Research Partnership Grant 2025

Description

Status

Open Call

Deadline

21 Nov 2025

Type

Research

Countriess

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Switzerland

Institution

Swiss Leading House South Asia

The Research Partnership Grant (RPG) supports Swiss-based researchers in launching joint projects with partners from nine South Asian countries. By promoting interdisciplinary collaboration across institutions and borders, the RPG enables teams to test innovative ideas, gather preliminary data, and lay the groundwork for long-term cooperation.

Call Details

The grant is open to researchers from all scientific disciplines and supports a broad range of collaborative activities, including desk-based research, fieldwork, feasibility studies, archival exploration, qualitative interviews, surveys, artistic practices, and design thinking.

Its primary goal is to foster long-term partnerships between institutions or research groups across borders. It also aims to support laying the groundwork for strengthening existing collaborations, initiating new ones, and establishing a solid foundation for future larger-scale joint proposals.

Eligibility

This grant is open to Swiss researchers, including PhD students, professors, and postdocs (referred to as “applicant”) from Swiss universities, universities of applied sciences, universities of teacher education, and research institutes, including federal laboratories and centers of technological excellence (referred to as “research institutions”).

Please check the eligible institutions in our overview.

The Swiss scientist is the main applicant. The submitted project must be based on a collaboration between Switzerland and at least one eligible partner from one of the Swiss Leading House South Asia’s partner countries.

Requirements for main applicant

Furthermore, the main applicant (Swiss scientist) must:

be a Swiss-based scientist (meeting the above criteria) holding at least a 40% position, either permanent or lasting until six months after the project ends;

have at least three years’ research or practical experience in a relevant field of the proposal.

Requirements for partner/partner institution

The principal researcher in the partner country must be affiliated with an accredited university or public research institute, and must hold a faculty or scientist position. They must also have several years of research or practical experience.