First MARVIS call

On 1 February 2022, the Federal Council adopted the Ordinance on the Promotion of National Activities in the Space Sector (NASO). Based on NASO, the SNSF launches the first MARVIS call, through a mandate by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). It has an annual budget of up to CHF 3.5 Mio CHF. The SERI plans to mandate calls every 2-4 years.

A MARVIS project is eligible for funding if the following criteria are met:

1. It is a research or innovation project in the space sector that is of national importance.
2. Its multidisciplinary character is mirrored by a consortium that consists of at least two higher education research centres and at least one national or international industrial partner.
3. One or several of the higher education research centres are responsible for the project.
4. It has a network of organisations and institutions that goes beyond the members of the consortium.

Researchers can submit their projects from 1st November 2022 to 1st February 2023. The funding decisions will be communicated by the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) in November 2023. The earliest project start date is 1st December 2023.

The MARVIS funding instrument aims at developing specific core competencies in the space sector at the higher education research centres as well as their national and international networks; maintaining and strengthening Switzerland’s position in strategically important and future-oriented research and innovation fields in the space sector; implementing Swiss space policy; gearing research and innovation work in the space sector to the needs and long-term strategies of partners in industry.

The evaluation procedure will be performed in two steps:

• In Step 1 of the evaluation, the scientific-technical quality of the project is evaluated by the SNSF. This evaluation is based on the project outline, which consists of the research plan complemented with the CVs as well as the supplementary documents. Based on the Step 1 evaluation, the SNSF submits a recommendation to SERI, as well as an assessment of the alignment of the projects with ESA activities.
• In Step 2 of the evaluation, the SERI will evaluate the project according to the space, research and innovation policy. For this, the project plan is made accessible to SERI. This project plan consists of the project outline complemented with detailed information on the requested funding.

A national and international Steering committee appointed by the Presiding Board of the National Research Council of the SNSF is responsible for step 1 of the evaluation on scientific and technical criteria.

Proposals must be submitted using mySNF. The general rules of the SNSF apply to the MARVIS call.

• Call document (PDF)
• Funding Regulations (PDF)
• Implementation Regulations for the Funding Regulations (PDF)