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Funding of 40 new SNSF professorships

In February, the SNSF awarded 40 new SNSF professorships to outstanding young researchers. They will take up their posts at eight Swiss universities and both federal institutes of technology. Twelve grantees are returning to Switzerland after a period abroad.

The average funding they will receive is CHF 1.46 million per professorship over a four-year period, which is sufficient for them to recruit teams and launch their own projects. Thirty per cent of the grantees are researchers returning to Switzerland after a period spent working abroad. In 2015, 35% of the grantees are women. The targeted 30% share of female grantees across all years (awards between 2000 and 2015) has almost been reached (29.6%).

The 40 SNSF professorships are distributed as follows: University of Basel 4, University of Bern 4, University of Fribourg 2, University of Geneva 8, University of Lausanne 5, University of Neuchâtel 1, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) 1, University of Zurich 11, EPF Lausanne 1, ETH Zurich 3.

In accordance with the regulations introduced in 2009, the SNSF also awarded four professorships in fields with a clinical orientation. SNSF professors in such fields (in total 21 awards since 2010) benefit from optimum working conditions tailored to their needs.

The SNSF has awarded a total of 609 SNSF professorships since 1999, when the scheme was introduced. Of the former grantees, 83% obtained a permanent professorship after completing the funding period.