Grants Office Newsletter September 2023

Dear Researchers of the University of Basel,

September started with some good news for the United Kingdom. Following long discussions, the last stumbling blocks for the UK association to Horizon Europe have been resolved. Although a final approval from all EU Member States is required, full association to Horizon Europe for the UK is likely to be implemented for all Calls under the 2024 Work Programmes. This means that UK research groups can once again fully participate and lead collaborative projects.

For researchers in Switzerland, the situation unfortunately remains the same as before. On the positive side, many of you are participating in proposals and successfully receiving funds for collaborative projects. However, important calls like the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowships and the ERC Individual Grants once again pass-by without the possibility of participation from researchers based in Switzerland. Although the transitional measures implemented by the SNSF are extremely valuable, the international competition provided by full participation in Horizon Europe is essential for the long-term future of research in Switzerland. It is very encouraging to see the support within the European academic community calling for Switzerland to be the next country to associate. Let’s keep our finger crossed for some movement on the political side, for Switzerland.

In this issue we inform you about the latest results and upcoming opportunities from the Transitional Measures and how Innosuisse can support the further development of your research.

Your Grants Office Team

Eve Silfverberg, Gillianne Bowman, Caroline Peneff, Luca Wacker & Julia Wyss

On August 25, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) visited the University of Basel and gave first-hand insights into the latest changes in the project funding schemes, including the integration of collaborative projects (formerly Sinergia). Additionally, the SNSF presented upcoming transitional measures calls (SNSF Consolidator Grants, Swiss Postdoctoral Fellowships and the four new topics for National Research Programmes. More than 80 researchers from the University of Basel participated in the event and discussed open questions with the SNSF staff members and the Grants Office Team.

More information on the SNSF project funding schemes can be consulted on the SNSF website, the presentation can be downloaded from Grants Office Intranet.

Prof. Malte Helmert, from the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science and Prof. Hanna Walsdorf, from the Department of Arts, Media, Philosphy ave been awarded one of prestigious SNSF Advanced Grants from the 2022 Call.  We congratulate them both and wish them all the best with their projects.

Prof. Walsdorfs project is the first SNSF Advanced Grant within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. We asked her to tell us about her new project “The Night Side of Music” (NightMuse) and share her experiences from the application process.

On behalf of the Federal Government, the SNSF will launch a 2023 Advanced Grant Call. Further details are expected very soon. Please contact the Grants Office, if you plan to apply.

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The call for MSCA Doctoral Networks is currently open with a deadline on the 28th of November. If you are looking to recruit one or two talented doctoral students from abroad, then this call is for you! It’s time to (re-)activate your European research collaborations. Swiss-based institutions can participate and will receive the full funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) to cover the salary costs of the doctoral candidate(s) during 3 years as well as the associated research, training and management costs. Most importantly, these projects represent a great opportunity for your PhD students in terms of advanced training, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility, and engagement in international networks.

More information on this funding scheme can be found on the call webpage. How researchers based in Switzerland can participate is presented in detail here.

We would like to congratulate everyone involved in two record breaking results. From the last Swiss Post-Doctoral Fellowship Call, ten researchers from the University of Basel successfully competed with more than 500 applicants. We are very proud to announce that although the Ambizione grant is becoming more competitive, a record of 13 successful applicants has been reached here in Basel this year. We congratulate all the successful grantees and wish them the very best for their independent research project. This will surely boost their careers and help them establish themselves in the competitive arena of their chosen research field of interest.

The deadlines for the 2023 Calls are 1^st November (Ambizione) and 1^st December (SPF) respectively.

Innosuisse aims to “accelerate the transfer of knowledge from research to industry and helps innovations and start-ups to achieve breakthrough in the market”. It offers great opportunities to finance research at the university, either with or without implementation partners. It is complementary to the SNSF, as it focuses on promoting science-based innovations in the interest of the economy and society in all scientific disciplines

We have summarized the key features in an easy to read overview.

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Despite the ongoing non-association to Horizon Europe, researchers in Switzerland are still eligible to apply to many funding schemes, in particular the collaborative projects addressing global challenges.

The European Commission organizes subject specific information and networking days in the coming weeks. Furthermore, the Euresearch network offers specific information, advice and support and offers free proposal reviews under certain conditions. Please contact the Grants Office, if you plan to apply for a Horizon Europe project or you have any questions.

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And to finish on a personal note. At the end of August, the Grants Office had to say goodbye to Susanne Daniel, who embarked on a new chapter in her life. We would like to thank her for her enthusiasm, dedication and all she has done for the Grants Office over the past 9 years and wish her all the best for her retirement.

Already in June, Gillianne Bowman joined the team to take over the position as Company Advisor and to support University of Basel researchers with Horizon Europe and Innosuisse projects. We wish her all the best.

The Grants Office would like to congratulate:

• Three Investigator Initiated Clinical Trial Grants: Mirjam Christ-Crain, Jehuda Soleman, Ivan Martin
• 10 Swiss Postdoctoral Fellowships
• Yang Yao for her ERC Starting Grant « Art Water » financed by SERI
• Don Gary Benjamin and Michael Hall for a new Innosuisse project
• Three SNSF Postdoc Mobility Grants
• 13 Ambizione 2022 Grants
• Five new Weave/Lead Agency projects
• Jennifer Belus for her SOR4D project
• Amr Abdallah and Markus Lill for their joint project funded by Novartis FreeNovation Foundation
• Francesc Baxauli and Joana Maria Soares Pereira for their grants from the Novartis Foundation for Medical-Biological Research
• Karen Dixon for her NIH grant

Check out Research Professional for more national and international Calls.