Grants Office Newsletter September 2025

Dear Researchers of the University of Basel,

In this issue of our Newsletter, we take a more detailed look at the SNSF Ambizione Scheme. We spoke to several grantees about the application process and the key principles and advantages of these Grants.

Autumn is always a busy time for deadlines and we have plenty of calls and events to inform you about, including an overview of next ERC deadlines.

Finally, we round-up with some news from the SNSF, a look towards the topics that you can expect next year for Horizon Europe collaborative calls and new opportunities to access European Research Infrastructures.

We wish you a pleasant read.

The Grants Office Team

Eve Silfverberg, Gillianne Bowman, Aleksandra Grzegorczyk, Luca Wacker & Julia Wyss

First things first, we heartily congratulate the 7 new Ambizione grantees of 2025. We wish you a very good start and every success with your project.

The next call for Ambizione has a deadline of 4 November. The Grants Office supports candidates with the University of Basel as host institute.

We asked several grantees from previous calls about their experiences before and with Ambizione, as well as their plans for the next steps. We have summarized their views together with some key tips for applicants.

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First of all we would like to congratulate the seven new ERC Starting Grantees at the university. This is a fantastic recording breaking result! We wish you all best for your projects.

The ERC Starting Grant call 2026 deadline, on 14 October 2025, is approaching. If you are still planning to apply, please get in touch with us: grants@unibas.ch.

Further upcoming deadlines are:

• ERC Synergy Grant with deadline on 5 November 2025
• ERC Consolidator Grant with deadline on 13 January 2026, which will open at the end of September 2025.

Please be aware of the changes for 2026 calls regarding part B2 of the proposal and the scope for additional funding.

On Friday, November 14^th 2025 from 9:30 to 16:00 the first “Career Day for Postdocs” will take place at the University of Basel. The program offers postdocs the opportunity to explore a wide range of career options – both within and beyond academia – and to reflect on their own professional future. Additionally, the program will of course offer opportunities for networking and the exchange of ideas with peers.

• Keynote lecture: “The Power of Self-Branding: Stand out in Academia and Beyond”.
• Lunch with Career Market: Representatives of companies and organizations as well as career-related units of the University of Basel will be present to offer insights into different professions and career opportunities.
• Career Talks: Former postdocs share their career journeys and experiences in exciting roles across academia, industry and the public sector.

For more information visit: Events - University of Basel. The registration is open now!

Switzerland has joined four new European Research Infrastructure Consortiums (ERICs), opening doors to world-class facilities in environmental, social and linguistic sciences, as well as astroparticle physics. This expansion means you now have unprecedented opportunities to collaborate, access cutting-edge resources, and amplify your research impact on the international stage. With Switzerland’s growing ERIC membership—now totaling eleven—you can expect enhanced visibility, streamlined participation in cross-border projects, and stronger ties within Europe’s research networks.

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The European Commission has recently started to publish the draft Work Programmes for 2026-2027. The newest updates can be found on the Euresearch website.

The drafts are subject to change until their final publication expected towards the end of 2025. Nevertheless, the drafts enable all researchers a preview at the possible topics coming up in the next calls for proposals and allow them start preparing their participation and search for a consortium at an early stage.

Last week the SNSF informed that they are suspending Spark Calls until the end of 2027, Spirit Calls until the end of 2028 and that it will no longer be possible to request additional SNF funding within a COST action.

The SNSF sadly had to take these steps, in order to prepare for the proposed budget cuts on a federal level from 2027 onwards.

The budget for international collaboration via the European partnerships is also affected. A full overview of the changes and the reasons these steps have been taken can be found here.

The latest issue of Horizonte – The Swiss Research Magazine focuses on the need of visual representations in science.

The Department of Environmental Sciences is represented twice with Grégoire Vernaz’ (Postdoc) and Anja Haefeli’s (PhD Student) astonishing picture from cichlid eggs from Lake Tanganyika in East Africa and Walter Salzburger’s collaborative work with the University of Paris-Saclay on gene exchange in fish.

Furthermore, Laurent Goetschel has been asked about the political scientist’s view on the cost of a human life at times of war.

The Grants Office would like to congratulate:

• Andrea Bublitz for her Innosuisse Project
• Regula Furrer for a Novartis FreeNovation project
• Mohamed Bentires-Alj for a Breast Cancer Research Foundation Award
• Petya Apostolova for an Olga Mayenfisch Stiftung grant
• Lukas Nebiker for a Lab7x1 (BASPO) project
• Mihaela Zavolan and Jakob Rien for their SwissLife Jubiläumsstiftung project
• Bernice Elger for a SNIS grant
• Emily Meachon for a The Waterloo Foundation grant
• Andres Garcia-Garcia for a Novartis Foundation for Medica-Biological Research project
• Malte Oppermann for his SNSF MAPS project

Check out Research Professional for more national and international Calls.