Seed Grants
Do you have a Citizen Science project idea and need financial support? Apply for a Seed Grant!
Once a year we award Seed Grants for the development or implementation of participatory Citizen Science projects. Teams of academic researchers from the University of Zurich and citizens can apply for up to 40'000 CHF.
With the Seed Grants, we create incentives for participatory research and promote cooperation between science and society. Priority is given to project applications that, in addition to the prospect of excellent research, show a societal need as well as a high degree of participation in as many phases of the research process as possible.
Frequently asked questions are listed under FAQs.
Seed Grant Call 2026
The Seed Grant Call 2026 is open until 30 April 2026, 23:59. We will be holding two information events to provide details about the Seed Grants and answer all your questions.
- Information event in English: 24 February 2026, 12:15 - 13:00 Register now
- Information event in German: 19 March 2026, 12:15 - 13:00 Register now
[Timeline in text form]
The information in the timeline shown in the graphic above is summarized here in text form, for example for screen readers:
January
The call opens in January. We organize two online information events – one in German and one in English. We communicate the dates via our communication channels and on this website.
End April
The deadline for submission is end of April. All submissions are then carefully reviewed by the Selection Committee. It consists of researchers, experts in Citizen Science, citizens and a representant of Mercator Foundation Switzerland.
July
The Selection Committee comes together, discusses the submissions and decides which projects receive funding. We notify all projects and communicate the decision to the public.
October
The new cohort of Seed Grant projects meets at the kick-off event and receives additional information. The new Seed Grant projects start individually, somewhen between summer and end of the year.
Application material
All the documents you need for the preparation and submission of your project proposal are published here. The budget template serves as an example, you can also use a different one.
Seed Grant Call 2026 (PDF, 163 KB)
Application Form Call 2026 (DOCX, 81 KB)
Budget Template (example) (XLSX, 13 KB)
Your application
We ask you to use the application form provided above and upload it in the application tool, together with
- a budget plan (does not necessarily have to be the template above)
- CVs of main applicants (researcher and citizen)
Please note that your application cannot be saved in the application tool and cannot be submitted more than once. Please have the above-mentioned documents and information at hand when starting your application. If you have questions, feel free to contact Olivia Höhener.
