Supervision of students from other universities
If you supervise Bachelor's or Master's students from other universities for a research project or a thesis: In most cases, registration can take place via the Student Exchange Office.
Application deadlines for students
- In general: At least two months before the planned start
- Visa: Students who require a visa should submit their application earlier because the visa application process may take up to three months and cannot be started without the official confirmation of the Student Exchange Office.
- Exchange: The application deadlines of the home university and ETH Zurich for the respective exchange programme are also decisive.
Late applications
We cannot guarantee that the visa will be issued from the respective Embassy / Consulate in time if an application is delayed or that the student will be matriculated and provided with the respective documents in time.
We reserve the right not to process very late applications.
- Matriculated Bachelor's / Master's degree student at a university or technical university (no university of applied sciences)
- The project / thesis at ETH serves the student’s studies.
- The project / thesis does not correspond to any employment (neither paid nor unpaid). For any questions, please contact Human Resources. (An employment as a teaching assistant must be outside the project and as such may be possible, note the regulations for international students).
- Stay of at least 91 and max. 365 days
- Exception: Minimum duration of two months possible in a few exchange programmes
- Exception: Minimum duration of two months possible in a few exchange programmes
- Exchange: Nomination for the exchange by the home university
Further conditions must be fulfilled depending on the programme.
Bachelor's and Master's degree students from other universities can conduct a research project or thesis at ETH as so-called project mobility students.
In some cases, project students are nominated for an exchange by their home university, i.e. they are given a place within an exchange contract. The conditions of the respective exchange programme apply.
- Inform invited students as well as the Student Exchange Office of ETH early enough.
- Confirmation of the supervising professor: Fill in and sign form Download Confirmation of Thesis / Research Project Supervisor for Incoming Mobility Project Student (the form is usually sent to the professor by the student)
- For any questions regarding agreements / contracts in connection with student projects / theses or internships which are conducted at another university, please consult the Download information sheet (PDF, 142 KB).
- Ensure that the protected page ETH export control rules are complied with and make any necessary enquiries before issuing the invitation.
- It is not necessary to register the student with Human Resources.
- Exception: Teaching assistantships ("Hilfsassistenz").
- If you want award a scholarship: Download Read the guidelines for supervisors' scholarships for mobility students (PDF, 70 KB). You can read more about scholarships below.
Services for students
Students receive all the information and confirmations they need for the entry formalities from the Student Exchange Office.
Under no circumstances should students submit a visa application themselves before contacting the Student Exchange Office. An incorrectly submitted visa application can lead to considerable delays.
Students staying in Switzerland for more than 90 days require a residence permit. Students receive the appropriate information directly from the Student Exchange Office.
Remember to contact the Student Exchange Office early enough.
All information provided by the Student Exchange Office refers to stays at ETH Zurich and in the cantons of Zurich or Basel-Stadt. The student status entitles the student to stay and carry out the project or the student research project at a location of ETH Zurich.
If the project is conducted outside of ETH Zurich, e.g. at a research institute of the ETH domain, it is the sole responsibility of the supervising ETH professorship in cooperation with the Human Resources department of the research institute to make all necessary inquiries regarding the admission status and any labour market regulations and to obtain the necessary permits. Formal supervision of the student research project or thesis must be carried out by an ETH professorship.
Mobility students are not insured by ETH (same as regular ETH students). Students who stay in Switzerland for longer than three months must prove to the authorities that they have health and accident insurance or take out such insurance in Switzerland.
ETH recommends that all students take out private liability insurance.
Many exchange students receive a scholarship from ETH and / or from their home university.
Project mobility students do not receive scholarships from the Student Exchange Office.
There is the possibility that you award a small "Supervisors’ scholarship for mobility students (incoming)" from your institute's own funds (if desired). The amount of the scholarship must be chosen in such a way that it does not constitute compensation, but only enables a stay that would otherwise not be affordable for the student. Bear in mind that regular ETH students do not receive compensation either (e.g. for the Master's thesis).
Supervisors are allowed to award scholarships to (incoming) mobility students from their own funds, without the need for additional approval by the Student Exchange Office. The maximum scholarship amount per month is CHF 2,000. Download The guidelines apply (PDF, 70 KB).
Project mobility students can find all the information on the registration process and their stay at ETH on our website, during the application process and upon registration at the desk of the Student Exchange Office after they have arrived in Zurich. Additionally to the above mentioned topics (visa, accommodation, insurance), students will receive information on the registration procedure at the residents’ registration office ("Personalmeldeamt"), the residence permit, IT Services, as well as general information about ETH and Switzerland.
Further information
Internships
According to the public authorities, internships may require an internship contract, a salary and a work permit. These are not organised through the Student Exchange Office, but rather through Human Resources and possibly external page IAESTE.
Visitors
In some cases, registration as a visitor may be appropriate or mandatory. Please consult the Human Resources website and address any further enquiries directly to them.
External doctoral students / PhD
Doctoral students must be registered with Human Resources as academic guests. Exception: Swiss government excellence scholarship holders.