Spark

Rapid funding of novel and unconventional ideas.
The aim of Spark is to fund the rapid testing or development of novel and unconventional scientific approaches, methods, theories, standards and ideas, etc. It is designed for projects that show unconventional thinking and introduce a unique approach. The focus is on promising ideas of high originality for which preliminary data are not necessarily available (high-risk research). Hence, negative results will also be regarded as knowledge gained. The focus is on projects or ideas that are unlikely to be funded under other funding schemes.
Spark is open to any applicant with a doctorate or equivalent qualifications.
Applications are evaluated in a double-blind reviewing process , i.e. applicants do not know who is evaluating their proposal and the identity of the applicant is not disclosed to the evaluators. This ensures that applications are evaluated on their own merits and not based on an appraisal of the applicant. However, applicants must submit a brief description of relevant educational and employment histories and confirm that they have the expertise needed to carry out the project.
Applicants can request between CHF 50,000 and CHF 100,000 for a project duration of 6 to 12 months. The project must start within six months after the decision. The grant will expire for projects that are not started within this period. Foreseeable circumstances will not be accepted as reasons for postponement or extension. Please plan the submission of your project accordingly.
​Spark grants
Duration: six months to one year.Maximum grant amount: CHF 100,000; minimum grant amount: CHF 50,000The Spark grant may cover the applicant’s salary.The project must start no later than six months after the decision is communicated. The earliest possible start date is 1 November 2025, the latest is 1 April 2026.Open to all disciplines.
Applicants
Applicants must have developed the idea for the proposal themselves and must be able to conduct the project without any instructions from third parties.Applicants must conduct the Spark project at a Swiss research institution. Only institutions pursuant to Articles 4 and 5 of the Research and Innovation Promotion Act (RIPA) are eligible.Applicants must have a doctorate or equivalent qualification, i.e. they must have completed at least three years of research work as their main source of income since their higher education degree. Doctoral students are not eligible unless the applicant has completed at least three years of research work as their main source of income since obtaining their higher education degree and prior to commencing their doctorate and can credibly demonstrate that the project for which they are requesting funding will not impede or delay completion of their doctorate.Applicants must either be employed (no minimum work quota required) at an eligible Swiss host institution providing the necessary infrastructure at least for the duration of the project or must have received written assurance of employment in the event of a positive decision on funding. If own salary is requested, this confirmation must clarify the employment situation. Applicants who request that their own salary be financed fully or in part must enclose a written confirmation from the institution confirming their employment situation. This confirmation should be signed by the head of the institute or department or by a member of the Grants Office.Template for the employment confirmation by the host institution and description of the employment situationAt the time of submission or during an ongoing Spark project, applicants may also receive grants under other SNSF funding schemes provided these schemes do not exclude this.Provided they meet the personal requirements pursuant to Article 4, SNSF-funded project staff may submit Spark proposals if they can show that they are able to conduct a Spark project independently and that doing so will not impede their work on the other project on which they are employed. Confirmation for applicants employed on a project funded by the SNSF (This confirmation must be signed by the responsible grantee of the SNSF-project.)
Restrictions
A Spark application may only be submitted by one applicant, and not by two or more. The applicant must have developed the idea for the project themself.It is not permissible to have more than one ongoing Spark project.Applicants may only submit one application per submission date.Applicants whose application was scientifically evaluated in a former call are barred from submitting a Spark proposal in any of the four subsequent calls if their proposal was approved or if their proposal was rejected and was among the weakest third of the proposals of the respective call (this does not apply to proposals submitted during the pilot phase 2019-2022). Proposals that are evaluated under Spark may not be submitted in parallel to any other SNSF funding instrument.Doctoral students cannot be employed on a Spark project.Projects conducted for directly commercial purposes will not be funded.Since Spark encourages risks and recognises negative results, applications for a supplementary grant for project completion will not be considered.
Applications can be submitted via the mySNF platform as of 31 January 2025. The deadline is 17:00 Swiss local time on 4 March 2025.
The SNSF recommends reserving enough time for entering the proposal in mySNF. Setting up a new mySNF user account can take up to one week. Detailed instructions on entering and submitting proposals can be found in mySNF. Moreover, information on relevant educational and employment histories must now be entered in the SNSF Portal. A SWITCH edu-ID, mySNF user account and ORCID ID are required to log into the SNSF Portal. The narrative section of the new CV format does not have to be completed for Spark proposals.
Proposals must be submitted in English and must contain the following information and documents:
Administrative information and budget as per the requirements set out in mySNF;Fully anonymised project description comprising project summary (max. 1 page) and project plan (maximum five pages plus bibliography) according to the guidelines and specifications available in mySNF. The project description must clarify to which extent the proposed research project is distinct from existing research and not a continuation thereof.A brief description of relevant educational and employment histories (CV in the SNSF Portal);A written confirmation provided by a Swiss research institution concerning its role as host institution for the duration of the proposed Spark project if required pursuant to Article 4 paragraph 1 of the Spark regulations. If own salary is requested, this confirmation must clarify the employment situation. This confirmation should be signed by the head of the institute or department or by a member of the Grants Office.Template for the employment confirmation by the host institution and description of the employment situation
Only the project description will be transmitted to the evaluators. The project description must be fully anonymised to ensure that the experts evaluating it cannot identify the applicant, their career stage, their gender, or any current, previous or future position(s) or institution(s). No institution, department, or institute may be named in the project description, irrespective of whether the project is carried out at that institution, department, or institute, or whether a collaboration is planned. When anonymising the project description, particular care must be taken to ensure that references to the applicant's own publications are not indicated as such, as this could compromise anonymity. The SNSF reserves the right to correct anonymisation errors by blackening the relevant passages in the project description.
​Assessment criteria
The relevant criteria for the award of Spark grants are:
Novelty / unconventionality of the proposed research projectScientific quality of the projectPotential for significant impact
See Article 10 of the Spark Regulations for a detailed description of the assessment criteria.
Double-blind evaluation
The proposals are evaluated in a double-blind process by experts from an international pool. The experts only evaluate the submitted project description, without knowing the identity of the applicant or their position/institution.
Spark regulationsFunding Regulations of the SNSFGeneral implementation regulations for the Funding RegulationsGuidelines for the project descriptionTemplate for the employment confirmation by the host institution and description of the employment situationConfirmation for applicants employed on a project funded by the SNSF (This confirmation must be signed by the grantee of the SNSF project.)Guidelines and evaluation form for Spark experts
Submission: No more calls until at least the end of 2027
Project duration: 6 to 12 months