SNSF Starting Grants

Thinking of applying for an SNSF Starting Grant with the University of Fribourg as your host institution?

Before you start working on your application, please carefully check your eligibility (see the  call document, chapter 1). 

Start the application process as early as possible. 

Applications have to be submitted on the  SNSF Portal (and not on mySNF as in previous years). 

• Step-by-step instructions on how to register to access the SNSF Portal and create your account can be found  here.
• Make sure to follow these steps and create your SNSF Portal account well in advance, ideally at least one month before the submission deadline. 

As part of your application, you will have to provide a  narrative CV in the SNSF format. This CV has to be created on the SNSF Portal. 

We strongly encourage you to populate and complete your  ORCiD with all of your research outputs. ORCiD supports a lot of different  work types. 

• Our support

  We are happy to support you in making sure that your proposal materials comply with the SNSF guidelines. We can check your proposal and other documents (research plan, budget, etc.) and give you individual feedback.

  For best support, grant us access to your proposal on the SNSF portal (contributor > invite contributor) to the people mentioned in the "Contact" box. 

  Do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

• Departmental approval

  Before applying, ensure that you have the support (and contact) of the relevant department at Unifr and have followed internal guidelines for this purpose. Internal procedures vary between departments. Therefore, please check the rules directly with your contact person within the department.

  The Department of Psychology, the Department of Biology, and the Adolphe Merkle Institute (AMI) have publicly available guidelines for approving SNSF Starting Grants candidates.

• Support letter

  As part of your application, you will need an institutional support letter signed by the Unifr Rectorate. This letter has to be requested through the Unifr Grant Tool before the 15th of April 2026.

  If you are starting your application process after the 15th of April 2026, please contact us directly as this process will need to be sped up. In such a case, we will do our best to support you, but we cannot guarantee that the Unifr support letter will reach you on time.

  Accessing the Grant Tool

  How you access the Grant Tool will depend on your current status: 

  • you are currently employed at Unifr. You can already access the Grant Tool via your my.unifr account here. 
  • you are not employed at Unifr. You will first need to request access to the Grant Tool (! It might take a few days for your request to be approved).

  Requesting the support letter

  You can request your Unifr support letter by following these steps: 

  1. Go to this page (see "Accessing the Grant Tool" above if you do not yet have access). 
  2. Select "SNSF" for the type of funding (you can leave the other fields blank). 
  3. Click the "Search" button. 
  4. Select "SNSF Starting Grants" in the list of results. 
  5. Carefully read all of the information. 
  6. Click on "Apply for a support letter". 

  Once you have clicked on "Apply for a support letter", you will be presented you will be presented with a form containing a few sections.

  Rectorate support letter

  1. Download the letter template "Fin_attestation_rectorat_21_en.docx".
  2. Open the file in a word editor.
  3. Replace all of the highlighted parts with your own information (and delete the comment that gives further explanation regarding the employment conditions).
  4. Go back to the form on the Grant Tool.
  5. Click "Upload the filled-in support letter" and select the template with your modifications.

  Project

  1. Candidate: Enter your full name and select it from the dropdown menu.
  2. Host department: Select the Unifr department in which you will be conducting your project. 
  • For departments within the Section of Medicine, please select "7640 - Medicine Section".
  3. Reference person in the department: Enter the name of a department member that we can reach out to if we have questions regarding your application.
  4. Project title: Enter the full title of your project (this cannot be changed later on).
  5. Duration in months: Enter the planned duration of your project in months (max. 60 months).
  6. Call deadline: Enter the deadline of the call you are applying for (5 May 2026 for SNSF StG 2026).

  Person responsible for the validation of the department

  This section will appear once you select your host department. Please do not change the value shown here.

  Once you have finished filling out the form, click the "Send" button. At this point, there is nothing else you need to do. Your request will be processed. This may take a few days.

  Next steps

  A confirmation request is sent to the head of your host department. The department head approves your application by confirming the three following points: 

  • they support your application
  • the necessary infrastructure for the successful completion of your project is available (or will be available)
  • your application is in line with the department's strategy

  Once the department head has approved your application, the rectorate will sign your letter of support, and you will be able to download it directly from the Grant Tool. You will be notified by email as soon as the letter is available for download. 

• Budget and salaries

  You will find  here guidelines on how to enter a budget on the SNSF Portal. 

  The budget for an SNSF Starting Grant typically contains the following items: 

  • Project funds: this covers your staff salaries (including social security contributions), travel costs, conference organisation, equipment, infrastructure use, data procurement, expandable items, cost of granting access to research data, etc. The maximal budget for project funds is CHF 1 million. 
  • Your own salary, including social security contributions. This does not count towards the CHF 1 million project-fund limit.

  Amounts to enter on the SNSF Portal

  Your own salary

  Please enter CHF 152'000 per year for your own salary. A 19% social security contribution will be automatically added to this amount once you choose Unifr as your host institution.

  Keep in mind that the salary indicated in your application will not be your actual salary. The exact amount will be based on your CV and calculated by the Personel Service of Unifr once your project has been approved. 

  If you have children, you can request child allowances under "other social security contributions". These amount to 150 CHF per child per month up to the second child, and 75 CHF per child per month from the third child onwards. 

  Project staff salary

  Please use the amounts indicated here.