Are you an early career researcher who wishes to lead and manage an independent project at a Swiss higher education institution? This call is for you! Ambizione supports postdocs from all disciplines with 1 to 4 years of experience after their PhD, helping them consolidate their scientific career.

After 2026, Ambizione will be discontinued and replaced by a new funding scheme combined with Postdoc.Mobility, to be launched in 2028. This will enable researchers to lead projects at CH institutions while enhancing international collaboration and mobility. 2027 transition details by year-end.

• If PhD: max. 4 yrs since PhD + min. 1 yr of research work; if MD: max. 9 yrs since MD + min. 1 yr of research work + min. 3 yrs of clinical work.
• CH nationality or PhD/MD from CH institution or min. 1 yr of research work at a CH institution
• You can resubmit once

To obtain the institutional support, external & internal candidates must send eligibility form, CV + publication list, motivation letter, letter of support from USI host professor to Servizio Ricerca (servizio.ricerca@usi.ch) by 28 August. The internal procedure lasts approx. 1 month.

The grant covers the grantee’s salary for a max. 4 years, along with project-related costs of up to CHF 250’000. These costs may include a 1-year research stay abroad, participation in conferences, and personnel (e.g. technicians or scientific collaborators, but not PhDs or postdocs).

First, SNSF panel members rank proposals; then, top-ranked applications are also assessed by international reviewers. Evaluation criteria include the applicant’s scientific profile, project originality and the host institution’s added value. Check out the anonymised reviews from previous calls.

Curious to see what projects have been funded at USI or in your discipline? Check out the SNSF grant database!