Bern, December 05, 2025.- Nine awarded research projects: Of the 425 applications submitted to the Swiss National Science Foundation’s (SNSF) call for proposals for its SNSF Starting Grants 2025, nine from the University of Bern are being supported. The funding amount for the researchers having submitted with the University of Bern is over 15 million Swiss francs in total.
With its SNSF Starting Grants, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) enables young researchers to carry out their own research project and lead a research team in Switzerland. SNSF Starting Grants represent the highest level of SNSF career funding and are aimed at researchers with several years of research experience who have already contributed with important work to their field. In autumn 2024, the SNSF launched its own call for SNSF Starting Grants for the first time. Until 2024, SNSF Starting Grants were a funding instrument that included the Swiss transitional measure for Starting Grants of the European Research Council (ERC). Since 2025, Swiss researchers are again able to apply for the Starting Grants of the ERC. The SNSF Starting Grants now represent an independent funding instrument for researchers in Switzerland, in addition to European research funding.
Funding in numerous disciplines
A total of 41 projects will be funded with around CHF 72 million from the 425 applications submitted in the 2025 call for SNSF Starting Grants. Around a fifth of the 41 selected projects are being carried out at the University of Bern. The SNSF Starting Grants are open to young researchers from all disciplines.
«We are very pleased about the high number of funded young researchers at the University of Bern. This exemplifies the excellent research conditions for outstanding young researchers at our university», says Hugues Abriel, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation at the University of Bern. He further emphasizes the diversity of the award-winning projects: «The wide range of funded projects reflects the strength of the University of Bern’s position in numerous disciplines.»
The award-winning research projects cover topics such as the impact of cryptocurrencies on financial stability, the cognitive development in children, cell regeneration in lung tissue, the formation of molecules of life in space, the effects of sustainability regulations in West African fisheries, the role of the hippocampus in social anxiety disorders, the development of water-saving leaves in succulents, the formation of Neptune-like planets in other solar systems and the ethics of our language use in the context of artificial cognition.