Preparatory phase

Project applications and offers

In the case of offers and project applications, a contract is often already established by acceptance of the application or offer by the addressee. Therefore it is necessary to ensure that the information in offers and applications is complete and meets ETH Zurich's requirements before it is submitted.

Project description

Contractually regulated projects must be clearly separable from other projects and research activities in terms of content and time by means of an appropriate project description.

Unfavorable contract terms and conditions

If, in connection with a planned project, a project partner or a donor organisation demands the signing of very extensive documents with unclear conditions or conditions that can only be fulfilled with considerable effort, it must be judged whether or not negotiations are worthwhile or whether the project can be better conducted with other partners. In particular, effort and return, as well as the risks to be taken, must be carefully weighed up.

Project budget – cost calculation, surcharges, overheads, VAT

Project budgets must be prepared in accordance with the specifications of the respective funding agencies or contract partners. The following information can be helpful:

The direct project costs consist of the salaries and all the expenses that can be directly allocated to a project, such as consumables. Salaries of doctoral students and postdocs can be found here. In addition to the stated net salaries, 12% for doctoral students and 14% for postdocs must be added to the employer's social security costs and, where applicable, family allowances. Binding information can be obtained from the Human Resources Department.

The infrastructure surcharge of 10% is to be budgeted as partial coverage of the indirect project costs if the contracting party or another beneficiary receives a benefit in return through the contract.

In addition to the infrastructure surcharge, the IP surcharge of 35% is to be budgeted and charged for in those research contracts in which the contractual partner or another beneficiary wishes to acquire exclusive rights or ownership of the intellectual property rights arising in the project from ETH Zurich in advance.

In the case of services that can be equally provided by the private sector on an equal footing, remuneration must be determined in line with market conditions, for example by applying appropriate hourly rates. In any case, a 10% service charge applies to the remuneration received.

An example of a project budget with an industrial partner is available at the Research Contracts Group.