Research Funding

Explore the most popular research funding opportunities.

Important: to get access to the toolkits, please login on Google with your EPFL email address.

COVID-19 special measures – updates on funding opportunities

The Research Office advises you to check the status of all calls on the funding bodies’ websites before sending or preparing any proposals.
Meanwhile, we will regularly update the following page: https://go.epfl.ch/covid19-updates-funding-opportunities with available information (login with your EPFL email address).

For a list of funding opportunities created specifically for research to battle the COVID-19 situation, please check the list here.

  • Discover the Foundations Compendium, an all-new guide presenting a non-exhaustive collection of Swiss and international grant-making foundations, funding research projects, scientists’ career and science communication.

Funding opportunities by alphabetic order

BRIDGE Discovery is aimed at experienced researchers for basic as well as applied research in order to realise the innovation potential of research findings.

Have you earned your spurs as a young researcher and come up with an idea for developing your research results into a marketable product?

Bertarelli Foundation research funding opportunities

The Catalyst fund will support projects that aim at developing novel therapeutic approaches, such as cell and gene therapy, optogenetics, bioactive molecules, diagnostic tools, imaging techniques and implants among others.

No upcoming call deadline foreseen
Catalyst Fund webpage

COST research technology funding opportunity epfl
European Cooperation in Science and Technology. Copyright: COST
 
COST Actions (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a funding organisation for research and innovation networks.
symposium awards latsis research epfl
Fondation latsis awards researchers and boost technology through symposiums. Copyright: Fondation Latsis

The Fondation Latsis Internationale grants CHF 40’000.- for organizing a scientific symposium.

Targeted to established, leading principal investigator who wants long-term funding to pursue a ground-breaking, high-risk project.

Targeted to scientist who wants to consolidate your independence by establishing a research team and continuing to develop a success career in Europe.

Targeted to ERC grantees who want to explore the commercial or societal potential of their ERC project.

Next call deadline: September 17, 2020
EPFL PoC Application toolkit
ERC PoC webpage

Targeted to talented early-career scientist who has already produced excellent supervised work, and who is ready to work independently and shows potential to be a research leader.

Targeted to a group of two to maximum four Principal Investigators (PIs) – of which one will be designated as the corresponding PI (cPI) – working together and bringing different skills and resources to tackle ambitious research problems.

Next call deadline: (expected Autumn 2021)
ERC SyG webpage

EUREKA promotes and supports market-oriented international R&D&I project generation.

The Gebert Rüf Stiftung mission is to promote Switzerland as a top location for business and as a place to live. It supports impact-oriented entrepreneurial projects in any disciplines, as well as science outreach and applied projects on the use of microbial resources in health and technology.

Horizon 2020 is the EU funding programme for research and innovation running from 2014 to 2020 with a €80 billion budget.
The purpose of the Hasler Foundation is to promote 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.

Innosuisse helps leverage your innovation: we support science-based innovation projects carried out by companies – particularly SMEs – working with public-sector research partners.

Fondation Leenaards supports people and institutions in the fields of culture, aging and biomedical science in the Lake Geneva region. The annual Leenaards Prize for Translational Medical Research is awarded to collaborative projects, which investigate a clinical problem, linking it to a component of advanced basic research.

The purpose of our Foundation is to foster medical-biological science by means of financial support for research projects conducted at Swiss universities in the field of medicine and medically oriented biology/biochemistry.

FreeNovation supports unconventional biomedical research projects with the ultimate aim to provide healthcare solutions for patients.

The 2020 thematic call is now closed. Information regarding the 2021 call will be made available early next year at the following links:

Your first step towards scientific independence!  The purpose of SNSF Ambizione grants is to enhance researchers’ scientific profile and to help them become scientifically independent in conducting their own research projects.

Call to advance the understanding of Covid-19, the clinical management and public health response, the development of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

The stepping stone to your professorship!

PRIMA grants are aimed at excellent women researchers who show a high potential for obtaining a professorship. PRIMA grantees conduct an independent research project with their own team at a Swiss research institution.

FNSNF research funding opportunity
Copyright: FNSNF
Make your ideas reality with the SNSF! With its project funding scheme, the Swiss National Science Foundation enables researchers to independently conduct research projects with topics and goals of their own choice.
Sinergia promotes the interdisciplinary collaboration of two to four research groups that propose breakthrough research.
 
FNSNF research funding opportunity
Copyright: FNSNF

SPIRIT: the New SNSF programme for international scientific collaboration with countries receiving development assistance.

The Swiss Cancer League and the Swiss Cancer Research foundation (SCL/SCR) support basic, clinical, psychosocial and epidemiological research projects on the causes, prevention and treatment of cancer.
The Grants Learning Center is your gateway to the federal grants world.

The foundation aims to have an impact on and contribute to sustainable improvement and the benefit of society. This is achieved by supporting the creation of new knowledge through cutting-edge research and the fostering of its application and dissemination. The foundation attains leverage by focusing on projects with a high potential to initiate change and impact.

