Doc.CH

Yes, if a close collaboration between the higher education institution abroad and an UAS or UTE in Switzerland is documented. You must be employed at the UAS or UTE in Switzerland.

​Yes, under certain circumstances. All applicants for a Doc.CH grant must hold a degree that entitles them to do a doctorate in the humanities and social sciences (HSS) at a university in Switzerland. The main topic and the main discipline of the project must be part of the HSS; they must adequately reflect the reality of the project in terms of e.g. research question and methods (see "List of disciplines" on www.snsf.ch > Funding > Documents & downloads > Further documents). Disciplines outside the HSS are acceptable as secondary disciplines. It is possible to be matriculated at a faculty outside the HSS as long as the university agrees to it. But supervision must centre on HSS, in particular the research field of the main supervisor must be within HSS.

In principle, the work-time percentage is 100% and you must devote all of it to your doctoral thesis. Where there is good cause, the applicant's working hours may be reduced, but – except during very short periods – should never fall below 80%. Working hours corresponding to less than 100% may be applied for if one of the two following reasons is provided in the application: care duties or fulfilment of activities that serve to qualify them for a scientific career (e.g. teaching, training or continuing education in their field). Applicants may also change from full-time to part-time work during the funding period of a Doc.CH grant for the stated reasons. Such changes must be approved by the SNSF.

No, except if you are not a Swiss national and have a foreign degree (master's or equivalent). The maximum period of employment funded by the SNSF is 4 years for doctoral students. A Doc.CH grant has a running time of 2 to 4 years. The actual start date of the dissertation is decisive for calculating the 4-year time window. If the actual start of the dissertation took place more than 2 years before the envisaged start of the grant, it is therefore not possible to request a Doc.CH grant. However, in response to a written request giving reasons, the eligibility period of 4 years starting from the actual start date of the dissertation may be extended. Accepted reasons for a delay are set out in Clause 1.11 of the general implementation regulations for the Funding Regulations.

In order to apply for a Doc.CH grant, you must have the support of two persons (supervisor and co-supervisor). The first person must work at the Swiss higher education institution where the applicant will be employed as a doctoral student (supervisor). The second person must work either at another Swiss higher education institution or abroad (co-supervisor). It is mandatory that these two persons work in two different academic institutions. Furthermore, PhD supervisors are allowed to support only one Doc.CH candidate per submission deadline. This rule does not apply to co-supervisors. Please contact the potential supervisor at an early stage, in order to inform them of the supervision conditions, namely that they can support only one Doc.CH applicant for the same deadline as main supervisor, and please request the 2 statements at an early stage so that you are able to submit your full application in good time.

If you submitted your application by 15 March, the interviews will take place in weeks 22 to 25. If you submitted your application by 15 September, you will be interviewed in weeks 48 to 51.

If the submission deadline for applications falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the deadline is automatically extended to the next working day.

Doc.CH grants are awarded for a minimum of 24 months up to a maximum of 48 months and doctoral students can be funded by SNSF grants for a maximum duration of 4 years, starting from the actual start date of the dissertation. If the actual start of the dissertation took place more than 2 years before the envisaged start of the grant, it is therefore not possible to request a Doc.CH grant. However, in response to a written request giving reasons, the eligibility period for the submission of an application may be extended (see Clause 1.11 of the General implementation regulations for the Funding Regulations). Furthermore, in your Doc.CH grant application, you need to request the entire duration (first and second part of the grant pursuant to Article 3 of the Doc.CH Regulations). In principle, no further application for a supplementary grant to extend the duration of the grant may be submitted at a later stage. In other words, it is better to plan a feasible dissertation project with an adequate funding period than an overambitious project with a funding period that is too short (e.g. only 3 years are requested even though 4 years would be permissible under the Doc.CH Regulations as well as necessary to complete the planned research); dissertation projects whose duration is shorter than the longest permissible funding period pursuant to the Doc.CH Regulations are not more likely to be approved.

