SNSF Open Science Policy

Overview

The SNSF is Switzerland’s primary public research funder, and its open access and open data mandates apply to all research it funds as a contractual condition of accepting a grant. Publications must be openly available under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY), and data deposited in established open repositories aligned with Swiss data protection requirements. The SNSF joined cOAlition S as a Plan S signatory.

How the mandates took effect

• In 2017 the open research data policy introduced a data management plan requirement for every funded project, with data to be made openly available where possible under a FAIR-aligned deposit.
• In 2020 open access to publications became a condition of grant acceptance.
• From 1 January 2023 journal articles must be open immediately, with no embargo, where the project was submitted on or after that date. Projects submitted earlier may use a transitional embargo of up to six months.

Connections

• memberOf: cOAlition S (SNSF is a Plan S signatory; open access mandate is Plan S compliant)
• relatedTo: FAIR Principles (SNSF open data mandate explicitly references FAIR principles as the standard for research data management)
• relatedTo: FDPIC (SNSF-funded research involving personal data is subject to Swiss Federal Data Protection Act enforcement by FDPIC)
• relatedTo: SPHN (SPHN health data infrastructure operates under SNSF-aligned open data norms)

Resources

• https://www.snf.ch/en/dMILj9t4LNk8NwyR/topic/open-science
• https://www.snf.ch/en/snf-and-open-science/open-access
• https://www.snf.ch/en/snf-and-open-science/open-research-data
• https://doi.org/10.2777/8921907 (European Commission, Open Access policies in EU Member States and beyond, Switzerland chapter, August 2026)