Transfer for new initiatives

DRIVE | transfer supports researchers, early career researchers and staff to launch innovation initiatives aiming at strategic activities generating lasting value through  

• building active interdisciplinary communities and networks;

• fostering collaboration between academia and industry, public sector, foundations, startups and players from the innovation ecosystem;

• transfering research into novel solutions or improvements in products and processes. 

Researchers, early career researchers, and employees whose employment at UZH extends over the duration of the initiative are eligible to apply for this call. The proposal may include collaboration with external partner institutions. In this case, the contribution of the partner organization (financial and/or in-kind) is declared in the application. 

The proposal resonates with the Innovation Hub‘s mission. The new initiative contributes to one or more of the four pillars «inspire, build, empower, nurture»see Annual report.  

• The initiative fits within the existing UZH ecosystem; other relevant initiatives and activities are mentioned and potential synergies are outlined

• The initiative addresses an interdisciplinary target group at UZH and/or practice partners

• The initiative will draw attention from industry, politics and/or the startup ecosystem

• The proposal convincingly describes how the initiative will create impact

• The proposal clearly outlines the sustainable, structural added value that the initiative is intended to achieve.

• The intended structure relies on excellent research, implies a high potential for translation, is future oriented and relevant to society and/or industry. 

• The funding can be used to cover personnel and material costs, as well as subcontracting.

• The funding is transferred yearly and can only be spent in the designated year. 

• No funding will be given for coordination only.

• The funding does not come with FTEs (full-time equivalents). 

• It is expected that the applicant co-finances the initiative with own funds from institutes, sponsors, partner institutions etc.; to be specified in the application. 

Applicants may submit their proposals in English or German on the grants platform.
The full proposal includes the filled application form and the upload of the following documents:

• Description of work (project plan and timeline) project plan template (DOCX, 72 KB)
• Budget (incl. information on other funding sources)budget template (XLSX, 203 KB)
• Applicant's CV