Dementia Research Switzerland – Synapsis Foundation announces its 2025 Research Grant competition. The aim of the call is to promote dementia research in Switzerland and to support innovative projects of independent principal investigators at Swiss universities or public research institutions. Funded projects are supported with up to CHF 300’000 for up to 3 years (e.g. CHF 100´000 per year for a three-year project). Institutions may not charge indirect or overhead costs on these awards.
Topics
The Synapsis Foundation supports research projects on neurodegenerative diseases. Topics span from basic to translational research to clinical approaches and include:
- Research in genetics, molecular and cell biology to gain new insights into pathomechanisms
- Innovative clinical approaches towards
- an early diagnosis, including biomarkers
- new therapeutic interventions
- prevention studies
- Novel technological developments, including artificial intelligence/e-health, that support the diagnosis, treatment and prediction of the course of the disease
- Proof-of-principle studies
We welcome collaborative projects involving interdisciplinary, inter-institutional research groups. Collaboration with industry is possible, but only the university partner will receive funding from Synapsis Foundation.
Eligability
Principal investigators working at Swiss universities or research institutions, who have not received funding from the Synapsis Foundation for at least one year at the time of submission, are eligible to apply. Project proposals that have already been rejected can only be submitted one more time. A detailed explanation of the changes compared to the previous proposal is required.
Application Process
The application follows a two-step procedure. First, researchers are invited to submit a short letter of intent. The most convincing project ideas will be selected, and the main applicant will be invited to submit a full proposal. All documents must be submitted by the main applicant using the provided templates and must be completed in English.
1st Step: Letter of Intent
In a first stage, a letter of intent is to be submitted that includes a short project outline. The template for the letter of intent for Principal Investigator Grants is provided on the Synapsis Foundation website. The letter of intent includes:
- Information on the main applicant
- Project title
- Start date and duration of the project
- Requested funding
- Information regarding resubmission and further funding partners
- Outline of the proposed research project (1 page only)
- CV
The letter of intent must be submitted online in pdf-format via the submission tool. The submission deadline for the letter of intent is 7 April 2025 at 11:59 p.m.
The Scientific Advisory Board of Synapsis Foundation will review all submitted letters of intent and select the most promising project ideas based on scientific quality, originality and relevance to the call.
2nd Step: Full Proposal
If the project outline was evaluated positively, the main applicant will be invited to submit a detailed full proposal. The template for the full proposal will be sent to the main applicant via e-mail, together with the invitation. The full proposal includes:
- Scientific abstract
- Introduction to the topic
- Specific goals of the project and detailed research plan
- Detailed budget and disclosure of all other funding sources
- Curriculum vitae, incl. a list of top 10 papers from the last 10 years
All relevant information must be compiled in a single pdf-file of maximum 10 MB and must be submitted online. The link to the submission tool will be provided via e-mail. Submission deadline for the full proposal is 7 July 2025 at 11:59 p.m.
Evaluation
Full proposals will be evaluated by the Scientific Advisory Board of the Synapsis Foundation, supported by external reviewers. The main criteria for evaluation are originality, innovation, scientific quality, feasibility, experience and past performance of the main applicant, as well as relevance to the call. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis. Final decision for funding lies with the Board of Trustees of the Synapsis Foundation.
Funding decisions will be announced by 20 December 2025.
Contact
If you have questions regarding any aspects of the Call for Proposals 2025, please consult our FAQs or contact Heide Marie Hess, Liaison Officer Research: hess@demenz-forschung.ch, +41 44 276 40 63
Visit funding web page
(https://www.demenz-forschung.ch/en/for-researchers/)
