Funding for Postdocs

1 Research at UZH
2 Research Stay Abroad
3. Further funding opportunities for postdocs

Researchers with a PhD can apply for a job at UZH as a postdoctoral researcher or as a senior teaching and research assistant. Other than employment at the University, there are a variety of funding instruments open to postdocs. Depending on your career stage, you can apply for a fellowship, project funding, or an assistant professorship.

1 Research at UZH

The following opportunities enable you to fully or partially finance a postdoc project at UZH. This overview is not exhaustive. Please also find out about specific funding opportunities in your department.

SNSF Ambizione	The SNSF awards funding to postdocs wishing to conduct an individually planned project at a Swiss higher education institution.
SNSF Starting Grant	This instrument serves as a transitional solution for the ERC Starting Grants and also replaces the calls for proposals for Eccellenza and PRIMA. Researchers in Switzerland and abroad with at least 2 years' experience after the doctorate who want to carry out a research project in Switzerland can submit an application here.
SNSF Swiss Postdoctoral Fellowship	This instrument serves as a transitional solution for the ERC Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowships. Researchers in Switzerland and abroad with a doctorate and no more than eight years of postdoctoral experience can submit an application here for 12-24 months of support for a position at a non-commercial research institution in Switzerland.
UZH Postdoc Grant	The University of Zurich supports research projects of postdocs from its own fund.
Collegium Helveticum Early-Career Fellowships	The Junior Fellowships enable early career researchers from the sciences and the arts to spend 10 months at the Collegium Helveticum.
ERC Grants	With Horizon Europe, the EU framework program for research and innovation, the European Research Council (ERC) supports excellent researchers with highly competitive grants to establish or consolidate their own research team. EU GrantsAccess clarifies the eligibility to participate. The SNSF has launched so called transitional measures as long as some programs are not accessible to researchers in Switzerland.
SNSF Consolidator Grant	This instrument serves as a transitional solution for the ERC Consolidator Grants. Independent researchers in Switzerland and abroad with a doctorate for a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 12 years can submit an application here for 5 years to consolidate their scientific independence.
SNSF Projectfunding	Researchers with at least 4 years' experience after the doctorate (or an independent research position) can apply for SNSF funding to finance a research project. They cannot apply for funding for their own salary.
SNSF Spark	The aim of Spark is to fund the rapid testing or development of new scientific approaches, methods, theories, standards, ideas for applications, etc. It is intended for projects that show unconventional thinking and introduce a unique approach.
FAN Academic Excellence Fellowships	The Research Talent Development Fund (FAN) - supported by UZH Alumni - supports outstanding, innovative early career researchers.
Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships	With these scholarships, foreign doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers in all disciplines can fund a research stay at a Swiss higher education institution.
AXA Fellowships	AXA Fellowships aim at supporting promising researchers on a topic aligned with AXA’s priorities and societal challenges.

2 Research Stay Abroad

Experience abroad is essential for a career in academics. There are a number of mobility programs that offer postdocs financial assistance for a stay abroad.

Postdoc.Mobility	These SNSF fellowships facilitate a research stay abroad of 24 months for postdocs up to 3 years after the doctorate. In addition, a return grant for a 3 to 12-month research period upon returning to Switzerland can be applied for.
GRC Travel Grants	The Graduate Campus supports short research stays abroad.
Scientific Exchanges	The SNSF supports short research stays of one to six months.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA)	These EU grants are designed to increase the mobility of junior researchers at the postdoctoral level. Swiss researchers can only submit applications for this program if they have a host in an EU country or in a country associated to Horizon Europe. The SNSF has launched the SNSF Swiss Postdoctoral Fellowship (SPF) as a replacement measure as long as the MSCA program is only partially accessible to researchers in Switzerland.
Foreign Government Scholarships	Roughly 40 countries award grants to PhD students and postdoctoral researchers for a stay abroad.
UZH Global Strategy and Partnerships Funding Scheme	The UZH Global Strategy and Partnerships Funding Scheme supports UZH faculties, departments and professional service units in pursuing joint collaboration initiatives with specific partner universities of UZH.

3. Further funding opportunities for postdocs

UZH Entrepreneur Fellowships	With the UZH Entrepreneur Fellowships the University of Zurich provides funding, coaching, training and lab facilities to young researchers who intend to start up a company based on UZH research.
GRC Grants	The Graduate Campus supports the scientific activities of Early Career Researchers.
VAUZ Meeting Fund	The VAUZ Meeting Fund supports in particular the Participation in scientific events (conferences, symposia, workshops, etc.) that are of great importance to early career researchers of the University of Zurich.
UZH Postdoc Team Award	The UZH Postdoc Team Award honours interdisciplinary postdoc teams for outstanding and independent scientific achievement.
SNSF BRIDGE Proof of Concept	BRIDGE (a joint program conducted by SNSF and Innosuisse) supports projects at the intersection of basic research and science-based innovation. BRIDGE Proof of Concept is aimed at young researchers who wish to develop an application or service based on their research results.
DIZH Innovation Program	The University of Zurich (UZH), the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and the Zurich University of Teacher Education (PHZH) are networking in DIZH to promote research on topics related to digital transformation.
GSPI Impact Collaboration Programme	The ICP supports collaborative projects which explicitly bridge science, policy and/or implementation and that involve at least one actor from an academic institution (no geographical limitation) and one actor from the International Geneva ecosystem carrying policy work or implementation work.
SNIS Projectfunding	The SNIS supports pluri-disciplinary projects in the social sciences and pluri-disciplinary projects that combine natural and social sciences. Projects must run for two years, and funding can range from 100’000 to 300’000 Swiss francs.