Ambizione: grants awarded to 67 young researchers
The SNSF has awarded a total of 67 grants to young researchers in the context of this year's call for its Ambizione funding scheme.
By mid-February 2015, 360 young researchers had submitted Ambizione applications. After a two-phase evaluation procedure, the SNSF awarded 67 new grants. The targeted 35 per cent share of female grantees was nearly achieved this year with 23 awards (or 34.3 per cent) going to women.
Ambizione enables young researchers in all disciplines to start conducting independent research. The next call for Ambizione is scheduled for mid-November 2015, with the next submission deadline being 12 February 2016.
Important changes as of the 2017 call
In its multi-year programme 2017-2020, the SNSF has announced an extension of the Ambizione funding period from currently three years to four years in the future. Another innovation concerns researchers working as non-professorial teaching staff at higher education institutions: they will now be entitled to apply for project funds under an Ambizione grant. In addition, changes are planned with regard to the personal requirements that researchers have to meet on the proposal submission date: the upper age-limit has been reduced by one year. Hence, only applicants who obtained their doctorate no later than four years prior to the submission deadline specified by the SNSF will be eligible. All of the changes will take effect with the 2017 call.