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Quota, scholarships and awards intended to promote women are increasingly being opened to men.

Scientific research… and “women”?

In recent years, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), which funds academic research at universities and other institutions throughout the country, has implemented measures to promote the work of women in scientific research. In order to do this, new subsidies and prizes and a web portal making female researchers more visible have been created. 

Although equality between women and men has been guaranteed by the Swiss Federal Constitution since 1981, women are still significantly underrepresented in key scientific positions. Indeed, despite the total number of female students being slightly higher than that of male students, and the proportion of women at doctoral level being almost 45%, women occupy only 23% of the professorial chairs in Swiss universities. In 2021, the SNSF decided on new measures to include more women in science, and hence introduced a quota for women within the evaluation bodies, requiring both sexes to hold at least 40% of all positions including presidencies.

We asked the SNSF whether the category of women could include men, and the answer was yes! They responded that the quota is not based on sex, but on “self-declared gender identity”. How can we encourage female scientists to be proactive and influential when their positions are being taken by men?

Another programme designed to promote women in scientific research is AcademiaNet, an online portal featuring profiles of more than 2800 prominent female researchers from all over Europe. This portal was launched in 2010 by a German foundation, which managed it until the end of 2018. In January 2020, management of the platform was taken over by the SNSF. It is currently unclear whether the portal now welcomes men who identify as women.

Subsidies for scientific research

Among other measures taken by the SNSF to encourage female scientists, the PRIMA funding scheme is aimed at exceptional female researchers who demonstrate clear potential to become a professor. Requirements for participation in the PRIMA scheme, written in July 2020, state that the beneficiaries must be women, however they do not specify whether this includes men registered as “female”. The last PRIMA subsidy was granted in 2021. We do not yet know whether future PRIMA subsidies will also be granted to male scientists who identify as women. 

Awards

Since 2009, the SNSF has awarded the Marie Heim-Vögtlin (MHV) prize of CHF 25’000 each year to a female researcher for excellence in research. The name of the prize is a tribute to the first female doctor in Switzerland. We asked the SNSF if the MHV prize could be awarded to a male researcher: their answer confirmed that a man can be a beneficiary of the prize if he has officially changed his sex in the civil register. How can we ever encourage the career of female scientists if men are entitled to take their prizes?

Femina Helvetica invites the SNSF to amend their regulations and to ensure that subsidies and awards for women cannot be granted to men who claim to be one. 

Scholarships

Another promotion programme for women in Switzerland is the Swiss L’Oréal – UNESCO for Women in Science program, which was launched in February 2025 by the Swiss Commission for UNESCO, L’Oréal Switzerland and the Swiss Academia of Technical Sciences (SATW). These three organizations award four individual scholarships of 25’000 CHF to four emerging female scientists working at universities or research institutes in Switzerland in the fields of science and technology. For the moment, it is unclear whether male scientists who declare themselves to be women can participate in this particular programme. As trust in the integrity of such awards has been undermined, we are compelled to ask the question. 

The list of programmes for female researchers mentioned here is by no means exhaustive. Femina Helvetica requests that rules for participation in these programmes be written clearly, that the word ‘women’ means women only, so that funds intended for the promotion of exceptional female researchers cannot be taken by men. 

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Links to supporting documentation of this issue:

1.  Article on the introduction of Women’s quota at the Swiss National Science Fund (SNF/FNS), June 2023.
   https://www.letemps.ch/suisse/fonds-national-suisse-introduit-un-quota-femmes

2. The online portal AcademiaNet managed by the SNF/FNS since January 2020.
   https://www.snf.ch/fr/OroQvUl1LVRa4MX2/page/apropos/partenaires/academianet

3. The Marie Heim-Vögtlin (MHV) prize 
   https://www.snf.ch/fr/mcRzvGGbqNfZeR3c/page/prix-marie-heim-voegtlin-la-releve-scientifique-feminine-a-l-honneur

4. Launch of the “Swiss L’Oréal – UNESCO For Women in Science” Programme
   https://www.unesco.ch/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/PR-Launch-of-the-Swiss-LOreal-UNESCO-For-Women-in-Science-Program.pdf