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Published on 13 November 2024

Support for research projects

The Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) may, on request, grant financial assistance to public or private institutions for research projects that are in line with the federal government’s agronomic research goals and priorities.

A scientist analyses a section of carrot.

Formal eligibility criteria

Funding is available for research and development projects carried out by qualified research institutions (federal and cantonal university institutes or private non-profit research institutions).

Collective consortia projects are also eligible for support. A consortium is defined as an association of at least two research institutions, preferably including skilled practitioners.

In the field of organic farming, only collective projects are eligible for funding.

With the entry into force of the new Ordinance on Agricultural Research on 1 January 2025, financial support for newly submitted research projects will amount to a maximum of 50% of the certified and chargeable costs for each project

Applications must be submitted using the form provided, together with the relevant cost table (see «Additional information»).

Please find the deadlines and the address to which the application should be sent at the bottom of the page.

Evaluation criteria

Projects are evaluated according to the following criteria:

  • Thematic evaluation: usefulness and urgency
  • Scientific evaluation: quality and integration into knowledge (link with existing knowledge and measures to ensure optimum use of results)
  • Evaluation in terms of resources: relationship of resources used in relation to project objectives

Decision

The application for financial assistance is evaluated by the areas of the FOAG's Directorates; the final decision on project funding is then taken by the FOAG's Senior Management. The Senior Management’s decision is communicated in writing to the applicants. If the application is accepted, financing is contractually agreed. The project can be launched at the earliest four months after submission of the application to the FOAG.

Projects

Completed and ongoing research projects are published in «ARAMIS» (the Administration Research Actions Management Information System): ARAMIS - The research database of the Federal Administration - Project search

Further information

The FOAG provides a reduced English-language version of its website that does not include all further information such as documents, legislation or links. These can be found on the pages in the three official languages (German, French and Italian).

Female scientist picks a cress sprout from a test jar for analysis.

19 June 2025

Research promotion and international networks

The Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) is involved in various networks and commissions. This allows synergies to be exploited, redundancies avoided and information shared.

Next submission deadline: No further research proposals will be accepted until further notice.

Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG
Research, Consulting and Innovation
Schwarzenburgstrasse 165
Schweiz - 3003 Bern