Research Funding

Funding Opportunities

Career Funding

Career-funding instruments are designed to support individual researchers at different levels of their professional trajectory (PhD, postdoc, faculty). They consist of mobility and project grants that allow researchers to further their academic career by strengthening their research curriculum and building networks. The document below shows major career-funding instruments classified by funding agencies and career stages.

Project Funding (individual and collective)

Project funding is designed to allow researchers to conduct research on specific issues individually or collectively. Project grants allow principal investigators to form teams of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers and to engage in cooperative research with universities or research institutions at the national or international level. The document below  shows major project-funding instruments classified by funding agencies.

Conference, Workshop and Related Funding

Conference- and workshop-funding allow researchers to discuss new ideas and scientific advancements with fellow experts and to present their findings in academic or public settings. The document below lists funding instruments for organising conferences and workshops.

Searchable Funding Resources

Curious about other funding opportunities? The document below provides a list of searchable funding resources that capture funding opportunities in various disciplines suitable for PhD students, postdocs, or faculty members.

How to Submit an Application

A simple institutional procedure is in place to submit research grants at the Graduate Institute (see box below). The Research Office provides a variety of supports to applicants when they are trying to identify funding opportunities, developing proposals, and submitting research grants. Please note that, prior to submission, all research grant budgets must be validated by the Graduate Institute's Accounting and HR departments. The Research Office will support all applicants in ensuring that this institutional requirement is met prior to submission (details in box below).

GENEVA Graduate Institute’s Seed Money Grants

Seed money grants are designed to help faculty members to jump-start research projects by conducting preparatory work and exploring potential collaborations.

The call is open to all full-time faculty members of the Geneva Graduate Institute with multiyear contracts. The total amount of CHF 50,000 is awarded each year in two rounds of application, one in each semester (submission deadlines: 1 May and 1 November). The maximum amount that may be requested per grant is CHF 7,500. Grants must be at least CHF 1,000.

Priority will be given to project grants submitted by junior faculty members. Faculty members who have received seed money grants in previous rounds are encouraged to resubmit for new projects. Collaborative projects are also encouraged. However, if several faculty members work together on a joint project, requested amounts may not be cumulated (no more than CHF 7,500 per grant).

Project grant awardees are expected to submit at least one proposal for external funding within one year of the start of the award. Applications, including an abstract, a project description, a detailed outline of the activities to be carried out with the seed money, a plan for extramural financial support, a budget and a CV, should be submitted to researchoffice@graduateinstitute.ch.

For more details and the full application procedure please refer to the Seed Money Grants Guidelines below.

Resources and Additional Information

• APSIA – Visit the Fellowships and Scholaships database of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA).
• Euresearch – Get support and training to apply for a ERC or a Marie Sklodowska Curie funding scheme thanks to Euresearch, a Swiss network mandated by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) that provides targeted information, hands-on advice and transnational partnering related to European research and innovation programmes.
• Johns Hopkins University's funding databases – Three searchable databases providing information on global opportunities for graduate students, postdocs and junior faculty members.
• Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) – Find the funding scheme that is right for you.
• SwissCore – Swiss information and liaison office for European research, innovation and education in Brussels.