Call for Proposals: Solution-oriented Research for Development (SOR4D) programme joint funding for researchers and practice partners

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Closing Date: 18 May 2026

Call for Proposals: Solution-oriented Research for Development (SOR4D) programme joint funding for researchers and practice partners

The Solution-oriented Research for Development (SOR4D) programme promotes cooperation projects between researchers and practice partners in Switzerland and in partner countries in the Global South.

This transdisciplinary programme applies a solution-oriented approach and aims to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and reduce poverty. The call focusses on the topics of peace, human development, climate and sustainable economic development.

Call for Proposals

The SOR4D programme supports transdisciplinary projects with solution-oriented approaches that contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and reducing poverty. This is a joint programme of the SNSF and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). It supports researchers in developing concrete innovative solutions for global challenges, together with researchers and practice partners from partner countries in the Global South.

The SOR4D programme is open to all disciplines, including the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, life sciences and health sciences. Proposals must explicitly target systemic solutions that simultaneously address several of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. The call for proposals focusses on the topics of peace and good governance, human development, climate and environment, and sustainable economic development.

A total of 22.4 million Swiss francs is available for the SOR4D programme. The research phase lasts three or four years. Projects can also apply for additional funding with Transformation Accelerating Grants. The project selection consists of a two-stage process.

Overview

The Solution-oriented Research for Development (SOR4D) programme is a joint funding instrument between the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) that builds on experiences and lessons learnt in previous joint programmes. The SOR4D programme is being implemented in the “Decade of Action” that is accelerating efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda).

The overarching goal of the SOR4D programme is to produce better knowledge, solutions and innovation by needs-driven, transdisciplinary research that opens up new ways for advancing sustainable development and reducing poverty in the least developed, low and lower middle-income countries.

The SOR4D programme has three objectives:

Researchers and development actors will jointly generate in their respective geographical contexts needs-based, solution-oriented knowledge that contributes to sustainable development and poverty reduction in the Global South and East. This includes validation in those contexts.
Project partnerships and networks will test and disseminate research results with potential for innovation. This will include diverse forms of upscaling.
Researchers and development actors will enhance their competences in conducting solution-oriented transdisciplinary research in partnership for addressing systemic and complex development challenges. This includes sharing their findings with other academics and practitioners.

The SOR4D programme will operate from 2022 to 2026 with an overall budget of about 19 million Swiss Francs.

Thematic focus

The SOR4D programme funds proposals which address one or several challenges in relation to the four objectives of Switzerland’s International Cooperation Strategy for the 2025–28 period: 1) Human development; 2) Sustainable economic development; 3) Climate and environment; 4) Peace and governance. Consult the call document for detailed description.

Eligibility

Eligible countries for SOR4D research partnerships are those listed by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as Official Development Assistance recipient countries. The focus lies on countries in the categories Least Developed Countries and Low Income Countries. The regularly updated OECD-DAC list is the reference. Projects in Swiss International Cooperation priority regions and countries, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, are encouraged.