Career instruments
This page summarises the most important career funding instruments, from doctoral studies to the advanced postdoctoral phase.
Doctoral students
Doctoral students can be employed by third-party funded projects and thus complete their doctorate as part of a larger project carried out by their supervisor. Another option is employment via traditional assistantships. Discuss the options with your supervisor.
Graduate Academy
The Graduate Academy of the University of Lucerne offers mobility grants to doctoral students who wish to advance their thesis abroad.
Government Scholarships
swissuniversities manages government scholarships of over 30 countries for study or research stays abroad.
SAGW travel grants
The Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW) provides travel grants to enable young researchers to attend international conferences.
Transferable skills courses of the Graduate Academy
The Graduate Academy of the University of Lucerne offers a range of transferrable skills courses in which additional skills for the academic and non-academic labour market can be acquired.
Publication of outstanding dissertations
The University of Lucerne provides cost subsidies to support the publication of dissertations awarded “summa cum laude”. For more details, please refer to the information sheet (German only).
SNSF OA-publication grants
The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) supports the publication of scientific books through Gold Open Access with the Open Access book publication scheme, which makes the digital version directly accessible without restriction and free of charge. This is also possible for dissertations that were not written as part of SNSF projects. The monograph must undergo a scientific peer review process and be thoroughly reviewed and revised prior to submission.
Postdoctoral researchers
The postdoc phase serves to deepen your own research work and to establish an independent line of research. Several career instruments are available to support this endeavour, including those covering your own salary. Mobility is another key aspect of this career stage, for which funding opportunities are also available.
With a PostDoc.Mobility fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), researchers can enhance their profile, expertise and independence after completing their doctoral studies by undertaking a research stay abroad, preparing them for an academic career thereafter. The fellowships cover living costs, travel expenses, and possible research and conference participation costs. In addition, recipients can apply for a return grant for the first research period in Switzerland, which includes a salary with social security contributions
Eligibility requirements: Completed doctorate or graduation within the next 9 months; submission up to 3 years after obtaining the doctorate; for physicians without MD-PhD: submission up to 8 years after the state examination, as well as at least 3 years of clinical experience after the state examination; connection to Switzerland via nationality, immigration, partnership/marriage or scientific activity in Switzerland
Duration: 2 years plus 3–12-month return phase
Budget: Varies depending on location
Submission deadline: 1 February and 2 August (or the next working day)
SNSF Swiss Postdoctoral Fellowships are a transitional solution for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships. The instrument finances the applicant's salary and project costs for 12 to 24 months at a research institution in Switzerland. Researchers of all nationalities and from all disciplines who wish to apply for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA PF) postdoctoral fellowship are eligible to apply.
Eligibility requirements: Doctorate and up to 8 years of research experience
Duration: 12 to 24 months
Budget: Salary at PostDoc level; project costs up to CHF 24,000 for 2 years
Submission date: Expected in December 2024
The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) provides Ambizione grants to support young researchers in conducting, managing and leading their own research projects at a Swiss higher education institution. The aim is to support researchers from Switzerland and abroad, including researchers holding non-professorial academic positions. The grants cover the applicant's salary (optional) and project funds.
Eligibility requirements: Completed doctorate; submission up to 4 years after obtaining the doctorate; research activity of at least 12 months post-doctorate; applicants with a medical degree and at least 3 years of clinical activity are eligible to apply up to a maximum of 9 years after completion of their medical degree.
Duration: 2 to 4 years
Budget: Salary at PostDoc level, project funds up to CHF 400,000
Submission deadline: 1 November (or the next working day)
Branco Weiss Fellowships support postdoctoral researchers who wish to pursue unconventional projects outside the mainstream of science. Fellows are given the means to pursue their personal vision of a particular scientific project independently – in the best possible locations, anywhere in the world. They should also demonstrate a flair for communicating beyond their own field of study and with society at large.
Eligibility requirements: Completed doctorate; submission up to 5 years after obtaining the doctorate; no (past) employment as Assistant Professor or Lecturer; project is outside the mainstream of the discipline in terms of content; outstanding scientific achievements in the past; willingness to engage in dialogue with society and communication beyond disciplinary boundaries
Duration: Up to 5 years
Budget: Up to CHF 600,000
Submission deadline: 15 January 2025
ERC Starting Grants and SNSF Starting Grants
With the ERC Starting Grant, the European Research Council (ERC) funds outstanding projects by researchers with between two and seven years of postdoctoral research experience. Due to Switzerland's current non-association with Horizon Europe, the SNSF launched the “SNSF Starting Grant” instrument, which replaces the SNSF Professorial Fellowships (Eccellenza). Even though Switzerland is eligible to participate in the current ERC Starting Grants 2025 call (submission deadline: 15 October 2024), the SNSF is also inviting applications for SNSF Starting Grants (submission deadline: 15 January 2015).
Established researchers
Established researchers already have several years of independent research experience. Researchers with four or more years of postdoctoral research experience qualify as main applicants for SNSF project funding. However, this funding does not cover their own salary and therefore requires employment of at least 50% for the entire project duration. Their own salary can be claimed via the instruments of the European Research Council ERC.
Further information can be found in our project funding section or on the ERC website:
The University of Lucerne as host institution
The University of Lucerne is a dynamic and agile institution. With its central location right next to the railway station and the picturesque Lake of Lucerne, its manageable size and its focus on human sciences, it offers ideal conditions for young, mobile researchers from various disciplines. If successful, researchers who apply for career instruments with the University of Lucerne as their host institution will enjoy excellent conditions, such as appropriate integration into the relevant faculty, access to university programmes and a share of the overheads.
If you are interested, please contact a professorship in the relevant faculty or write to the Grants Office at grants@unilu.ch.
Career instruments:
