Grants Office Newsletter March 2025
Dear Researchers of the University of Basel,
As Spring arrives, we sense a new motivation for European – Swiss collaboration. This issue of our newsletter is dedicated to the renewed opportunities for researchers in Switzerland to participate in European funding. We have collected an overview of calls and events in our Horizon Europe Update.
Another important topic this month is celebrating prior success, notably the three professors at the University that acquired an SNSF Advanced Grant towards the end of last year, share their experiences in grant writing, motivation and success with us.
Last but not least, our new Vice President for Research talks about his plans for the four-year term as Vice President and about his ideas and wishes as a researcher and mentor.
We wish you an interesting read and are looking forward to working with you on your ideas for new projects.
The Grants Office Team
Eve Silfverberg, Gillianne Bowman, Aleksandra Grzegorczyk, Luca Wacker & Julia Wyss
Interview with Vice President for Research Primo Schär
Primo Schär is Professor for Molecular Genetics at the Department of Biomedicine and, since August 2024, Vice President for Research.
The Grants Office asked him about his priorities for the next four years, about his own experiences with applying for funding and his plans as a researcher and mentor.
Horizon Europe Update
This year researchers based in Switzerland can once again apply to almost all Calls from Horizon Europe, including all European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Calls. Read our article to find out about the events we are organizing and what you need to know when applying.
Professors who plan to coordinate a Horizon Europe collaborative project or submit an ERC proposal, can apply to the university’s Research Fund for financial support for the preparation of the proposal.
SNSF Advanced Grants
Prof Mohamed Bentires-Alj, Prof Marc Donath and Prof Lorenza Mondada have been awarded one of the prestigious SNSF Advanced Grants 2024.
We asked them how their projects will make a difference, how they motivate themselves and what others can learn from their experiences.
The SNSF Advanced and Consolidator Grants Calls were set-up to replace the inaccessible ERC Grants. Thanks to the positive developments on the EU level, researchers based in Switzerland can once again apply directly to the ERC. The SNSF Starting Grants will be continued as an SNSF Career Funding scheme.
ConnectEU: Let's connect with European Universities
The new internal funding instrument supports University of Basel staff members who wish to increase the international component of their work as part of a collaboration with one or more of the nine European partner universities within Eucor and EPICUR.
The Call is open to all members of the University of Basel (including teaching staff, early career researchers, administrative personnel and students) and supports several different types of activities.
In connection with research, funding can be requested for initiating joint research projects, including networking activities, project planning, pilot projects, or data collection and other preparatory measures.
Projects can be submitted any time and are evaluated in the order in which they are received.
Science Communication
Horizonte - The Swiss Research Magazine, jointly published by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Academies of Arts and Science, has interviewed former Vice President for Research of the University of Basel, Prof. Torsten Schwede. Since January 2025 he is President of the SNSF Research Council, following his predecessor Prof. Matthias Egger from the University of Bern.
More successes!
The Grants Office would like to congratulate:
- Stavros Giaglis, Gregor Hutter and Georg Rauter for their Innosuisse projects
- Nadja Braun Binder for a project with the Stiftung für schweizerische Rechtspflege
- Mattia Zampieri and Urs Jenal for their IBH Catalyst grants
- Magdalena Filipowicz Sinnreich for the Bangerter-Rhyner Stiftung and Vontobel Stiftung projects
- Matthias Schwenkglenks and Mihaela Zavolan for the Krebsforschung Schweiz projects
- Sarah Koch for a project with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Anna Marsano and Jean Pieters for their Swiss Heart Foundation projects
- Marie-Madlen Jeitziner and Sandra Staudacher for their Stiftung Pflegewissenschaften grants
- Arnaud Scherberich and Ivan Martin for their Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation project
- Olga Krupkova for a BRIDGE Discovery project
New on LinkedIn
The Grants Office has joined the LinkedIn community!
Follow us to receive regular updates on upcoming funding opportunities, events and workshops and inspiring success stories from our researchers.
