Research supervisors
DownloadPlease read the PDF "Will you be my supervisor?" (PDF, 126 KB).
More helpful information is listed below.
- external pageWebsite of the Swiss Government on Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships
- external pageApplication guidelines future scholarship holders must follow
- external pageSwiss Government Excellence Scholarships, more than just a career springboard... (interview with current FCS President and his two predecessors)
- external pageOnly in German: «Stipendien, die das Leben der Bewerberinnen und Bewerber komplett verändern können» on page 10 (interviews with four former commission members)
The awarding of external pageSwiss Government Excellence Scholarships by the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS) foresees a scholarship start date of 1 September. Deviating from this start date is not foreseen.
If the start date is different, there will be a lot of extra work for the professorship. This applies particularly to early admission / entry into Switzerland less than 120 days before the official start of the scholarship. The most common problems arise from overlapping processes (e.g. entry formalities, health insurance coverage, accommodation search, reconciliation of funding with HR Operations, etc.). The responsibility for the extra work lies with the inviting professorship.
Exception: For doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers, it may make sense to plan admission to the respective institution specifically for the beginning of the Autumn Semester of the previous year or the beginning of the Spring Semester of the current year. This usually does not lead to any major additional work but must be reported immediately to once the scholarship offer has been confirmed.
Young researchers who have already been in Switzerland for more than one year at the planned start date of the scholarship will not be eligible for this award.
In case of late arrival, FCS reserves the right to pay the scholarship only for the remaining months until the scheduled end date, usually 31 August of the following year.
Please note the following deadlines for the required transcripts and degrees.
- Research scholarship after Master's degree, status FCS visiting student: The final Master's transcripts / Master's degree or an equivalent university degree should be submitted by 30 June to ensure enrolment as an FCS visiting student by 1 September.
- Doctoral students: Registration for the doctorate including employment takes about two months (see appointing / supervising doctoral students). Therefore, the Master's degree must be fully completed by 30 June and the final Master's transcripts / Master's degree must be available for registration for the doctorate. They must be online verifiable. Transcripts / degrees that cannot be verified online must be sent directly to the Doctoral Administration Office of ETH Zurich by 30 June each year by the Certificate Office/Registrar's Office of the respective home university.
- Postdocs: The copy of the doctoral certificate should be submitted by 30 June in order to ensure registration via Human Resources in time for 1 September.
For important information on supervising scholarship holders, please see the information sheet Download"Will you be my supervisor?" (PDF, 126 KB). Supervisors of scholarship holders should in principle have the following position at ETH Zurich:
- full professors
- associate professors
- assistant professors
- SNF-sponsored professors working
- honorary professors
At the research institutes in the ETH domain (Eawag, Empa, PSI, WSL), supervisors for FCS visiting students should have the above-mentioned position or a co-supervisor with the corresponding position should co-sign the letter of confirmation for the application. For postdoctoral scholars supervisors who do not hold the above-mentioned position but who are allowed to supervise postdoctoral scholars in their role at the research institutes are also eligible to issue a letter of confirmation for the application.
For the supervision of ETH doctoral students, the mandatory requirements for the supervision of a dissertation is published on the website of the Doctoral Administration. If additional approvals need to be obtained, the relevant clarifications should take place before a letter of confirmation for the application is issued.
For the research stay the following points, as a minimum, should be clarified before you issue a letter of invitation for the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship application:
- The candidate’s academic competence
- The quality of the research project
- The candidate’s language proficiency
- For doctoral students:
- Advance clarification by the Doctoral Administration as to whether the potential candidate can be admitted to undertake a doctorate at ETH Zurich, and if yes, what the prospective admissions requirements might be
- Financing the doctorate:
The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship amount lies below ETH Zurich standards of remuneration for doctoral students. In addition, the normal time to complete a doctorate at ETH Zurich usually exceeds the maximum duration of the scholarship (36 months).
Supervisors of doctoral students who enter the doctoral programme on a Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship are required to top up the scholarship with a part-time job appointment, funded by the professorship’s resources, which raises total funds to at least the level of the lowest ETH doctoral student salary.
Following the maximum scholarship period of 36 months supervisors are also required to employ the doctoral student on a full-time basis such that total funds reach at least the level of the lowest ETH doctoral student salary until prospective completion of the thesis. The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship terminates after 36 months.
The stipulations governing Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship funding of doctoral studies at ETH Zurich apply analogously to Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship funding of doctoral students at the research institutions of the ETH domain (Eawag, Empa, PSI, WSL).