Ambizione: a boost for research careers

The SNSF has been supporting promising early-career researchers from Switzerland and abroad through the Ambizione funding scheme since 2008. Academic staff at all higher education institutions can apply; researchers whose salaries are fully covered by their institution may apply for project funds only.

Higher share of women

In November 2023, 490 researchers submitted an Ambizione application. 188 of these applicants were selected for the second phase of evaluation. Following this two-step evaluation process, the SNSF is awarding 92 grants and distributing a total of 75.7 million francs. The target of 35 per cent female awardees was clearly exceeded with 45 grants (48.9 per cent) going to women.

Thanks to their Ambizione grants, each of the 92 researchers will be able to conduct, manage and lead their first independent project at a higher education institution or other institution in Switzerland. On average, they will receive 820,000 francs. The SNSF is providing them the opportunity to advance their careers decisively while also making an important contribution to the promotion of early-career researchers.

Wide range of research topics

Of the selected projects, 38 per cent are in the fields of mathematics, informatics, natural sciences and technology, 37 per cent in the social sciences and humanities and 25 per cent in life sciences. This distribution is reflected in the broad range of topics as illustrated by the following examples.

• Dominik Hangleiter (ETH Zürich) aims to improve our understanding of the mechanisms that determine the acceleration of quantum computations compared to classical computations.
• Muriel Leuenberger (University of Zurich) will look at the risks and opportunities presented by virtual reality technology (VR) and generative AI (GenAI) to study the meaning of life.
• Federica Maria Conedera (University of Bern) will investigate the use of T-cells as a novel therapeutic strategy for retinal degeneration.

Most of the projects will start in autumn 2024 and generally have a duration of four years.

• List of grant recipients
• Ambizione