Open call

FAIR Competence Funding (deadline 17 March 2026)

Are you an ETH member working with research data and code and interested in Research Data Management (RDM)? Would you like to help implement the FAIR principles at ETH Zurich? Do you have ideas for sharing your expertise and services with a broader ETH research community?

ETH Zurich is launching a new funding scheme as part of its initiative to implement the FAIR principles - Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability - for digital research assets such as code, data, notes, metadata and images.

FAIR Competence Funding grants provide up to 50'000 CHF for a maximum of 18 months.

Building on the experience of the external page Open Research Data (ORD) Programme of the ETH Domain as well as the external page Open Science Programme of swissuniversities, which competitively supported field-specific RDM and ORD practices, the FAIR Competence Funding aims to:

Support RDM Specialists in upskilling their data stewardship and/or research software engineering capabilities, ensuring these skills contribute to long-term institutional capacity.
Promote sustainable FAIR practices that can be shared across ETH Zurich and beyond, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange.
Strengthen the long-term provision of FAIR-related RDM services to meet the needs of clearly targeted research communities, so that tailored expertise and support remain available beyond the project duration.

All Research Data Management (RDM) Specialists are eligible to apply. The term RDM Specialist includes:

Research Software Engineers (RSEs)
Data Stewards
Digital Curators/Archivists
Technical Personnel
Researchers with Research Data Management (RDM) responsibilities.

Applicants must:

Be employed at ETH Zurich for the duration of the project.
Provide two support letters from group leaders or head of units (one must be the direct superior), from one or multiple ETH departments or non-departmental units (technology platforms or competence centers).
Commit to sign the ETH FAIR Coalition Charter.
Agree to contribute actively to the activities of the ETH Zurich Data Stewardship Network and/or of the external page ETH Chapter of the Research Software Engineering Community.

Maximum duration: 18 months
Maximum funding: CHF 50’000, projects with smaller budgets are encouraged.

Personnel costs (including salaries) are not eligible.

Funding may cover:

Training, specialisation and FAIR competence development
Tools and/or services supporting FAIR practices
Outreach activities (events, workshops, conferences)
Membership fees for (inter)national networks or organisations
Travel and participation in conferences/workshops

Download the Download guidelines (PDF, 187 KB) for details on content, eligibility and the evaluation procedure.

Applications must be submitted electronically in PDF format to .

Please use the Download template (DOCX, 52 KB) provided.

The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, 17 March, 2026, 17.00 CET

Join us for an online Q&A session on Monday, 26 January, 2026, 13:00 to 14:00.

Online Information: 26 January, 2026, 13.00
Call deadline: Tuesday, 17 March, 2026, 17.00 CET
Decision: End of April/Beginning of May, 2026
Start of projects: 1 June or 1 July, 2026

Well-trained RDM Specialists who confidently apply the FAIR principles are essential for research at ETH Zurich. FAIR Competence Funding is an initiative by Annette Oxenius, ETH Vice President for Research, as part of the ETH FAIR Coalition project (forthcoming).

Contact

For questions, please contact .

Before reaching out, please review the documents provided on this website.