SNIS | Research Funding

The Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS) offers grants to pluri-disciplinary research teams, to support projects on international studies, in the social sciences or combining natural and social sciences. Check the insights from members of the SNIS scientific committee for a successful proposal.

Proposals can be submitted in one of the following sections:

1. General call for proposals on International Studies: concerning issues that are pluri-disciplinary, relevant to the international agenda, and for which international cooperation is required to produce policy-relevant outputs. Investigated issues may combine political, economic, social, environmental, historical, legal, health, scientific, and development dimensions of complex societal questions.
2. Special theme 2025: "Leveraging Emerging Technologies in an Era of Disruption and Growing Inequality’"

• The project Coordinator and Co-coordinator can be professors or post-docs, employed at least at 40% for work unrelated to the project at a Swiss Higher Education Institution for the duration of the project. The applicant cannot hold a SNIS grant at the time of the submission of the pre-proposal. All coordinators must contact [email protected] to obtain an institutional letter of support.
• Associated members: SNIS strongly encourages collaborations with International Organisations and NGOs. The team can also include researchers from abroad and local partners.

• If the coordinator or the co-coordinator is a faculty member without a full-time contract, SNIS will fund up to a 50% of a full-time position for the coordinator.
• PhD students’ salary (following SNSF salary scale: CHF 55'000 per year + 16% social charges) with a minimum of 60% of their time dedicated to the SNIS project. All other personnel covered by this grant must be employed at least 50% FTE. 
• Travel expenses.
• Open access (up to 3% of the requested funds).

• If the coordinator or co-coordinator has a full-time contract, SNIS funds cannot be used for the coordinator’s salary
• Salary of the associated members (e.g. of IOs, NGOs).
• Infrastructure, Equipment, Publications and Overheads.

• Must amount to at least 25% and no more than 100% of requested funds.

• Deadline for pre-proposals: 22 Jan 2025 at 1pm (CET)
• Decision on pre-proposals: end of March 2025
• Internal deadline for institutional letter of support (only for non-independent PIs: at least 7 working days prior to the full proposal deadline (contact [email protected])
• Deadline for full proposals (by invitation): 14 May 2025
• Decision: end of July 2025 (success rate: 40%)
• Start of the project: Autumn 2025