The Swiss Confederation funds researchers and artists from 183 countries to do a PhD, a one-year research stay, or a Master’s in the arts at any Swiss university, ETH Zurich, EPFL or the ETH Domain research institutes. Applications opened on 20 August 2026.
There is no single deadline. Yours depends on which country you are applying from, and some fall within weeks.
Quick Eligibility: Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships
- Opportunity Type: Government scholarship, awarded by FCS/ESKAS
- Status: OPEN since 20 August 2026
- Education Level: Master’s degree holders (Bachelor’s for art scholarships)
- Eligible Fields: All academic disciplines. Art scholarships in artistic fields only
- Nationality: 183 countries for research and PhD. 26 countries for art
- Age: Date of birth after 31 December 1991
- Degree Deadline: Master’s completed by 31 July 2027. For ETH Zurich, 30 June 2027
- Supervisor: Compulsory for research and PhD scholarships. Applications without one are not considered
- Application Fee: $0 — free of charge
- Funding: CHF 2,450 per month for all three scholarship types
- Duration: Research 12 months · PhD up to 36 months · Art up to 21 months
- Start Date: 1 September 2027
- Application Deadline: Varies by country, generally September to December 2026
- Application Method: Online only, through GO ESKAS
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Your Deadline Depends on Your Country
Switzerland publishes a separate deadline for every country, and they are weeks apart.
Some countries close in September. Others run to December. Which scholarship types are even available also varies — the art scholarship exists for only 26 countries, while research and PhD scholarships cover 183.
Copying a deadline from a scholarship listing site is the most common way people lose this one. The official A-Z country list is linked below and is the only source that applies to you.
Important: Check your country’s entry before you do anything else. If your deadline is in September, the supervisor requirement below means this cycle may already be out of reach, and your effort is better spent preparing for the 2028–2029 round advertised from August 2027.
The Three Scholarship Types
| Type | For | Requires | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research fellowship | Researchers already doing a PhD in their home country, including young medical doctors | Master’s degree, Swiss supervisor | 6 to 12 months, no extensions |
| PhD scholarship | Researchers starting a full PhD in Switzerland | Master’s degree, Swiss supervisor | 12 months, renewable twice to 36 |
| Art scholarship | Artists doing a first Master’s, 26 countries only | Bachelor’s degree, admission or proof of application | 12 months, extendable to 21 |
Important: The research fellowship and the PhD scholarship are frequently confused. The research fellowship funds a research stay in Switzerland during a PhD you are doing elsewhere. The PhD scholarship funds a doctorate done in Switzerland. Applying for the wrong one wastes the cycle, and you cannot submit for both.
Who Can Apply
- A Master’s degree or equivalent completed by 31 July 2027, or 30 June 2027 for ETH Zurich
- Date of birth after 31 December 1991
- A detailed research plan with a timeline of key milestones and activities
- A letter of support from an academic supervisor in Switzerland, including their short CV
- If already living in Switzerland, your date of entry must not be earlier than 1 August 2026
Important: Priority goes to applicants who have not previously studied or researched in Switzerland. This scheme is designed to build new links rather than extend existing ones.
What Does the Scholarship Pay?
- CHF 2,450 per month for basic living expenses for one person
- Health insurance premiums covered for scholarship holders from non-EU/EFTA countries
- One-time grant of CHF 600 toward a rental deposit
- Half-Fare Travelcard for Swiss public transport
- Return flight allowance for non-EU/EFTA holders, at a rate set by country of origin
- Excursions and activities organised for federal scholarship holders
Important: Some listing sites report CHF 3,500 per month for postdoctoral applicants. The official page gives CHF 2,450 for all three scholarship types, with no separate postdoctoral rate. Switzerland also states plainly that this is not a salary and must not be treated as one, financially or legally.
Is It Fully Funded?
No. Tuition and semester fees are not covered.
This is the single biggest gap between what aggregators publish and what the official page says. Several sites list a tuition fee exemption. Switzerland states the opposite.
Scholarship holders pay their own semester fees, which run roughly CHF 600 to CHF 2,000 per semester, and in some cases PhD fees are not waived either. Conference costs and field research costs are also on you, and field research outside Switzerland is not permitted at all during a research fellowship.