Events
Introduction to Horizon Europe
Webinar on the opportunities to apply for European funding when based in Switzerland.
1 April, 10.00-12.00, online
EIC Pathfinder Challenges Info Day
Information event dedicated to four EIC Pathfinder Challenges (deadline 29 October) on the following topics:
- Biotech for Climate Resilient Crops and Plant-Based Biomanufacturing
- Generative-AI based Agents to Revolutionise Medical Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer
- Towards autonomous robot collectives
- Waste-to-value devices
4 April, 9.00-13.00, online
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships
Information event on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Postdoctoral Fellowship call 2025.
15 April, 13.30-14.15, online
Broadening Horizons: Discover the Secrets of EU Projects
Together with the Responsible Digital Society Network we are organising an event for those who want to know more about applying for Horizon Europe or ERC Grants.
5 June, 11.00-14.00, Basel
Calls
Dementia Research
Synapsis Foundation Switzerland calls for proposals for both a Career Development Award and Principal Investigator Grants.
Submission deadline 7 April
CHIST-ERA - Science in your Own Language
The call is open for consortia of 3 or more partners from CHIST-ERA countries who work on automatic translation of scientific knowledge in order to overcome language and cultural barriers.
Submission deadline 15 April
Clean Hydrogen Call 2025
The program aims to accelerate innovation across critical areas of the hydrogen value chain and reflects the continued commitment towards advancing clean hydrogen technologies.
Submission deadline 23 April
IHI Call 9
The call contains five topics focusing on determinants of health, healthcare and fragmented health R&I efforts.
Submission deadline 29 April
COST Call for proposals
The SNSF supports work conducted in Switzerland within the scope of the recently approved COST Actions. Researchers actively participating in a COST Action are eligible to apply.
Submission deadline 29 April
Leading House Latin America
Research Partnership Grants aim to strengthen or initiate a scientific exchange between Swiss and Latin American researchers and institutions by enabling them to jointly undertake preliminary research and organize meetings.
Submission deadline 30 April
JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships
The Postdoctoral Fellowships offered by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science enables researchers in Switzerland to stay in Japan for 12-24 months.
Submission deadline 30 April
Plant Breeding Innovation
The 2nd Call of the National Research Programme is aimed at researchers in the social sciences and humanities with the topic of new plant breeding technologies. Projects focus on “Ethics, society and economics” or “Regulatory considerations”.
Submission deadline 7 May
EIC Pathfinder Open Call
For the development of radical new technologies, in any field of science or technology. Up to 3M EUR for international consortia.
Submission deadline 21 May
Investigator initiated clinical trials
Call for clinical studies on topics outside the industry focus. Letters of intent and PPI preparatory grant application until 27 May
Full proposal until 4 November
Cancer Grand Challenges
This is a global research initiative that is building an elite, interdisciplinary community to tackle cancer’s most complex problems. We collected more information on the intranet.
Submission deadline 18 June
MSCA COFUND Call 2025
Co-funding of regional, national and international doctoral or postdoctoral networks.
Submission deadline 24 June
ERDERA Joint Transnational Call
The European Rare Disease Research Alliance (ERDERA) is launching a first call for proposals, in which researchers based in Switzerland can take part.
Submission deadline 9 July
Helmut Horten Foundation Young Investigator Grants
Grants to accelerate the careers of talented young group leaders to develop their independent research within the medical sciences. Open to projects in any field of medical research.
Submission deadline 9 September
SESAR Joint Undertaking
Two calls on air traffic management. The exploratory research calls include fundamental and applied research, e.g., on quantum sensing and computing applied to ATM or shaping the future regulatory framework for a Digital European Sky.
Submission deadline 16 September
CBE JU Work Programme 2025
The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking is a partnership between the EU and the Bio-based Industries Consortium.
Information event on 3 April (hybrid)
Submission deadline 17 September
Check out Research Professional for more national and international Calls.
