The aim of the 9th SystemsX.ch Call for Proposals was to support young scientists in becoming truly interdisciplinary researchers within the diverse field of systems biology. In response to the 9th call, 69 proposals for Transition Postdoc Fellowships (TPdFs) and Interdisciplinary PhD projects (IPhDs) have been submitted.

Of the 69 proposals, 28 were from potential postdocs wishing to gain experience in a discipline complementary to their background, with the help of a host research group. As table 1 shows, 10 of these TPdF proposals indicated a host group in the ETH Domain (7 in Zurich, 3 in Lausanne).

Within the 41 IPhD proposals, 89 research group leaders have applied as potential co-mentors. As table 2 indicates, the majority of these applicants are based in nine of SystemsX.ch’s partner institutions, but there is also representation from outside of SystemsX.ch. Five prospective co-supervisors are from the private sector, two from academic institutions abroad, and one from a Swiss university of applied science.

All of the proposals will be reviewed by the SystemsX.ch Scientific Executive Board, which assesses their relevance to systems biology, and by the Swiss National Science Foundation’s Expert Group, which evaluates the scientific quality of the proposals. Only those proposals accepted by both committees will be eligible for funding. SystemsX.ch plans to approve 10 TPdF and 12 IPhD projects. The results of the call will be communicated in August 2014.

Table 1:
Number of applicants, per institution, who submitted TPdF proposals for the 9th call.

Table 2:
Number of co-applicants, per institution, involved in IPhD Project proposals of the 9th call.