ZNZ PhD Grants

Details and conditions

• Only ZNZ group leaders can apply. Students cannot apply directly.
• A ZNZ PhD Grant can only fund doctoral student salaries. Equipment, consumables and other research costs must be covered by other sources.
• Funding is possible for up to three years salary according to Swiss National Science Foundation salary standards. ZNZ Grants can only cover a part of the student's PhD period - the applicant must confirm complementary funding to ensure that the entire PhD work can be carried out. As a general rule, applicants apply for funding of 1-2 years of PhD salaries.
• One applicant can be funded with maximally 3 years of PhD salary within 5 years.
• The project proposal should be clearly and simply written and be intelligible to readers in other disciplines. The significance and originality of the proposal should be stated.

Please use this form (DOC, 51 KB) for your application:
The application must contain the following items (min. font size 11):

• Summary (max. 1 page)
• Research Part (max. 4 pages incl. background, specific aims and experimental design & preliminary data)
• Reference List (max. 1 page)
• Milestones and Time Plan (max. 1 page)
• Lay Summary (max. 200 words)
• Desired funding period and budget (max. 1 page)
• Other financial support
• It should also include a cover letter, a short curriculum vitae (including a publication list) of the ZNZ group leader and the student (when known) and  diploma report (if available).

• The next application deadline is 1 October 2025. On average, funding of four years of doctoral salaries is available. The complete application in English should be sent as one PDF file including all required documents by the ZNZ group leader directly to the ZNZ office. Simultaneous submission to other granting agencies and other grants already supporting the suggested project must be mentioned in the proposal. Incomplete applications cannot be considered.

• The selection criteria are the applicant's achievements, the qualifications of the PhD candidate and the quality/originality of the project. Only applications from early stage non-tenured group leaders are accepted. Female applicants are particularly welcome.

• The prospective student must participate in the ZNZ PhD Program and present his/her research at the annual ZNZ Symposia.
   

Grantees

2023
Farah Baracat (Elisa Donati), third & fourth year
Nora Rentsch (Christian Tackenberg), third & fourth year

2022
Vincent Fischer (Katharina Gapp), second year
Carol-Anne Vollette (Giovanni Bertolini), third year
Philipp O'Neill (Igor Delvendahl), first year
Viktor Beilmann (Tina Notter), first year

2021
Zacharoula Kagiampaki (Tommaso Patriarchi), second year
Alina Marinescu (Marie Labouesse), first & second year
Jeroen Brus (Rafael Polania), fourth year

2020
Jeanne Droux (Susanne Wegener), first year
Plamina Dimanova (Nora Raschle), second & third year
Cinzia Maschio (Ruiqing Ni), second & third year

2019
Hendrik Heiser (Anna-Sophia Wahl), first - third year
Kelly Payette (Andras Jakab), third year

2018
Sabine Dziemian (Nicolas Langer), second year
Sherida de Leeuw (Christian Tackenberg), third year
Helena Aicher (Bigna Lenggenhager), first year
Zoe Looser (Aiman Saab), third year