Career instruments
This page summarises the most important career funding instruments, from doctoral studies to the advanced postdoctoral phase.
Doctoral students
Doctoral students can be employed by third-party funded projects and thus complete their doctorate as part of a larger project carried out by their supervisor. Another option is employment via traditional assistantships. Discuss the options with your supervisor.
Graduate Academy
The Graduate Academy of the University of Lucerne offers mobility grants to doctoral students who wish to advance their thesis abroad.
Government Scholarships
swissuniversities manages government scholarships of over 30 countries for study or research stays abroad.
SAGW travel grants
The Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW) provides travel grants to enable young researchers to attend international conferences.
Transferable skills courses of the Graduate Academy
The Graduate Academy of the University of Lucerne offers a range of transferrable skills courses in which additional skills for the academic and non-academic labour market can be acquired.
Publication of outstanding dissertations
The University of Lucerne provides cost subsidies to support the publication of dissertations awarded “summa cum laude”. For more details, please refer to the information sheet (German only).
SNSF OA-publication grants
The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) supports the publication of scientific books through Gold Open Access with the Open Access book publication scheme, which makes the digital version directly accessible without restriction and free of charge. This is also possible for dissertations that were not written as part of SNSF projects. The monograph must undergo a scientific peer review process and be thoroughly reviewed and revised prior to submission.
Proceed To the website for Publication funding
Postdoctoral researchers
The postdoc phase serves to deepen your own research work and to establish an independent line of research. Several career instruments are available to support this endeavour, including those covering your own salary. Mobility is another key aspect of this career stage, for which funding opportunities are also available.
With a PostDoc.Mobility fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), researchers can enhance their profile, expertise and independence after completing their doctoral studies by undertaking a research stay abroad, preparing them for an academic career thereafter. The fellowships cover living costs, travel expenses, and possible research and conference participation costs. In addition, recipients can apply for a return grant for the first research period in Switzerland, which includes a salary with social security contributions
Eligibility requirements: Completed doctorate or graduation within the next 9 months; submission up to 3 years after obtaining the doctorate; for physicians without MD-PhD: submission up to 8 years after the state examination, as well as at least 3 years of clinical experience after the state examination; connection to Switzerland via nationality, immigration, partnership/marriage or scientific activity in Switzerland
Duration: 2 years plus 3–12-month return phase
Budget: Varies depending on location
Submission deadline: 1 February and 2 August (or the next working day)
The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) provides Ambizione grants to support young researchers in conducting, managing and leading their own research projects at a Swiss higher education institution. The aim is to support researchers from Switzerland and abroad, including researchers holding non-professorial academic positions. The grants cover the applicant's salary (optional) and project funds.
Eligibility requirements: Completed doctorate; submission up to 4 years after obtaining the doctorate; research activity of at least 12 months post-doctorate; applicants with a medical degree and at least 3 years of clinical activity are eligible to apply up to a maximum of 9 years after completion of their medical degree.
Duration: 2 to 4 years
Budget: Salary at PostDoc level, project funds up to CHF 400,000
Submission deadline: 1 November (or the next working day)
The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships promote excellent research and international career development for postdoctoral researchers of all nationalities and disciplines. The instrument funds the applicant's salary and project costs at the host institution. Applications must be prepared in collaboration with the host institution.
There are two types of fellowships:
1. European Fellowships:
For researchers of all nationalities who wish to move within Europe or from abroad to Europe. Duration: 1–2 years.
2. Global Fellowships:
For EU nationals or long-term residents who wish to conduct research outside Europe. Duration: 2–3 years, including a mandatory return phase to the EU or an associated country.
Eligibility requirements: Doctorate and up to 8 years of research experience
Mobility rule: no more than 12 months of research or study in the previous 26 months in the country (European Fellowship) or the host institution (Global Fellowship) where the fellowship is held
Duration: 12 to 24 months (European Fellowship); 24 to 36 months (Global Fellowship)
Budget: Postdoctoral salary and project costs
Deadline: 10 September 2025
Branco Weiss Fellowships support postdoctoral researchers who wish to pursue unconventional projects outside the mainstream of science. Fellows are given the means to pursue their personal vision of a particular scientific project independently – in the best possible locations, anywhere in the world. They should also demonstrate a flair for communicating beyond their own field of study and with society at large.
Eligibility requirements: Completed doctorate; submission up to 5 years after obtaining the doctorate; no (past) employment as Assistant Professor or Lecturer; project is outside the mainstream of the discipline in terms of content; outstanding scientific achievements in the past; willingness to engage in dialogue with society and communication beyond disciplinary boundaries
Duration: Up to 5 years
Budget: Up to CHF 600,000
Submission deadline: 15 January 2025 (once a year, usually in January)
ERC Starting Grants
ERC Starting Grants support researchers with two to seven years of postdoctoral research experience in establishing an independent line of research.
Duration: 5 years
Budget: Up to EUR 1.5 million (plus EUR 1 million for relocation costs for researchers from a country outside the EU, the purchase of large equipment, and for cost-intensive field studies)
Submission deadline: Once a year in October
SNSF Starting Grants
The SNSF will launch another call for applications for the SNSF Starting Grant in 2026. This grant is aimed at postdoctoral researchers with between 2 and 8 years of experience after their doctorate or between 5 and 12 years after their medical degree. Researchers who already meet the objectives of the call (assistant professors or group leaders who have already obtained a substantial grant) are not eligible. The SNSF explicitly allows parallel submissions to the Starting Grant of the ERC.
Duration: 5 years
Budget: Up to CHF 1 million (optional: additional salary at assistant professorship level)
Submission deadline: May 5, 2026
Established researchers
Established researchers already have several years of independent research experience. Researchers with four or more years of postdoctoral research experience qualify as main applicants for SNSF project funding. However, this funding does not cover their own salary and therefore requires employment of at least 50% for the entire project duration. Their own salary can be claimed via the instruments of the European Research Council ERC.
Further information can be found in our project funding section or on the ERC website:
The University of Lucerne as host institution
The University of Lucerne is a dynamic and agile institution. With its central location right next to the railway station and the picturesque Lake of Lucerne, its manageable size and its focus on human sciences, it offers ideal conditions for young, mobile researchers from various disciplines. If successful, researchers who apply for career instruments with the University of Lucerne as their host institution will enjoy excellent conditions, such as appropriate integration into the relevant faculty, access to university programmes and a share of the overheads.
If you are interested, please contact a professorship in the relevant faculty or write to the Grants Office at grants. @ unilu.ch
Career instruments: