Changes in the SNSF project funding
The SNSF has announced significant changes to project funding due to increasing number of submissions and expected cuts of funds provided by the federal governement. In order to be able to award at least one grant to a larger number of outstanding researchers, the SNSF will limit both the number of proposals per researcher and the requested funding amount per proposal.
Limits on the number of proposals and funding amounts
The SNSF introduced the first limits on project funding back in 2024. For the call closing on 1 April 2026, it is now implementing further measures:
- A researcher may only have a maximum of two simultaneous project funding grants. One of these must be a Lead Agency/Weave/ICIS project.
- Researchers may submit only one proposal for project funding within a 12-month period. Exceptions apply to proposals that were rejected in random selection or that were proposed for funding by the SNSF within the framework of Lead Agency/Weave but were not approved by the partner organisation.
- Each applicant can still apply for an average maximum of 250,000 Swiss francs per year for the entire duration of the grant. What's new is that personnel costs may not exceed an average of 200,000 Swiss francs per applicant per year.
- The funding amount per project is limited to a maximum of 3 million Swiss francs.
- Applicants based abroad are only permitted in Lead Agency/Weave/ICIS projects. Cooperation with project partners abroad is still possible.
With these combined measures, the SNSF aims to stabilise success rates and maintain the broad scope of outstanding research that it funds, despite limited resources.
Transition phase for ongoing and approved collaborative projects
To cushion the impact of the measures, the SNSF is introducing a transition phase for ongoing and approved collaborative projects until the end of their duration. Collaborative grants approved 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.
Online information event on 10 February 2026
On Tuesday, 10 February 2026 from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. (Swiss local time), the SNSF will provide information on the changes to project funding. This webinar will include a presentation and a Q&A session.