The Hans Sigrist Foundation

The Hans Sigrist Foundation Supplementary Grants

To further the University of Bern's international relationships and international collaboration, the Hans Sigrist Foundation provides supplementary grants (Zuschüsse) to visiting professors and post-doctoral researchers whose primary employer is a foreign university and who are invited by a University of Bern faculty member to teach or to conduct research at the University of Bern.  The grants are not meant to cover the full cost of living in Bern, but instead to supplement an existing grant, salary, or research funds.  The grants provide 1,000 CHF per full month spent at the University of Bern (pro-rated per week for shorter periods), for periods of up to 6 months.

Application Guidelines

The application itself must be submitted by the University of Bern host professor and must include:

  1. A letter from the host professor requesting the grant
  2. The curriculum vitae of the proposed grantee
  3. A description of the project and/or teaching to be conducted at the University of Bern
  4. Details about the financing of the stay, including sources and amounts of other funding
  5. The exact dates of the stay
  6. Confirmation that the visitor has position at his/her home university, which will continue after the period of the supplementary grant.

 

The Foundation has a fixed annual budget for supplementary grants, so we encourage applications as early as possible.  We do ask that applications are submitted at least 6 weeks before the proposed stay. Please note that the Foundation does not provide supplementary grants for those who are splitting their time in Switzerland with research institutes or universities other the University of Bern.

Host professors should submit applications via e-mail to the following address: office@sigrist.unibe.ch.  Please do not send applications on paper.

After the Grant

The grantee and host professor must submit a 1-2 page final report to the foundation at the end of the grant period, to detail their progress on the research project.  Quotes from this report may be used in the foundation's annual report or on its website.