Researchers researching Switzerland’s mid-career funding options will encounter two names side by side: Ambizione and Eccellenza. Only one of these is still an active Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) grant scheme. Eccellenza’s last call for applications was 1 November 2021, and it has since been folded into the SNSF Starting Grant. This guide explains what Ambizione actually funds today, what happened to Eccellenza, and how both fit into SNSF’s career-funding ladder alongside the Starting Grant.
SNSF Ambizione: advanced-postdoc funding for an independent project
Ambizione is SNSF‘s grant for researchers who have finished their doctorate and completed at least a year of subsequent research, but who do not yet hold a professorship or an equivalent senior position. It funds the grantee to run their own research project — with their own salary and project budget — while embedded in a non-professorial academic position at a Swiss host institution, rather than working under another investigator’s direction. It sits between a portable postdoctoral fellowship (such as Postdoc.Mobility) and the independent-group-leader stage represented by the SNSF Starting Grant.
Eligibility window and requirements
- Career-stage window. Per SNSF’s own guidance, applications must be submitted no later than four years after completing the doctorate (PhD); for medical graduates with subsequent clinical experience, the window extends to nine years after the relevant medical qualifying exam.
- Minimum research experience. At least twelve months of research activity after the doctorate is required, with no exceptions granted for this specific threshold.
- Position status. Applicants must hold, or have been promised, a non-professorial academic position with a genuine prospect of an academic career — not a promised or already-secured professorship.
- Swiss-link requirement. Applicants must be Swiss nationals, hold a Swiss degree, or have carried out research or clinical work in Switzerland for at least twelve months between completing the doctorate and the submission deadline.
- Full-time commitment. Grantees are generally expected to devote their entire working time (typically a 100% work quota) to the funded project.
Funding amount and duration
An Ambizione grant runs for a maximum of four years and covers the grantee’s own salary plus project funds. SNSF guidance associated with the scheme’s 2026 adjustments cites a reduced project-funding ceiling of roughly CHF 250,000 for a four-year grant, on top of the grantee’s salary — but SNSF has been actively restructuring career funding through 2026–2028 (see below), so treat any specific figure as indicative and always confirm the exact amount in the current year’s live call document on snf.ch before budgeting a proposal.
Ambizione is being retired and replaced from 2028
SNSF has announced that Ambizione’s final submission deadline falls in November 2026, after which it will be discontinued. A new, still-being-defined postdoctoral-level funding scheme is scheduled to launch in 2028, replacing both Ambizione and Postdoc.Mobility. SNSF states that full details on eligibility, evaluation, duration and funding amounts for the replacement scheme, and the transitional arrangements between the old and new schemes, will be communicated separately as the 2026–2028 transition proceeds. Anyone planning an Ambizione application for the final call cycle, or a subsequent application under the new scheme, should monitor SNSF’s own Ambizione page and its regulations directly rather than relying on older secondary summaries, including this one, once 2027 planning is underway.
What happened to Eccellenza
Eccellenza was previously SNSF’s professorship-track grant for researchers roughly two to eight years past their doctorate, aimed at candidates who had not yet held a professorship but were ready to lead their own research group at the professorial level — larger in scope and duration than Ambizione. It no longer exists as a standalone scheme. SNSF’s own Eccellenza page states plainly that the last call was on 1 November 2021 and that the SNSF Starting Grant is now the funding agency’s most senior career-stage scheme at that level.
The background: in 2022 SNSF had planned to merge Eccellenza with the PRIMA scheme (which supported women applying for a professorship) into a unified "SNSF Professorial Fellowships" instrument aligned with Switzerland’s association to Horizon Europe. Because Switzerland’s Horizon Europe association was not yet settled at that point, SNSF launched the SNSF Starting Grant in November 2022 as an interim replacement that absorbed both the Eccellenza and PRIMA applicant pools and budgets, rather than launching Professorial Fellowships as originally planned. The PRIMA budget continues to be reserved specifically for outstanding applications from women within the Starting Grant scheme, carrying that equity mechanism forward rather than dropping it. Since then, the Starting Grant call has run annually and Eccellenza has not reopened.
Practical implication: if your search led you here looking for "Eccellenza," the scheme you actually want to read about — eligibility window, CHF 1 million funding ceiling, five-year duration, host-institution requirements — is CASRAI’s SNSF Starting Grant guide, not this page. This guide keeps the Eccellenza name only because it remains a live search term and because understanding the mid-career ladder requires knowing where it went.
Where Ambizione and the Starting Grant sit on SNSF’s career ladder
Read together with the SNSF Starting Grant guide, the current (2026) SNSF career-funding sequence for a researcher building toward an independent Swiss academic career looks roughly like this:
- Doctorate. The starting point for every subsequent career-stage scheme’s eligibility clock.
- Postdoc.Mobility (optional). A portable postdoctoral fellowship for research abroad, typically taken in the first few years after the doctorate.
- Ambizione. Advanced-postdoc funding for a self-directed project, for applicants up to four years post-doctorate (nine for eligible medical graduates), in a non-professorial position. Maximum four years, being phased out after the November 2026 call.
- SNSF Starting Grant (the scheme that absorbed Eccellenza and PRIMA). Independent-group-leader or assistant-professor-track funding for applicants roughly two to eight years post-doctorate, up to CHF 1 million over up to five years, requiring a Swiss host institution’s commitment to at least an assistant professorship or equivalent group-leader position. See CASRAI’s full SNSF Starting Grant guide for the complete eligibility, funding and host-institution detail.
- SNSF Advanced Grant / senior professorial funding. The more senior tier for already-established investigators, sitting beyond the scope of this guide.
Ambizione and the SNSF Starting Grant are not mutually exclusive stages an applicant must pass through in sequence — a researcher who is already eligible for, and competitive for, the Starting Grant does not need to hold an Ambizione grant first. The two schemes overlap in applicant pool at the margins (a researcher three to four years post-doctorate could plausibly be eligible for either), and the right choice depends primarily on whether the applicant’s host institution is prepared to commit an assistant-professor-level position now (Starting Grant) or only a non-professorial research position (Ambizione).
Frequently asked questions
Is Eccellenza still open for applications?
No. SNSF’s own Eccellenza page confirms the last call was 1 November 2021. Applicants at that career stage now apply to the SNSF Starting Grant instead.
Can I apply for both Ambizione and the SNSF Starting Grant?
Not for the same project at the same time — they are separate schemes with separate eligibility windows and position requirements, and each requires threshold conditions (career stage, position status, Swiss link) to be met individually. A researcher who has held an Ambizione grant may go on to apply for a Starting Grant once they meet its eligibility window and can secure a qualifying host-institution position.
What replaces Ambizione after 2026?
SNSF has announced a new postdoctoral-level scheme launching in 2028 to replace both Ambizione and Postdoc.Mobility; as of this writing SNSF has not yet published the new scheme’s full eligibility, funding amounts or transitional rules. Check snf.ch directly closer to 2027–2028.
Does the Swiss-link requirement work the same way for Ambizione and the Starting Grant?
No, they differ. Ambizione’s Swiss-link requirement can be met via Swiss nationality, a Swiss degree, or at least twelve months of research/clinical work in Switzerland between the doctorate and submission. The Starting Grant’s Swiss-link requirement, as covered in CASRAI’s SNSF Starting Grant guide, is set instead at roughly two years of research work in Switzerland at a minimum of 80% average work time. Always verify the current year’s exact wording in the relevant call document, since SNSF revises these thresholds from time to time.