Two further conditions worth reading before you commit:
- No family support. The amount covers one person. There are no family allowances, and residence permits for accompanying family are decided by migration authorities under what Switzerland describes as a currently restrictive policy
- Some universities require top-up funding. EPFL, ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich among others expect your academic supervisor to provide additional funding on top of the scholarship
Do You Need a Swiss Supervisor?
Yes, and this is where most applications end before they begin.
Research and PhD applications without an indicated Swiss supervisor and a written letter of support are not considered. Finding one is explicitly the applicant’s responsibility, and Switzerland’s own guidance warns that the search can take weeks or months because professors receive a high volume of enquiries.
Suitable supervisors are professors and laboratory group leaders. For PhD scholarships they must be authorised to supervise doctoral theses. At universities of applied sciences a doctorate requires two supervisors, one of whom must be authorised to confer doctorates at a traditional university.
Important: The scholarship application and the application for admission to a Swiss doctoral programme are two separate procedures. Winning one does not give you the other.
You also need to supply the email addresses of two different professors in your field during the online application. The system contacts them directly and asks them to upload a recommendation letter on the ESKAS form.
What Gets You Excluded
- The application is incomplete or contains formal errors
- You submit multiple applications at once for different host universities or scholarship types
- You have been living, studying or working in Switzerland since more than 13 months before the scholarship starts
- You have already held a Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship
- This is your fourth application after three unsuccessful attempts
- No Swiss supervisor indicated, or no letter of support provided
- You submit more than one research project proposal
Important: You get three attempts, ever. That is worth knowing before submitting something rushed to meet a deadline you only discovered this week.
One more, easy to miss: candidates on a formal cotutelle de thèse arrangement between a Swiss and a foreign university are eligible only for the 12-month research fellowship, not the PhD scholarship.
Required Documents
- Full CV covering education, degrees, awards, positions, publications, teaching and practical experience
- Letter of motivation, maximum 2 pages, covering why Switzerland and what comes after
- Research proposal on the FCS/ESKAS form, maximum 5 pages including a summary written for non-specialists
- Letter of support from your Swiss academic supervisor, plus their short CV (max 2 pages)
- For research fellowships, a short CV of your home university supervisor
- Email addresses of two professors who will be contacted for recommendation letters
- Certificates and transcripts, with certified translations if not in English, French, Italian or German
- Passport copy, both passports for dual citizens
Important: Applicants from India may self-certify their documents rather than obtaining certified translations. The five-page research proposal must be written on the official ESKAS form, downloadable inside the online application, and it must include a section a non-specialist can follow — the panel is not made up of people in your subfield.
Watch for Fake Swiss Scholarship Offers
The Swiss government has issued a formal phishing warning about scams using its name.
Fake Swiss Federal Government Scholarships circulate by email and on social media. The real thing has clear markers:
- The application is completely free. Creating your account, accessing GO ESKAS and submitting all cost nothing
- Applications are online only. Switzerland states directly that you must not send documents by email or post
- Nobody will ask you to pay for visa processing, insurance, registration or administrative fees as part of the application
- The only application link is on sbfi.admin.ch
Selection and Timeline
Applications are assessed on three criteria: the candidate’s profile, the quality of the research project or artistic work, and the synergies and potential for future research cooperation between Switzerland and your country.
- 20 August 2026 — applications opened
- September to December 2026 — country-specific deadlines
- By end of May 2027 — FCS announces its decisions
- 1 September 2027 — scholarships begin
- August 2027 — the 2028–2029 round is advertised
That third selection criterion is worth taking seriously. The scheme exists to build research links between Switzerland and your country, so a proposal that explains what the collaboration produces after you go home reads differently from one that only explains what you get out of it.
Official Information
Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships at a Glance
Full eligibility, benefits, exclusion criteria and document requirements for all three types.
A–Z list of all countries and territories (PDF)
Your deadline and available scholarship types. Check this before anything else.
GO ESKAS — the only application link
Applications are accepted here and nowhere else.
FAQ for applicants and academic supervisors
Covers graduate school admission, individual doctorates and other edge cases.
GO ESKAS onboarding user guide (PDF)
How to create your account and navigate the portal.
sgs@sbfi.admin.ch
The ESKAS secretariat, for general questions. Country-specific questions go to the contact listed for your country.
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