Robert Gnehm Grants

Robert Gnehm Fund

The Robert Gnehm Fund was established in 1928 by Gnehm’s daughter Marie Gnehm. Robert Gnehm was Rector of ETH Zurich starting in 1899, President of the ETH board and the first Honorary Doctor of ETH Zurich in 1909. Among others, the Robert Gnehm Fund supports projects that assist with the care for children of ETH members.

In a pilot phase between 2016–2018, 10–15 Robert Gnehm Grants per year were awarded for the purpose of supporting conference attendance of researchers with infants. The project was extended until 2026. Specific business trips or further education for administrative and technical staff will also be awarded now.  

Submission of application

Submission: Applications can be submitted throughout the year, in advance of the conference, research stay or the business trip/further education. Applicants can only submit one request per year. Please submit your application electronically to using the respective form.

Participation requirements

• Eligible for application are researchers at ETH Zurich (level doctorate and postdoctorate) and administrative and technical staff with small children or children in school age.
• Children must receive regular extra-familial day care and both parents must be employed or studying (maternity leave during an employment is qualified as employment). Furthermore, the applicant is be the main carer of the child/children, providing at least half of the childcare. The criterion of providing at least half of childcare is also met if both persons responsible for childcare have a work-time percentage of 80% each. Eligibility for subsidies is evaluated according to the «Guidelines on financial support for baby’s nursery places (PDF, 37 KB)»
• Supported are visits of international conferences where the researcher presents his* or her* own scientific work, a short research stay abroad or specific business trips/further education of administrative and technical staff.
• Applicants must account for additional costs for child day care that arise during the stay. For reimbursement, these costs must be substantiated with the respective receipts.

Funding: Robert Gnehm Grants will be disbursed after the conference attendance, the research stay or the business trip/further education. The grants amount to a maximum of:

• CHF 500.-- for international conferences in Switzerland
• CHF 500.-- for business trips/further education in Switzerland
• CHF 750.-- for international conferences or research stays within Europe
• CHF 750.-- for business trips/further education in Europe
• CHF 1’500.-- for international conferences or research stays outside of Europe
• CHF 1’500.-- for business trips/further education outside of Europe

For more information, please consult the .