Open Science grants

These grants support projects that create innovative tools, build essential infrastructure, and cultivate a community that embraces the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable). With different funding criteria for each grant, there’s something for every researcher and educator to apply for!

Upcoming calls

This list is regularly updated. If you know of other calls not cited here, feel free to send us an email at [email protected] and we’ll add it to the list!

Best practices and infrastructure

April 15th | Contribute call

Call to to contribute to existing open communities built around ORD – CHF 30,000

Submissions anytime

Open Access publications in scientific Journals, books and book chapters

Continuous call

Mobilise and facilitate participation in relevant international initiatives | Up to 60,000 CHF | The call for proposals targets eligible Swiss higher education institutions and initiatives, aiming to enable their participation in relevant European and international initiatives by financing membership fees.


OS-friendly calls

Submissions anytime

Information and Communications Technology


Crowdfunding

Submissions anytime

Submit your projects to the crowdfunding platform wemakeit.com

Our friends who fund Open Science

You will find below funding entities who often provide calls for OS-related projects.


The Swiss Open Research Data Grants program is jointly organized by ETH Domain and Swissuniversities. It aims to support ORD practices across disciplines and higher education institutions in Switzerland, with a focus on creating synergies and complementarities. EPFL applicants can apply through both paths, with the ETH Domain path being used for evaluation if a call is open via both organizations at the same time.


No open call at the moment

The CHIST-ERA Open Research Data Call tackles the challenge of Open & Re-usable Research Data & Software from the perspective of the possible reuse of data, with the objective of creating the conditions for research in any domain based on open or shared data and software.


The Hasler Foundation promotes information and communications technology (ICT) for the well-being and benefit of Switzerland as an intellectual and industrial centre. The Foundation aims to play an active role in ensuring that Switzerland continues to take a leading position in science and technology in the future.

The Foundation funds or co-funds selected educational, research and innovation projects and undertakings in the field of ICT.

Research projects can be submitted at any time.


No open call at the moment.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) funds a variety of projects related to open science. Some examples include:

  • Support for open-access publishing and data sharing in the scientific community
  • Development of new tools and technologies to improve scientific collaboration and data sharing
  • Programs to increase diversity and inclusion in the scientific workforce
  • Funding for open-source software development to support scientific research
  • Support for the creation of new scientific commons and the sharing of knowledge and resources.

The Simons Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation that supports scientific research and education, particularly in the fields of mathematics, theoretical physics, and theoretical computer science. It also funds research in the life sciences and autism research.

Next deadline: 8.03.2023

More information


The SNSF has available grants to fund Open Access publications in scientific Journals, books and book chapters.

More information about the SNSF Open Access policy

For publications from projects funded by SNSF grants, the Foundation supports researchers in making their articles freely available without limitations or delays by paying the Article Processing Charges (APCs) in peer reviewed journals.

More information

The SNSF supports finances the publication of scientific books that are freely accessible without limitations or delays. Book Processing Charges are awarded for scientific publications regardless of whether the underlying research results were obtained in research projects funded by the SNSF or not.

Peer-reviewed monographs (including dissertations, habilitations, legal commentaries and editions) and anthologies qualify for funding. The cost of publisher services for quality control, book production and distribution are covered by a book processing charge (BPC).

More information

The SNSF finances book chapters that result from an SNSF-funded research project and are published in a peer-reviewed open access anthology.

Coverage of publication fees can be requested as book chapter processing charges (BCPCs).

More information


Citizen participation can also drive scientific progress: small projects can get funded through the crowdfunding platform wemakeit.com and receive a matching grant (Science Booster) from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) up to a maximum of 5,000 CHF.


Past funding calls

The EPFL Presidency dedicated a total of CHF 3 Mio over the period 2019-2021 to promote open and reproducible research at EPFL through the bottom-up adoption of best practice in research management and knowledge dissemination.

More information

Several EPFL teams were awarded grants in 2018 and 2019 to develop OS projects

About the Open Science Champions