Eligibility criteria
Criteria for applicants
The applicant must belong to the up-and-coming generation of researchers in the Swiss Social Sciences and Humanities research community.
Place of work and nationality: Applications may be submitted by a) researchers working in Switzerland and b) researchers working abroad who held a Swiss nationality or a Swiss residence or settlement permit. The date of publication of the article is decisive.
Academic age: Applicants must hold a doctorate (PhD) at the time of the publication of the article. The date of the PhD examination (defense) is the decisive date. Applicants are eligible if their article was published within six years of receiving their doctorate.
The six-year time limit may be extended in duly justified cases. These include maternity or paternity leave (up to 18 months per child), or other reasons such as care duties or inability to work due to illness or accident (maximum 24 months for these other reasons combined). The mySAGW online application form allows to request an extension of the eligibility period. When making such a request, applicants must indicate the duration of the extension (in months) and state the reasons for their request. It is also possible to provide these reasons on a confidential basis. Applicants who prefer this option should refrain from filling in the field relating to the statement of these reasons on the mySAGW online application form and can expect a personal follow-up via e-mail. All extension requests will be carefully examined.
Collective application: It is possible to submit an individual or a collective application in case of a jointly authored article. In the latter case, all co-applicants must have made an equivalent contribution to the article and meet the formal eligibility criteria.
Criteria for articles
The article must belong to at least one of the academic branches in the Social Sciences and Humanities. A list of all these branches can be found here.
Publication date: The article must have been published between 1 October 2023 and 31 October 2024. The date of the first publication counts. This also applies if the article is published online or in print at a later date.
Type of publication: The publication must be an article. It must have been published in a peer-reviewed publication (scientific journal, book chapter, etc.). In duly justified cases other publication quality controls are also accepted. Monographs will not be accepted.
Open Access: We encourage Open Access publications. This is not mandatory but strongly recommended.
Application procedure
Required documents
Applications for the Early Career Award of the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences are accepted every year between the beginning of the autumn semester and the beginning of December. Applicants must submit their application via an online application form and include the following documents in PDF format:
- A copy of the article that is submitted. Please heed the criterion concerning its publication date (see Criteria for articles).
- A letter of maximum two pages explaining why the submitted article is excellent, how it contributes to research, and why it is relevant to other disciplines. This letter can be written in English, German, French or Italian.
- A CV of maximum two pages. Please heed the criteria for applicants.
The application deadline for the Early Career Award 2025 is midnight 2 December 2024.
Submission of applications
Go to my.sagw.ch. To submit an application, please create an account by clicking on «Register». After completing your registration, log in and select the option «Create a new application». Fill in all sections of the application form and upload the three documents required (see above). If your application is complete and ready to be submitted, click on «submit» in the «Completion» section. If you log out before completing your application, the information will be saved and you can complete your application the next time you log in.
Please do not create a new account if you have already registered on mySAGW for a previous edition of the Early Career Award. Login with this account you have already created.
If you submit a collective application (with more than one applicant), then:
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One of the co-applicants is designated in the online application form as the ‘contact person’ for the application. This person will serve as the primary point of communication between the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences and the applicants regarding all matters related to the application. The contact person is also responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the information provided. The other co-applicants are listed in the online application form as ‘additional applicants’.
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You can invite your co-applicants to fill in the form if you wish. To do so, use the ‘Invitations’ function available on the overview page. This feature allows you to add co-applicants, who can then collaborate with you on the application and track its status.
Under ‘Download’ you can download your completed application in PDF format.