Student Mobility for Studies (SEMP SMS)
Stays at partner universities which include course attendance or Bachelor’s and Master’s thesis and other project work are conducted within SMS (part of «Swiss-European Mobility Programme», SEMP).
Application deadline
1 September 2024, 13.00, for places still available in the Spring Semester 2025
Important: Students must discuss a planned application with their departmental exchange coordinators in advance.
Before, during and after the exchange, various requirements must be met. Among other things, you will need to submit several different documents via Mobility-Online at different times.
We will notify you by email at the appropriate points. Thus, read our emails and follow our instructions even during your stay at the host university.
An SMS exchange may last 3 to 12 months.
Students may undertake an exchange via SEMP (SMS and SEMP Europe Projects & Traineeships) for up to 12 months at each level of studies (Bachelor's and Master's). Repeated application and funding is therefore possible as long as the student is at a different level of studies each time or the 12 month limit in the same programme has not yet been reached.
The scholarship amount is 1,900 Swiss francs per semester. Note (applies mainly to the UK): The scholarship amount for trimesters and short semesters (duration of courses <91 days) is 1,330 Swiss francs.
No separate application is necessary for the scholarship. You will receive a scholarship contract by email in due course, which you must sign and upload in Mobility-Online.
You can apply for a top-up for an environmentally friendly travel method.
Scholarships in the framework of ETH's "Excellence Scholarship & Opportunity Programme" are suspended for the duration of the exchange stay.
Studying with a disability
Get information about possible supportFurther offers of support
Check whether you have exhausted all possible offersETH is committed to sustainability. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by business trips and excursions of ETH members is one of our main goals. We therefore encourage all exchange students travelling to European destinations to choose an environmentally friendly means of transport.
You can apply for a grant of 100 Swiss francs for travel to and from ETH by train, bus and / or ferry if you are going abroad within a European exchange programme. The grant will be added to the normal scholarship rate with the final payment.
The prerequisite is that the travel receipts for the outbound or inbound journey are uploaded to Mobility-Online at the end of your mobility. (Only upload the receipts for one journey). The receipt must contain your name, date of travel and the departure and arrival location.
- Download Compare travel duration and CO2 reduction if you travel by train instead of by air travel (PDF, 692 KB)
- Tip: Launch travel groups with other fellow students at the "Get ready to go" event
- external page Get tips for planning your environmental friendly travel to your exchange destination from Movetia
- external page Get more tips from Green Erasmus
Some partner universities require proof (e.g. a certificate) of language proficiency. Check as early as possible whether such proof is required, and in what form. Any language certificates will have to be submitted only with the application to the host university, and not with the application to ETH Zurich. Our prerequisite, of course, is that you have sufficient knowledge of the teaching language at the host university!
For an overview of host university requirements go to the search portal for online applications and look for the desired university. Click on the icon in front of the university names (“Display details of this bilateral agreement”). The relevant documents and/or the link to the host university will appear if they have been sent to us. If no information is available please consult the host university website directly.
If your host university requires a language certificate, it is often sufficient in Europe to submit an informal proof of sufficient language skills from the home university (just for English), a certificate from the Language Center of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich regarding courses completed (see below), or a copy of the Matura/Abitur academic record which documents the respective language taken. We will issue an informal language certification confirming the English language level of C1 once we have approved your application, if you have declared an adequate language level in your application form. If in doubt, contact the host university.
We strongly recommend that you attend courses in the host university’s teaching language or national language at the external pageLanguage Center of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich as early as possible. The Language Center issues confirmations of courses completed. These are not official language certificates, but such confirmations are often accepted in Europe.
Visa UK
Take notice that due to Brexit and corresponding new immigration rules you may require a language certificate for your Visa application. Browse: external pageStudy in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Requirements of the host university
Before applying, carefully check the host university's information and requirements, especially regarding the study plan and any restrictions on course enrolment as well as language requirements (see above).
For an overview of host university requirements go to the search portal for online applications and look for the desired university. Click on the icon in front of the university names (“Display details of this bilateral agreement”). The relevant documents and/or the link to the host university will appear if they have been sent to us. If no information is available please consult the host university website directly.
Also read the exchange reports of former outgoing exchange students in the IKB. They often contain helpful information.
British academic year
At most UK universities, the academic year is divided into trimesters (this affects examination planning). For stays of one trimester only lasting less than 90 days the scholarship will be reduced (see Tab “Scholarships”).
Imperial College London (ICL)
Applies to students of D-BAUG, D-BIOL, D-CHAB, D-MATH, D-MATL, D-MAVT: Please note if applying to Imperial College in London that as a rule only applications for an entire year are accepted. Project and thesis work which involves no course attendance is excepted. In the department of aeronautics no exchange for course work possible for the time being, but only for projects.
University College London (UCL)
Only exchanges which involve attending lectures are possible! You may apply for project work via SEMP Europe Projects & Traineeships.
The application deadline is 1 March for an exchange in the academic year immediately following. Be aware of any earlier deadlines in your department.
Late applications for the Spring Semester are possible until 1 September, provided there are still free exchange places available. (Free places are listed in the Mobility-Online portal and allocated by the departmental exchange coordinators in the department.)
For unproblematic and fast online application, start collecting the required documents and information early.
ETH reserves the right to exclude students from future exchange programmes if they withdraw from an exchange without sufficient grounds for doing so (examination failure, illness, accident).
Questions?
FAQ for quick answersContact persons
- Departments: departmental exchange coordinators
- Student Exchange Office: Patrick Bisang, , Tel +41 44 632 20 87