Call for Proposals: SPI Technogrants (Switzerland)

SPI Techno grants can support new technological developments but also serve to improve and adapt existing technologies to extreme environments. In particular, SPI Techno grants can be used to develop clean technologies increasing sustainability and lowering the environmental footprint of polar and high-altitude research whilst maximizing scientific efforts in these regions.

Funding Information

• The grants can cover costs of up to CHF 75,000- per successfully evaluated project. A detailed budget will be requested from each applicant. For this year (2024), the total budget allocated to SPI Techno grants will be capped at CHF 150,000. The grants can be used to complement the funding of initiatives supported by larger funding schemes (e.g. SNSF, EU, etc.).

Eligible Costs

• All costs related to the conception, development, field testing (especially in the extreme environments of polar or remote high-altitude regions in which it is supposed to operate), upgrading and adjusting of science support technologies in accordance with the general aim of the SPI Techno grants. Travel and logistics costs for field testing purposes are also eligible. The SPI considers the offset of carbon emissions as an eligible cost, if not an option offered by the institution of affiliation of the applicant (see below for more details on the eligibility conditions of carbon compensation).

Ineligible Costs

• Costs relating to salaries of permanent academic positions, overhead as well as the acquisition of long- term assets (as opposed to consumables required for the project).

Geographic Focus

• The SPI Technogrants fund the development of technology relevant for polar science, the Arctic and Antarctic, according to the SPI’s focus on high latitude. This includes technologies to be deployed in the field but also those supporting remote acquisition of data. In addition to high latitude poles, SPI supports research as defined above in remote high-altitude regions with complex logistics (e.g. the Andes or the Himalayas). In specific cases, field testing of new technologies can take place in closer comparable environments such as the Alps.

Eligibility Criteria

• The SPI Techno grants are complementary to the Polar Access Fund and SPI Exploratory Grants. Consequently, eligibility will be restricted to Swiss led projects with a focus on technological development and that are relevant for research in polar regions (and other extreme environments in remote high-altitude regions). The grants are open from Master’s students to senior researchers based at a Swiss public research institution.
• Applications are submitted by a Principal Investigator (PI) who will be SPI’s contact person within his or her institution. In case of a submission by a Master’s student, the application has to be overseen by a supervisor.
• Private companies and start-ups are eligible to join the project as partners but should work within a project coordinated by a PI employed at a Swiss public research institution. SPI cannot support projects coordinated by private companies.

For more information, visit Swiss Polar Institute.