Funding Program «UniBE Short Travel Grants for (Post)Docs»

The University of Bern, by way of its «UniBE Short Travel Grants for (Post)Docs» funding program, supports short research stays abroad for doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers that enable early career researchers to advance their own research projects, gain more experience abroad and thus improve their academic profile.

«UniBE Short Travel Grants for (Post)Docs» provide funding for travel and accommodation for research stays abroad (field research stays, research stays at universities or other research institutions, scientific work in libraries, scientific collections, archives, laboratories, etc.), which last at least two weeks and no more than eight weeks. The maximum funding amount per application is CHF 7'000.- for stays within Europe and CHF 8'000.- for stays outside Europe.

The activity carried out within the framework of the requested research stay should have a substantial effect on the scientific qualification, i.e., on the progress of the applicant’s research project.

Eligibility to apply extends to:

• Doctoral students who have been registered and involved in research at the University of Bern for at least six months.
• Postdoctoral researchers who have been employed at the University of Bern for at least three months, in the categories of Early Postdocs, Advanced Postdocs, Senior Research Assistants, Teaching and Research Assistants I and Senior Teaching and Research Assistants under the old regulations, as well as early career researchers employed at the University of Bern by way of a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship.
• Early career researchers at the postdoc level who have been employed at the Inselspital Bern for at least three months, provided that they complete a substantial part of their research work at the University of Bern, and that they have a corresponding workplace at the University of Bern.

Applicants, on completion of the short research stay, must remain registered as doctoral students, or employed as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bern, resp. the Inselspital Bern, for at least six months. The need for funding for the requested research stay must be well justified.

Doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers (or early career researchers at the postdoc level, respectively), are not eligible to apply if they are already entitled to comparable mobility funding, e.g., as part of their employment at the University of Bern or at the Inselspital Bern or membership of a Graduate School, or if funding for the same research stay abroad has already been assured by a different university-internal or -external entity.

There are two application deadlines per year, on March 1st and September 1st respectively.