Grants Office Newsletter March 2021
We hope that you are all doing well and that you had a smooth start into the semester despite the ongoing challenges. This issue of our newsletter informs you about the upcoming deadlines for ERC and the procedure for SNSF R’Equip proposals. Unfortunately, there is no news regarding Switzerland's association to Horizon Europe. Switzerland is still considered a third country and with this status, participation will be limited mainly to the “Global Challenges and Industrial Competitiveness” part of the programme. The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, SERI, expects a retroactive association but is also working on national funding solutions.
We also introduce you to the SNSF-Sinergia Project “Reversing the gaze” and inform about a few points to consider in terms of consulting companies specialized in EU funding.
SNSF Sinergia Project: Reversing the gaze – towards post-comparative area studies
Our knowledge system tends to divide the world into "the North and the South" from a decolonial and post-colonial perspective: The “West and the Rest” – the colonizers and the colonized. The recently funded Sinergia project challenges such notions by suggesting that concepts developed in Africa and Asia can be applied to explain political phenomena in Switzerland, Austria and Italy. The Grants Office spoke with the PI's Elisio Macamo and Ralph Weber about their project, about inter-disciplinarity, trends in research funding and about the current Corona crisis.
ERC: Deadlines and State of Play
The first ERC deadlines under the new EU framework programme Horizon Europe are approaching. Although Switzerland is not yet associated to Horizon Europe, applicants from Switzerland are eligible to submit proposals. However, retroactive association must be in force at the time of the signature of the grant agreement. If an association agreement cannot be concluded by then, SERI will consider a national funding solution for projects accepted by the ERC.
Deadlines:
Starting Grants (for applicants 2 – 7 years post PhD): 8th April 2021
Consolidator Grants (for applicants 7 – 12 years post PhD): 20th April 2021
Advanced Grants: 31st August 2021
SNSF R’Equip Call Deadline 3rd May 2021
The SNSF’s research equipment instrument (R’Equip) awards funding to cover the acquisition costs of research equipment with a view to facilitating research projects at the high end of international research. Note that applicants are supposed to submit a letter from the “highest governing body of the research institution” confirming the strategic importance of the equipment and that maintenance and financing of the remaining 50% is ensured. The letter must be signed by the Vice Rector Research and the Executive Director of the University. Please contact the Grants Office for a template that you can adapt. We will also organize the signatures for you.
Consultants for EU Funding: What to consider?
More than half of the total budget for Horizon Europe, 52.7 billion out of 95.5 billion euros, is allocated to the "Global Challenges and Industrial Competitiveness" part of the program. The topics, divided into six thematic clusters, are very diverse - but all aim to help achieve strategic priorities of the EU, such as implementing the Paris Climate Agreement. Tackling such challenges require a multidisciplinary, intersectoral approach and thus excellent collaboration among partners who are not normally part of an academic researcher's network. A competitive proposal also requires a deeper understanding of EU objectives and, exploitation and dissemination strategies. To many researchers, the requirements seem overwhelming. However, there is an increasing number of consultant companies that specialize in EU funding and offer customized services. Click below for further information and advice.
More Successes!
The Grants Office would like to congratulate:
- The nine new Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellows:
- Jana Bartakova (Public Health, Michael Simon’s group)
- Manel Bosch Aguilera (Physics, Philipp Treutlein’s group)
- Karen Dixon (DBM, Alfred Zippelius’ group)
- Clemens Herman (DBM, Carolyn King’s group)
- Nikolai Leopold (DMI, Chiara Saffirio’s group)
- Anna Sueki (Biozentrum, Urs Jenal’s group)
- Christina Tadiri (DUW, Dieter Ebert’s group)
- Paloma Vidal Matutano (DUW, Dorota Wojtczak’s group)
- Yinan Wan (Biozentrum, Alex Schier’s group) - Malte Helmert as participant in the Horizon 2020 collaborative project AIPlan4EU
- Ruth Delzeit as participant in the Horizon 2020 collaborative project BESTMAP
- Tania Rinaldi Barkat as participant in the Horizon 2020 collaborative project HearLight
- Knut Drescher as aprticipant in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie ITN (Internaional Training Networks) project PHYMOT
- Dirk Bumann as participant in the ERA.Net RUS Plus project Macrokill
- Rachel Hevey for her Innosuisse project
