Apply for GRC Short Grant

Are you looking for funding for your own research project? With GRC Short Grants we support postdocs and advanced doctoral researchers in situations where unforeseen costs or structural obstacles complicate a promising academic career. Projects can be applied for individually or as a group. The application volume is between CHF 1'000 and CHF 5'000. Repeat submissions for the same project are not possible.

The call for GRC Short Grants is open continuously and applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. The submission date must be 3 months prior to the start of the activity. 

The GRC Coordination Office decides on the approval of the applications. The decision will be communicated no later than 8 weeks after submission of the application.

The format of eligible activities is deliberately kept open to accommodate the widest possible range of academic projects. The core objective of the GRC Short Grant is to ensure an added value of the activity for the individual academic career of the grantee and socially sustainable project planning. Please refer to the factsheet with ourBudget planning guidelines  for guidance on how to effectively design your application. 

• Materials and operations (such as data collection, fees, publications)
• Publication costs (such as APCs / printing costs)
• Personnel (for early career researchers, student employees, experts, volunteers)
• Peer formats (such as mentoring and research groups, event series, smaller projects)
• Self-organized events at UZH (such as workshops, conferences, and meetings)
• Participation fees (such as training courses, workshops, conferences, meetings)
• Science communication to the public (outreach)
• Academic teaching or mentoring activities

A necessary condition for funding through a GRC Short Grant is that the project cannot be funded through other means. In the award process, it is therefore checked whether other funding options are available. It is the responsibility of the applicant to provide the necessary information.

All advanced doctoral researchers and postdocs of UZH. Postdocs are all early career researchers employed at or affiliated with UZH who have completed a doctorate and are also engaged in research after the doctorate and at the time of application. Advanced doctoral researchers are all doctoral researchers employed or enrolled at UZH who can credibly demonstrate that they are on a plausible academic career path to the postdoctoral phase as defined above.

You can apply for funding from CHF 1,000 up to a maximum of CHF 5,000. Please follow our instructions in the budget planning guidelines  for the effective design of your application. 

GRC Short Grants may be applied for as matching funds. As a rule, applicants are required to be transparent about all sources of funding for the proposed activity. A global budget that clearly contextualizes the funds requested from GRC must be included.

Applications for a GRC Short Grant must be submitted digitally. You can enter and submit your application in the GRC Tool. The information provided can be saved at any time and completed at a later date. You must include the following documents with your application:

• Short academic CV
• Description of the activity
• Detailed timeline of the activity with milestones
• Rationale for persons to be compensated or experts to be invited. 

Before you submit your application, please consider the following points:

• A UZH professorial faculty member must provide their own cost center for financial processing of the grant.
• Is your application complete?
• Have you indicated all possible sources of funding? Is a global budget available?
• For projects with planned events: Are rooms reserved for your event?

Only applications that are complete and received in a regular manner can be accepted for formal review.

• Added value of the activity for the academic career of the early career researchers.
• Societal added value of the activity.
• Sustainability of the activity regarding the aspects of ecology, social responsibility, and planning of the scientific career (see Sustainability Guidelines).
• Budget (the use of the requested funds is appropriate, targeted and sufficiently justified).

• Settlement of accounts is generally done through the cost center of a Chair at UZH.
• An accountability report must be submitted no later than 2 weeks after completion of the activity. Accountability reports for GRC Short Grants are to be submitted digitally. You can enter and submit your accountability report in the GRC Tool. The information provided can be saved at any time and completed later. All necessary documents for the submission of your report can be found directly in the GRC Tool as soon as you open your report there.
• In event announcements (website, flyer, program, etc.), reference must be made to the support provided by Graduate Campus.