ETH Zurich Focus Grants

To be eligible for the Focus Grant, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Employment at ETH Zurich: Applicants must be postdoctoral researchers employed on a fixed-term contract at ETH Zurich with a minimum employment level of 80%. Employment at ETH Zurich must be guaranteed for at least six months following the Focus Grant submission deadline.
• Academic Qualifications:  Applicants must have a track record that is competitive with respect to their discipline. We strongly encourage applicants to scrutinize their own publication record before applying. Applicants do not need to have previous experience in obtaining third-party funding. We welcome Focus Grant applications from researchers who have promising ideas and could benefit from additional support, particularly peer-to-peer feedback. The programme is open to researchers from all disciplines at ETH Zurich.
• Declaration of Intent: Applicants must demonstrate a clear intention to submit a major early-career grant proposal and must already have identified the specific programme to which they intend to apply. Please note that receiving a Focus Grant does not imply institutional support from ETH Zurich for the subsequent grant application. No letters of support will be issued through the Focus Grant programme.
• Academic Age: The Focus Grant is intended for early-career researchers. Applicants must meet the academic age requirements of their chosen target programme (e.g. SNSF Ambizione, ERC Starting Grant).
• Commitment to the Bootcamp: Grantees must commit to participating in the 8-week bootcamp and dedicating at least 50% of their working time to developing their proposal. As this is a pilot initiative, recipients must also agree to follow-up contact from the Grants Office.
• Host Support: The host must agree to extend the applicant’s employment at the current level (80–100%) for the duration of the Focus Grant (two months). They must also commit to covering 50% of the postdoc’s salary and to reducing the postdoc’s core responsibilities accordingly. The host must hold a guaranteed ETH Zurich position for the entire grant period.

Applications that do not meet all eligibility criteria will be rejected on formal grounds.

Resubmissions are permitted. Each applicant may receive the Focus Grant only once.

The Focus Grant has a fixed duration of two months. Funding is provided to cover the grantee’s salary during this period and is shared equally between the host and the ETH Zurich Grants Office. The grant must be used during the mandatory 8-week grant-writing bootcamp following the corresponding call.

• For participation in the February-March 2026 grant-writing bootcamp, the application deadline is 1 October 2025, 17:00, Swiss local time.
• For participation in the May-June 2026 grant-writing bootcamp, the deadline is 5 January 2026, 17:00, Swiss local time.

The dates for the further calls will be announced in due time.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome within two months of the submission deadline. All decisions are final.

Applications must be submitted by the postdoctoral researcher via the ETH Zurich Grants Office website. The application portal will open on 1 September 2025.

Each application must include:

• A cover sheet, including the following information:
  • Applicant name
  • Title of the proposal to be submitted to a major funding scheme
  • Host name and department
• A motivation statement outlining the applicant’s goals and readiness for a major grant, as well as their motivation to participate in the grant-writing bootcamp (max. 1 page)
• A Curriculum Vitae (max. 3 pages), including education, employment history, and a publication list
• A brief description of the target funding scheme and the applicant’s fit (max. ½ page)
• A description of the research idea to be submitted to a major early-career funding scheme (max. 1½ page)
• An abstract of the proposed research idea written for the educated layman (max. ½ page)
• A letter of support from the host, submitted separately by the host to and addressing:
  • Their commitment to extend the applicant’s contract by two months and to reduce the core responsibilities of the applicant by 50% during the Focus Grant 
  • The scientific merits of the postdoc’s proposed research idea: innovation and originality (including divergence from the host’s own research), relevance or impact
  • The timeliness of the candidate’s proposal and/or their readiness to launch an independent academic career

Please consult the Focus Grant Guidelines for further details on the application. The documents must be submitted as a single PDF file (excluding the letter of support from the host) containing all required application materials.

The online application form will be available on the Grants Office Website on 1 September 2025.