defined research question, a feasible methodology, and an appropriately sized budget relative to the project scope.