Frequently Asked Questions
You should use yearly flat-rate per FTE for different personnel categories: professors (all categories) = 200 kCHF, scientists after Post Doc = 150 kCHF, postdocs, technicians, admin staff, scientists without PhD= 120 kCHF, PhD students = 80 kCHF.
Only funds which are not earmarked for any other purpose can be used as cash matching. Eligible are basic funds (Erstmittel) of the institutions or other funds which were either raised specifically for the purpose of supporting the proposed Joint Initiative or other funds that are at the free disposal of the applicants without being tied to another project. (Note: This excludes any cross-financing with ongoing SNF/Innosuisse/NCCR/Horizon/SWEET/SDSC/SFA… projects).
Every institution participating in a Joint Initiative, that wishes to receive matching funds from the ETH Board, needs to define at least one Leading Applicant. The salaries of Leading Applicants don't count as eligible costs, regardless of their role in the consortium.
No, only the six institutions EPFL, ETHZ, WSL, EAWAG, PSI, Empa are eligible to the matching funds of this call. Cantonal universities and universities of applied science are not entitled to receive matching funds.
Yes, this is possible. You can budget for staff that you intend to recruit or that will move to your organisation. You will need to account for their time in financial reporting. If current recruitment plans change, it is your responsibility to find a solution to fill the expertise gap.
The initiative as a whole must co-finance 50% of its costs. The partners are free to distribute the ETH Board's matching funds and institutional co-financing among the participating institutions as they wish. It is important to obtain a commitment from each of the contributing institutions to provide co-financing for the amount decided by the initiative.
It is the autonomy of each institution to decide whether to co-finance centrally or at the level of the institution, department or group. Please contact the institutional contact person (see 6.2 in the call document) to discuss your specific case.
It is important to note that only funds earmarked for this initiative are eligible for co-financing.
Annex D states that the flat rate for in kind personnel cost contributions by the ETH Domain institutions involved is 200 kCHF for professors (all categories). If a senior member of a research institution (Eawag, Empa, PSI, WSL), e.g. a head of division, who is actively involved in our initiative, doesn't have the title of professor you should also use the flat rate of 200 kCHF for senior personnel, such as division heads (from function level 12 upwards). Please note that the applicants own salaries can't be accounted for.
Contributions in-kind can only be matched if the benefit accrues directly to the ETH Domain (e.g. an external partner donates equipment to the ETH Domain for use in the project). An external partner can also contribute dedicated human resources, e.g. by paying a postdoc, who would ideally be employed by one of the ETH Domain institutions for the duration of the project.
Domain Infrastructure and Domain Services are considered internal to the ETH Domain and therefore do NOT count as external partners.
No. Equipment that already exists in an institution cannot be used as co-financing, but access to it (according to the usual access practices in the institution) can.