Promoting research
The Zentralbibliothek promotes research and the publication of research results.
Willy Bretscher Fellowships
The Zentralbibliothek Zürich awards Willy Bretscher Fellowships to researchers pursuing a digital humanities approach, focusing on the 20th century and using holdings or data from the Zentralbibliothek Zürich.
Fellowships can last anything from three to 12 months, and include a monthly grant of CHF 4,000. The fellows chosen present their projects to the public.
Applications are assessed by a selection committee made up of members of the Zentralbibliothek and the University of Zurich.
- Willy Bretscher Fellowships 2026/2027 call for applications (last date for entries: 30 September 2025)
- Rules
The fellowships are financed from the Willy Bretscher Fund, which the Zentralbibliothek has established thanks to a generous legacy from Dr. Katharina Bretscher-Spindler. Her husband, Willy Bretscher (1897–1992), was a long-serving editor-in-chief of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and politician who played an influential role in the major concerns of the 20th century.
To the overview of the current and previous projects of the Bretscher Fellows.
Applications
Bretscher-Fellowship
Willy Bretscher Open Access Publication Fund
The Willy Bretscher Open Access Publication Fund allows the Zentralbibliothek (ZB) to support open access publications at the University of Zurich (UZH). The Fund’s purpose permits it to support publications on 20th-century social and intellectual history. If you would like to publish your scholarly contribution in this field as an open access publication, and need to pay publication fees to do so, you are welcome to apply to the ZB for funding of up to CHF 2500 for articles and book chapters or CHF 5000 for book publications.
The detailed funding criteria can be found in the rules of the OA publication fund. Please submit your application using the online form:
We are pleased to contribute to the Open Access movement and the publication opportunities of UZH members in this way.
Note: The University Library of the UZH operates an OA publishing fund for any topic relating to the social sciences and humanities.
Contact
Digitisation fund
The Zentralbibliothek supports UZH research projects through a digitisation fund. Nowadays, working with digitised media often helps research projects to tackle the issues they are exploring more efficiently. Indeed, answers to some innovative research questions cannot be found at all without the use of digitised records. In most cases, however, funding programmes do not accept applications for retrodigitisation. The ZB therefore provides a maximum of CHF 15,000 for UZH research projects that would be substantially delayed or rendered impossible owing to lack of funds for retrodigitisation. The focus is on retrodigitising ZB holdings. In exceptional cases, funding can also be provided to digitise materials from other institutions.
Applications
Czesław Marek Foundation
The Polish-Swiss composer Czesław Marek (1891–1985) appointed the Zentralbibliothek Zürich as his sole heir. The Zentralbibliothek now holds his compositional estate and administers a foundation set up in his name.
The Czesław Marek Foundation’s purpose is to promote the publication of works by Swiss composers born before 1892. It was established using funds from the bequest of Czesław Marek’s assets to the ZB Zürich.
Applications
Franz Xaver Schnyder von Wartensee Foundation
Franz Xaver Schnyder von Wartensee (1786–1868) was one of the most important Swiss composers during the transition from classical to Romantic. He established the Foundation himself in 1847 and entrusted the task of administering it to the Zurich city library and Zurich City Council. This responsibility passed to the Zentralbibliothek Zürich when it was established in 1916.
The Foundation’s purpose is to promote the sciences and arts subject to the following conditions:
- Works of science or art that are worthy of publication are acquired and published by the Foundation.
- Works of science and art should alternate, with the greatest consideration being given to the natural sciences. Only dogmatic theology is excluded from receiving support from the Foundation.
- The Foundation does not exist to support the work of scientists or artists. It may not be used to pay for publications, but only to acquire and publish entire works that have already been completed.