Communication, Dissemination & Engagement Grants 2026

International research collaborations require dedicated efforts beyond research activities alone. Communication, dissemination and engagement activities are essential to make collaborations visible, intelligible and sustainable, and to foster engagement with academic and non-academic audiences.

The Communication, Dissemination and Engagement Grants (CDE) are a flexible funding instrument of the Leading House MENA, designed to support communication-, dissemination- and engagement-oriented activities that strengthen collaboration between Switzerland and the MENA region.

The aim of the CDE is not to fund research activities as such, but complement existing funding schemes by supporting targeted, time-bound activities that pursue one or more of the following objectives:

• Objective 1 – Visibility and intelligibility: to make Switzerland-MENA collaborations visible and intelligible to relevant academic and non-academic audiences;
• Objective 2 – Engagement and exchange: to foster engagement and exchange with relevant external actors;
• Objective 3 – Sustainability and follow-up: to contribute to the sustainability, positioning and follow-up of Switzerland-MENA collaborations, including, where applicable, their societal relevance.

Importantly, the call can support activities where engagement with non-academic audiences, public dialogue or mediated forms of knowledge exchange play a central role. This is particularly relevant for, but not limited to, fields such as the arts, design, architecture and the humanities, and reflects an increasingly important dimension across all disciplines.

Each application should include activities taking place in, or in collaboration with, at least one of the eligible countries of the MENA region: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Occupied Palestinian territory, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

The call will be open continuously from 15 February to 15 November 2026. Applications will be evaluated in comparative batches during three evaluation rounds per year, with the following cut-off dates:

• Evaluation Round 1: Applications submitted between 15 February and 15 May 2026
• Evaluation Round 2: Applications submitted between 16 May and 15 August 2026
• Evaluation Round 3: Applications submitted between 16 August and 15 November 2026