Funding opportunities

The University of Lucerne’s  research committee (FoKo) has research funds (own resources) at its disposal which enable support for research projects, conferences and publications and the promotion of young researchers to a limited, subsidiary extent only. FoKo sets the submission deadlines annually and assesses applications in accordance with the regulations and guidelines.  

The majority of research undertaken at the University of Lucerne is financed by third-party funds.

Individual funding

The University of Lucerne promotes young research talent via junior and senior teaching and research assistant positions. Furthermore, the university supports doctoral students courtesy of start-up funding and bridge funding (please see the ‘Project Funding’ section and FoKo guidelines) and in addition by swissuniversities' Phd programmes. Limited individual funding is also available for:    

  • Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Lucerne (GSL), Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (KSF) promotion programme
  • ‘SpeedUp Sabbaticals’ for postdoctoral candidates (senior assistant or assistant professor) during the end phase: application to the rectorate, rectorate guidelines
  • Mentoring programme, Gender Equality Office
  • Contribution to dissertation printing costs, CHF 4,000; prerequisite: ‘Summa cum laude’; application to rectorate 

     

Other (selected) institutions offering grants and/or advice: 

Project funding

The research committee (FoKo) supports third-party funded projects by providing start-up funding for these projects during the application stage, i.e during the process of compiling the third-party funding application. Furthermore it provides start-up and bridge funding for doctoral students for the period between applying and the receipt of a decision from the external funding body.

The other part of the FoKo’s research funds is used to provide subsidiary support for projects to a smaller extent, for example through contributions towards conferences and publications.

The University of Lucerne also supports projects in the field of gender research via funds provided by the Equal Opportunity Committee. Applications for these must be submitted to FoKo  

Other (selected) institutions offering grants and/or advice: 

Conference grants

The FoKo offers subsidiary grants towards the cost of organising academic conferences, to be used for fees, expenses and logistics etc. They also support University of Lucerne researchers with participation in academic conferences within Switzerland and abroad.

The FoKo’s maximum contribution towards conference organisation is CHF 10,000. The organisers are expected to also seek third-party funding. Fee and expenses scales are set out in the FoKo guidelines.

University of Lucerne researchers then receive support for involvement in academic conferences if they are closely related to a current or planned research project and funding cannot be secured elsewhere (within or outside of the university). Daily allowances and accommodation expenses for trips within Switzerland and abroad are governed by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) guidelines.

Other (selected) institutions offering conference and travel expense grants for attendance at conferences: 

Publication grants

The FoKo offers publication grants in the form of printing cost subsidies and support with the editing of foreign-language texts. A close relationship with the University of Lucerne is a prerequisite for this.

The maximum amount to cover printing costs and the costs of editing foreign-language texts is CHF 5,000. The FoKo does not cover any printing costs for individual academic qualification papers (dissertations and postdoctoral theses). For more information see the FoKo guidelines.

Dissertation printing at the University of Lucerne is supported by the rectorate directly:

  • If the student has achieved a grade of ‘summa cum laude’
  • If the doctoral candidate can prove that they have attempted to find third-party funding to cover printing costs
  • If the dissertation will be published "Open Access" (gold or green road). An embargo period may last not more than 12 months.

The University of Lucerne rectorate covers half of the printing costs up to a maximum of CHF 4,000. All authorship fees up to the amount of the funding awarded must be ceded to the university.

Other (selected) institutions offering publication grants: