Apply for a GRC Travel Grant
What are GRC Travel Grants?
Through travel grants, UZH Graduate Campus supports postdocs and doctoral researchers of UZH in situations where academic mobility can make a decisive contribution to a promising academic career. The support is explicitly intended as a supplement to the existing measures of UZH.
The possible time frame of the funded activities is between 1 and 180 days. Calls for proposals are held twice a year.
These FAQ may be helpful before completing an application.
Information for travel to the United States
Research stays in the USA are still possible and can be applied for accordingly. Please note that the visa application process and entry requirements are currently stricter and subject to change. Contact your host institution in the USA at an early stage to clarify the current entry requirements and obtain any necessary documents.
The American Embassy in Switzerland and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) are the points of contact for authoritative information on visas and entry into the United States. General information on travel for UZH members can be found on the internal Global Affairs website.
GRC Travel Grant recipients who have already been awarded a grant for a stay in the US but are now unable or unwilling to take up the offer have the option of changing their destination. To do so, please submit the following documents to the office without delay:
• Reasons for the change and the choice of the new host institution
• Letter of invitation from the new host institution
• Documentation of relevant changes to the originally approved project (travel period, travel distance, travel duration, scientific added value, sustainability dimensions)
The originally approved amount remains valid as a cost cap, but may be reduced in line with the new travel destination and duration.
Funding deadlines and award process
GRC Travel Grants are announced twice a year. Application periods are:
- 1 March - 15 April, 11:59 p.m., for stays in the period between July of the current year and March of the following year.
- 1 October - 15 November, 11:59 p.m., for stays in the period between January and October of the following year.
Important notice: The submission window is limited to 100 applications and closes automatically after the count of 100 submissions is reached. The current status of the count can be checked on the GRC Tool.
The GRC Coordination Office decides on the approval of the applications. The decision will be communicated no later than 8 weeks after the official submission deadline of 15 April/ 15 November.
What can be funded?
- Field study / data collection
- Research
- Academic meetings / conferences
- Summer / Winter schools
- Research stay
- Research exchange with industry
The core aim of the GRC Travel Grants is an added value of the activity for the individual academic career of the grantee and socially sustainable project planning. Please follow our instructions in the guidelines on sustainability aspects for the effective design of your application.
Who can submit an application?
The call is open to all early career researchers at UZH. Submissions from advanced doctoral researchers and postdocs will be prioritized. Postdocs are all junior 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.
What costs can be applied for?
Please follow the instructions of our guidelines on sustainability aspectss for the effective design of your application.
The possible application amount is between CHF 115 and CHF 4,900. The amount awarded consists of a travel grant depending on the country of the activity and a daily allowance, which depends on the duration of the activity.
The amount that can be requested is automatically calculated by the GRC Tool during the application process based on the following criteria:
Travel allowance + per diem = Applicable amount
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| Daily allowance: |
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GRC Travel 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 puts into context the funds requested from GRC must be included.
Steps for submitting the application
Applications for GRC Travel Grants must be submitted digitally. You can enter and submit your application in the GRC Tool.
You must include the following documents with your application:
- Scan of your validated UZH Card
- Letter of invitation or research plan
Depending on the type of activity applied for, we require either a letter of invitation or a research plan. Letters of invitation are relevant for stays at academic or other institutions for the purpose of research, academic exchange or teaching and may include laboratory stays, internships, literature or other material research. Funding for industrial internships and career development also fall under this category. A research plan is required for data collection or other research activities that involve the independent implementation of a (sub-)project. - Academic letter of recommendation
The letter of recommendation is usually written by the applicant's supervisor or superior. It should contain at least relevant information about the proposed activity and explain why, firstly, the applicant is suitable for it and, secondly, why the timing and duration of the activity have been chosen. We also expect information on whether and to what extent (or why not) the applicant and the activity will be financially supported. The letter should generally be no longer than one to two pages. If the applicant prefers to submit a letter of recommendation from another person who is neither their supervisor nor superior, the reason for this must be stated in the documentation or brief description of the activity applied for. - Academic CV
Please limit yourself to relevant information; the CV should be no longer than two pages. - GRC Tool form
A preview of the form can be found here. The information provided can be saved at any time and completed later.
Only applications that are complete and received in a regular manner can be accepted for formal review. The application can only be considered ‘submitted’ once you have received confirmation by email.
Evaluation criteria
- Added value of the activity for the academic career of the researchers.
- Sustainability of the activity regarding the aspects of ecology, social responsibility, and planning of the academic career (see the guidelines on sustainability)
- Budget: the use of the requested funds is appropriate, targeted and sufficiently justified (see guidelines on budget planning)
Financial processing and reporting
- An accountability report must be submitted digitally no later than 2 weeks after completion of the activity.
- You can enter your accountability report in the GRC Tool. The information provided can be cached at any time and completed at a later date.
- With the report, you need to upload all expense receipts collectively as a single PDF file in the GRC tool. The invoices must document expenses at least equal to the amount of the awarded sum.
- 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.
- After submitting youre report, please request for transfer of funds via the expense management tool “Yokoy”. Please note the instructions (PDF, 110 KB) for entering data on “Yokoy”.