Contact

Research Office

Av. Auguste-Piccard 1

CH – 1015 Lausanne

Contact: [email protected]

FNSNF research funding opportunity
SNSF Funding

Your first step towards scientific independence!  The purpose of SNSF Ambizione grants is to enhance researchers’ scientific profile and to help them become scientifically independent in conducting their own research projects.

The stepping stone to your professorship!

PRIMA grants are aimed at excellent women researchers who show a high potential for obtaining a professorship. PRIMA grantees conduct an independent research project with their own team at a Swiss research institution.

Make your ideas reality with the SNSF! With its project funding scheme, the Swiss National Science Foundation enables researchers to independently conduct research projects with topics and goals of their own choice.
Sinergia promotes the interdisciplinary collaboration of two to four research groups that propose breakthrough research.
 
Rapid funding of unconventional ideas in any disciplines for researchers holding a doctorate or equivalent qualification. The project description must be fully anonymized.
 

SNSF SPIRIT: the New SNSF programme for international scientific collaboration with countries receiving development assistance.

SNSF COST: the New SNSF programme for international scientific collaboration with countries receiving development assistance.

List of open calls from SNSF

ERC funding opportunity research
European Research Council

Targeted to talented early-career scientist who has already produced excellent supervised work, and who is ready to work independently and shows potential to be a research leader.

Targeted to scientist who wants to consolidate your independence by establishing a research team and continuing to develop a success career in Europe.

Targeted to established, leading principal investigator who wants long-term funding to pursue a ground-breaking, high-risk project.

Targeted to ERC grantees who want to explore the commercial or societal potential of their ERC project.

Next call deadline: April 23, 2020
EPFL PoC Application toolkit
ERC PoC webpage

Targeted to a group of two to maximum four Principal Investigators (PIs) – of which one will be designated as the corresponding PI (cPI) – working together and bringing different skills and resources to tackle ambitious research problems.

Next call deadline: (expected Autumn 2021)
ERC SyG webpage

European research funding opportunities
Copyright: European Commission

EU Commission

Horizon 2020 is the EU funding programme for research and innovation running from 2014 to 2020 with a €80 billion budget.
national research funding opportunity
Innosuisse

Innosuisse helps leverage your innovation: we support science-based innovation projects carried out by companies – particularly SMEs – working with public-sector research partners.

EUREKA promotes and supports market-oriented international R&D&I project generation.

BRIDGE Discovery is aimed at experienced researchers for basic as well as applied research in order to realise the innovation potential of research findings.

Have you earned your spurs as a young researcher and come up with an idea for developing your research results into a marketable product?

information services laboratories research epfl
Research Office

The Catalyst fund will support projects that aim at developing novel therapeutic approaches, such as cell and gene therapy, optogenetics, bioactive molecules, diagnostic tools, imaging techniques and implants among others.

No upcoming call deadline foreseen
Catalyst Fund webpage

The Fondation Latsis Internationale grants CHF 40’000.- for organizing a scientific symposium.

meet support research units services epfl
Foundations Compendium

Discover the Foundations Compendium, an all-new guide presenting a non-exhaustive collection of Swiss and international grant-making foundations, funding research projects, scientists’ career and science communication.

Selected Foundations

The Gebert Rüf Stiftung mission is to promote Switzerland as a top location for business and as a place to live. It supports impact-oriented entrepreneurial projects in any disciplines, as well as science outreach and applied projects on the use of microbial resources in health and technology.

The purpose of the Hasler Foundation is to promote 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.

Fondation Leenaards supports people and institutions in the fields of culture, aging and biomedical science in the Lake Geneva region. The annual Leenaards Prize for Translational Medical Research is awarded to collaborative projects, which investigate a clinical problem, linking it to a component of advanced basic research.

The purpose of our Foundation is to foster medical-biological science by means of financial support for research projects conducted at Swiss universities in the field of medicine and medically oriented biology/biochemistry.

FreeNovation supports unconventional biomedical research projects with the ultimate aim to provide healthcare solutions for patients.

The 2020 thematic call is now closed. Information regarding the 2021 call will be made available early next year at the following links:

The Swiss Cancer League and the Swiss Cancer Research foundation (SCL/SCR) support basic, clinical, psychosocial and epidemiological research projects on the causes, prevention and treatment of cancer.

The foundation aims to have an impact on and contribute to sustainable improvement and the benefit of society. This is achieved by supporting the creation of new knowledge through cutting-edge research and the fostering of its application and dissemination. The foundation attains leverage by focusing on projects with a high potential to initiate change and impact.

US Grants
The Grants Learning Center is your gateway to the federal grants world.

Intergovernmental Grants

EMBO Young Investigators: Supporting some of the best young researchers in the life sciences as they begin their independent laboratories.  

HFSP Research Grants: Supporting innovative basic research performed by teams of scientists into fundamental biological problems.