Grants Office Newsletter October 2021

Dear Researchers of the University of Basel,

On 17 September, the Federal Council decided to initiate transitional measures for programmes under Horizon Europe that are not accessible to researchers in Switzerland. These include the mono-beneficiary grants of the European Research Council ERC and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). Just one week later, the SNSF has published the documents for the 2021 calls of ERC Advanced Grant and MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship.  Transitional solutions will also apply to ERC Starting Grants and ERC Consolidator Grants for 2022 in the event that Swiss researchers are not eligible to submit project proposals for these calls. With this newsletter we would like to inform you about these calls and draw your attention to our training for the ERC Starting- and Consolidator Grants.

Please note that participation in collaborative projects of Horizon Europe remains open to researchers in Switzerland. This concerns ERC Synergy, MSCA Doctoral Networks, most programmes under the “Global Challenges” pillar of Horizon Europe as well as EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition. For further information please contact us or visit the Euresearch website.

Kind regards,
The Grants Office Team

SNSF launches calls for transition schemes for ERC Advanced Grant and MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship 2021

Onbehalf of the federal government, the SNSF introduces transition measures for the ERC Advanced Grant and the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship 2021:

The SNSF Advanced Grants are aimed at leading researchers, conducting innovative, high-gain/high-risk research in Switzerland. The budget can be up to CHF 2.5 million for a period of up to five years. Additional funding of up to CHF 1 million may be requested for costs in connection with the move to Switzerland or for the acquisition or use of infrastructure.  The call opens on October 1^st. The call document is already available.

Applicants must pre-register by 1 November 2021.
Deadline for project proposals is 1 December 2021.
 

The SNSF Swiss Postdoctoral Fellowships are aimed at young researchers with a maximum of eight years of postdoc experience and who are coming to or have recently moved to Switzerland to conduct their research project. The grant covers the fellow’s salary plus contributions to research and conference costs for 12-24 months. The call opens on October 15^th.  The call document is already available.

Applicants must pre-register by 15 November 2021.
Deadline for project proposals is 15 December 2021.

Internal procedure: Forms in the Grants Tool will be implemented. In order to ensure that you receive your host confirmation on time, please enter your proposals 14 days before the deadline. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Training for ERC Starting and Consolidator Grants 2022

The SNSF transitional solutions will also apply to ERC Starting Grants and ERC Consolidator Grants for 2022 in the event that Swiss researchers are not eligible to submit proposals for these calls. These measures will be based as far as possible on the European calls, but will have their own deadlines for project submission. Further information will be communicated by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) in due time.

ERC Starting Grants are aimed at young researchers 2-7 years after their PhD. At least one important publication without PhD supervisor is required.

ERC Consolidator Grants are aimed at researchers 7-12 years after their PhD. Several important publications without PhD supervisor are required.

The Grants Office aims to provide the best possible support to researchers in both scenarios. To this end, we would like to offer a tailored training by Yellow Research, a consultancy specialising in ERC applications.

Please send us an email to grants@unibas.ch if you are interested in the training.

SNSF Ambizione / PRIMA: Deadline November 1^st 2021

The next SNSF Ambizione and PRIMA deadline is on November 1st 2021. Please note that the SNSF requires a detailed letter of support from the Department and a confirmation from the Rectorate. A template for the department letter is available in the Grants Tool (Ambizione / PRIMA, tab “Information”). The Grants Tool will help applicants to calculate their budgets. Applicants who do not have an account should contact the Grants Office. To ensure that you receive the confirmation of the Rectorate in time, we need the department letter and the entry in the Grants Tool by 15^th October.

More Successes!

The Grants Office would like to congratulate:

• Two Horizon Europe collaborative projects from the COVID-19 emergency call:
  • ISIDORe with Thomas Klimkait and Daniel Pinschewer together with the University Hospital Basel
  • VERDI with Julia Bielicki from the University Children’s Hospital Basel
• Nine new Ambizione grantees: Christine Blume, Francesc Baixauli, Hardy Chan, Jennifer Belus, Karen Dixon, Marwan Kilani, Moritz Feichtinger, Simon van Vliet and Theresa Holler
• One new PRIMA grantee: Olena Palko
• The PI’s of 28 new SNSF projects