SNSF updates project funding rules to balance demand and resources
© copyright-free image
The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) is introducing new measures in its project funding scheme to ensure fair access to funding amid rising demand and limited resources. While project funding remains the SNSF’s most important instrument for supporting basic research in Switzerland, the number of proposals and requested funding has increased sharply in recent years, leading to declining success rates and growing pressure on the evaluation process. The new rules, which apply from the call closing on 1 April 2026, limit both the number of proposals per researcher and the funding amounts per project.
The key changes
- Researchers may hold a maximum of two simultaneous SNSF project grants, one of which must be a Lead Agency/Weave/ICIS project.
- Only one project funding proposal may be submitted within a 12-month period, with exceptions for proposals rejected by random selection or not approved by a partner organisation under Lead Agency/Weave.
- The funding cap remains CHF 250,000 per applicant per year on average, but personnel costs are now limited to CHF 200,000 per applicant per year on average.
- The maximum funding per project is capped at CHF 3 million.
- Applicants based abroad are permitted only in Lead Agency/Weave/ICIS projects, although international project partners remain eligible.
1 April 2026 Call for Proposals
The SNSF has launched its project funding call on 2 February 2026 under the revised regulations, with proposals to be submitted via the SNSF Portal:
- The new measures apply to all proposals submitted by the deadline
- A transition phase will apply to ongoing and previously approved collaborative projects until their completion. Collaborative grants ap-proved before 1 April 2026 will be treated the same as ongoing Lead Agency/Weave/ICIS grants. This allows grantees of a collaborative project to submit a second proposal even if their current grant is not a Lead Agency/Weave/ICIS grant.
Further details will be provided at an online information event on 10 February 2026 from 13:30 to 15:00 a.m. (Swiss time). The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. Registration for the Event is mandatory.
EPFL’s applicant workshop will be held on 26 February 2026, from 12:00 to 13:30. Please, register here.
Project funding is the SNSF’s largest funding scheme by far. Every year, the SNSF invests more than half a billion Swiss francs in new projects. Under this scheme, you can conduct independent research on topics of your own choice. This enables research that is relevant, creative and diverse – the perfect framework for gaining new insights or resolving practice-related questions.
Applications can be submitted by experienced researchers working at a university or another institution in Switzerland that is eligible to receive funding. Of course, you have the opportunity to carry out interdisciplinary or collaborative projects. Many research questions can only be adequately addressed in this way.
SNSF: Greater demand, fewer financial resources: project funding to be adjusted