ETH Zurich ETH4D Doctoral Mentorship Grants for Developing Countries for Master, Switzerland 2023

Application is now open for ETH Zurich ETH4D Doctoral Mentorship Grants. Interested candidates are encouraged to send their applications in before the deadline date.

About ETH Zurich and the Grant

ETH Zurich is a public research university in Zürich, Switzerland (German: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich; English: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich). The school was established by the Swiss federal government in 1854 with the declared goal of training engineers and scientists. Although it has 16 departments, the school’s primary areas of study are science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

It is well known that ETH Zurich has influenced the development of scientific and technological developments. It routinely ranks among the top universities in the world, often taking a spot among the top five institutions in Europe, together with the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, and University College London.

The Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain, a grouping of public universities and research institutions run by the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education, and Research, includes both ETH Zurich and its sister institution, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). Since it is a public university, it admits any Swiss citizen who has graduated. 24,500 students from more than 120 nations were enrolled at ETH Zurich as of 2021, 4,460 of them were doctorate candidates.

Mentoring doctorate candidates from low- and lower-middle-income nations is funded by funds from ETH4D. The following elements make up the mentoring, which is a one-year appointment:

• Mentorship from one ETH professor, senior scientist, or postdoc throughout the mentee’s Ph.D. studies for one year. Monthly meetings and clearly stated project goals, such as a presentation at a conference or a joint publication, are suggested. ETH mentors don’t need to sit on the mentee’s doctorate committee; nonetheless, they are free to do so. 
• During the mentoring phase, spend one to three months conducting research at the mentor’s lab at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. 
• Funding for conference attendance and/or research materials

Details about ETH Zurich ETH4D Doctoral Mentorship Grants:

Scholarship Sponsor: ETH4D, Switzerland

Scholarship Value: Fully Funded

Number of awards: N/A

Study level: Masters

Host Institution(s): ETH Zurich/ETH4D, Switzerland

Benefits:

The following expenditures are covered by the grant, up to a maximum of 15k CHF:

• Research material (e.g. lab equipment) (max 6 kCHF in total).
• Fees for health insurance
• Local transportation
• Accommodation
• Economy roundtrip ticket (max. 2 kCHF) to and from Switzerland for the research stay
• Visa fees
• Travel allowance to attend an academic conference
• Living allowance for the period of the research stay at ETH Zurich 

Eligibility Criteria for ETH Zurich ETH4D Doctoral Mentorship Grants

Doctoral candidates who are enrolled at a university or research facility in any nation on the DAC list of the OECD1, except upper-middle-income nations, are eligible.

Required Documents:

• Most recent university transcripts 
• CV of doctoral applicant (max. 2 pages) incl. publications
• Two academic reference letters
• Doctoral project proposal (if available)
• Support letter of the hosting ETH professor, including any financial and in-?kind contributions (in case the mentor is a senior scientist or postdoc, both, the mentor and their professor have to sign the support letter)
• Budget ( Download template budget (XLSX, 12 KB)vertical_align_bottom)
• Project description (see standards document for points that need to be addressed)
• Motivation letter of the doctoral applicant (1 page)

Application Procedure for ETH Zurich ETH4D Doctoral Mentorship Grants

The ETH professor who is hosting the PhD student must apply. Direct student application submissions won’t be taken into consideration. Please fill out the online application form and upload all necessary files.

Application Deadline

Applications are due on a rolling basis. Therefore, applications may be filed at any time of the year. The following application deadline is October 31, 2023.

Not interested in this particular scholarship? See other Switzerland scholarships here.