The SNSF may extend this period on request if applicants are able to cite good reasons for this. The following reasons are accepted: maternity, paternity, adoption or parental leave; inability to work due to illness or accident; care duties; services that benefit the general public, particularly military or civilian service; continuing education in connection with the applicant’s research activities, particularly internships or clinical work and preparatory activities connected to the dissertation, e.g. participation in classes at a doctoral school. In the event of maternity, the relevant period is extended by 18 months per child. See Clause 1.11 of the General implementation regulations for the Funding Regulations.

At the time of the submission deadline, you must have a degree (master's or equivalent degree) from a Swiss higher education institution which entitles you to start doctoral studies in the humanities and social sciences at a Swiss university. Researchers with an equivalent foreign degree (master's or equivalent) are also entitled to submit an application if they are Swiss nationals or if, at the time of the submission deadline, they are matriculated at the relevant higher education institution in Switzerland. The master's or equivalent degree must correspond to 90-120 ECTS points (1.5 to 2 years of full-time studies). A "Master of Advanced Studies - MAS" (which corresponds to 60 ECTS points or one year of full-time studies) and other higher education degrees do not grant eligibility to submit a Doc.CH application. ECTS must appear on one singular diploma (cumulating credits from several different diplomas is not possible). If the degree presented is not assessed according to the Bologna ECTS credit system, it is up to each candidate to provide proof of equivalence. Please note that 1 ECTS corresponds to 25 to 30 working hours according to Swiss law.

Here are some important points you should consider:

- First, you need to check whether you meet the participation requirements. Applicants whose application has been rejected may resubmit a Doc.CH application only once, regardless of the topic of their project, provided they meet the personal and formal requirements.

- Then, if the participation requirements are met, you must enter a new and complete application on mySNF, with all the necessary information and documents updated. This is because it is a new evaluation round, with a new competitive situation.

- In addition to the revised research plan, you must upload a separate document in which you respond point by point to the criticisms contained in the rejection letter and in which you comment on any significant changes and/or additions made to your research plan. This statement must be written in the same language as the research plan and must not exceed 2 pages.

- If the new application is submitted by the next submission deadline, i.e. within 6 months after the previous submission deadline, you can upload the same confidential statements provided by the supervisor and the second person (co-supervisor). However, it is in principle better to request new and updated statements. If the re-submission is made more than 6 months after the deadline by which you had submitted your first application, you must request new confidential statements.

- Letters from host institutions in Switzerland and, if applicable, abroad must also contain information that is valid at the submission deadline. If the new application is submitted by the next submission deadline, i.e. within 6 months after the previous submission deadline, you may upload the same letters from the host institutions provided the information in these letters is still current. If the letters from the previous submission contain outdated information (e.g. start and end dates of the stay), then you must provide new and updated letters. If the resubmission is made more than 6 months after the deadline by which you had submitted your first application, you must in any case request new letters from the host institutions.

In its 2025-2028 multi-year program, the SNSF states that, in the future, it will focus on direct career development starting at the postdoc level. Therefore Doc.CH will be discontinued as of 2025; this means that the last evaluation round for Doc.CH will be in 2024 (submission deadline of 15 March 2024).

No, it is not possible to submit a Doc.CH application on the 15 March 2024 submission deadline if you do not meet all the eligibility requirements by this date, including the requirement concerning obtainment of the Master’s degree (see Art. 5 of the Doc.CH Regulations (PDF)).

In future, the SNSF will continue to support the financing of doctoral students as part of its project funding scheme. In this scheme, it is not the doctoral students that apply for their own grants (as is the case with Doc.CH) but experienced researchers working in Swiss higher education institutions – specifically professors who are qualified to supervise doctoral theses and need to take on a doctoral student for a research project. Doctoral students wishing to start work on a thesis may therefore contact their intended thesis supervisor directly to examine the possibility of applying for a grant under the project funding scheme.