ETH Zurich Excellence Scholarships in Switzerland

About ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich, or more famously known as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, a science and technology-based university that has been on the forefront of the world’s top universities. However, back during its former establishment in 1855, before it was even given the name ETH Zurich, the university was once known as the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School. The reason behind this university’s success lies in the history that this campus has undergone – just within a century and a half, ETH Zurich has been home to over 20 Nobel Prize laureates as alumni. One of their famous alumni is Albert Einstein, one of the most famous scientist of the generation until present times.

The university boasts a total amount of 16 departments that provide the upmost education academia could ever offer. The academic subjects that are offered range from Engineering and Architecture, to Chemistry and Physics. Yet, as different as these subjects may be, all of the fields of studies provided in ETH Zurich have a common trait, and that is to prioritize the act of conducting research.

With their campuses located in Switzerland’s largest city, Zurich, ETH Zurich has constructed itself into a modern institution that is located on the outskirts of Zurich. While students are required to undergo double the amount of lectures compared to most Swiss universities, student life in ETH Zurich is still young and alive. The campus studentbody usually spend their free time visiting exhibitions, watching plays or concerts, or even attend on-campus conferences.

About the ESOP and ETH-D Scholarship

In an effort to provide support for their students, ETH Zurich has come up with several scholarships that cater to the campus student  body. Two of these scholarships are the ESOP and ETH-D Scholarship, a programme that is designed and offered exclusively for only the brightest national and international students who wish to pursue a Master’s degree at ETH Zurich. The Excellence Scholarship & Opportunity Programme (ESOP) provides grantees with a scholarship, mentorship, and access to the ETH Foundation web of networks. In addition, the programme will provide a generous sum of funding to cover the full study and living expenses throughout the entire duration of the Master’s degree programme. On the other hand, the ETH-D Scholarship provides grantees with partial funding as well as additional bonuses courtesy of the respective Master’s degree departments that they will apply to – these could be in the form of either an extra scholarship of assistantship.

Program Value

The benefits offered by both the ESOP and ETH-D Scholarship differs. The ESOP programme grants selected candidates with an allowance that pays off their living costs and study expenses. This allowance will amount to the total sum of CHF 12’000 for each semester. Selected candidates will also receive a tuition waiver as well.

On the other hand, the ETH-D programme grants selected candidates with an allowance that pays off their living costs and study expenses. This allowance will amount to the total sum of CHF 7’500 for each semester. Selected candidates will also receive a tuition waiver as well. As a bonus, the programme will also provide an additional allowance of CHF 3’000 for each semester, or an assistantship that will provide a stipend of CHF 500 – 600 on a monthly basis. For more details, you may click the link here.

Eligibility

Before you can apply for the ESOP and ETH-D Scholarship, all candidates must adhere to a set of eligibility criteria. First off, all outstanding domestic or overseas students are allowed to participate in the scholarship application. Next, they will have to provide proof of remarkable results during their previous Bacherlor’s degree programme (as an indicator, a grade A in ETH is a top 10% of Bacherlor’s degree programme). Last but not least, all candidates must be able to be contacted, as there will be a Skype interview later on for shortlisted candidates.

Requirements

Besides fulfilling the eligibility criteria for the ESOP and ETH-D Scholarship, all future candidates must collect all of these necessary documents. The required documents will include the application form itself and several other papers that must be written and completed. Failure to submit in the requested documents may result in auto-termination from the scholarship applications. The requirements are as listed below:

1. Application Form
2. ESOP letter of motivation (1-2 pages):
   • You must mention the reason you chose your pre-proposal topic.
   • You must mention why you deserve the ESOP or ETH-D Scholarship. 
     
3. Pre-proposal for your Master’s thesis:
   • Give a maximum 500-word description of your proposed Master’s thesis project – including the titled but excluding references.
   • The Master’s thesis must be written and conceptualized by the candidate.
   • The practice of legitimate scientific citation must be applied to the thesis.
   • Your proposal must be related to the research areas of the Master’s degree programme that you plan to apply for.
   • Choose your topic wisely, as it will be evaluated and accepted by the programme’s thesis supervisor.
   • If you require help on writing down your pre-proposal, you may refer to these guidelines on how to write a pre-proposal.
4. Your latest Curriculum Vitae
5. Two reference letters and transcript of records.
   • The reference letters can be sent along with the online Master’s degree applications.
   • For ETH students who plan to pursue a Master’s degree at the university, kindly attach the reference letters to your ESOP application forms.
     

Warning: All requirements are to be written accurately and accordingly by the applying candidate. Any traces of plagiarism or misinformation will result to instant disqualification from the application process. If discovered, they will also be revoked of their opportunity to enroll into the university and to apply for any type of scholarship.

How to Apply

Now that you’ve checked whether you’re eligible for the ESOP and ETH-D Scholarship programme, it’s time to begin with the application procedure. First things first, all candidates who are planning to give this scholarship programme a try must enroll for a Master’s degree programme at ETH Zurich beforehand. In order to do this, please contact the university’s Admission Office for more instructions on student enrollment.

Once you’ve finished your ETH Zurich Master’s degree application, you are now allowed to register for either the ESOP and ETH-D Scholarship programme. Download and print out the application form that has been provided above and fill it with all of the necessary information. As you finish filling out your application forms, submit them together with your required documents to the Financial Aid Office by the closing date.

Alternative submission method: should you wish to send your documents via postal carriage, you can do so. However, it must reach the Financial Aid Office. If you plan on sending through post, don’t forget to write down the address below:

Postal Address
ETH Zurich
Financial Aid Office
Rämistrasse 101, HG F 22.1
CH-8092 Zurich
Switzerland

All received applications will then go through an extensive evaluation process. This will be done by the Admissions Committees from all of of ETH Zurich’s Master’s programmes. However, the final decision will be made by the Rector of the ETH. As for the amount of scholarships provided each year, it depends on the funds that are available throughout the academic year. All acceptance announcements will eventually be made during the middle of March, so candidates are expected to be patient waiting for the results.

Important notes:

• Applications for ETH Zurich admissions are to be separately submitted through the university’s online portal.
• Candidates are given the choice to sign up for two Master’s degree programmes. However, if the candidate wishes to register for a scholarship for all of their Master’s degrees, the candidate must then send in separate scholarship applications for each Master’s degree programme.
• The submitted application dossier must be free from any paper clips or staples. Last but not least, only required documents are meant to be submitted – there should not be any other extra documents that are not needed by the scholarship programme.

Closing Date

If you’re all set for the ESOP and ETH-D Scholarship, then you better jot down these important dates! This year’s application registration for the 2021/2022 academic period will be opened from the Nov until Dec 2020. By the end of the application registration period, all forms and documents that are submitted must be completed and accurate. However, to avoid heavy application traffic, all candidates are highly advised to send in everything way before the closing date. This is also to ensure that candidates can have more time to compile any other necessary documents just in case if there is any missing information within the application submission forms.

Official Contact

Still need more information about the ESOP and ETH-D Scholarship? Then look no further! We have all the available contact information that you need just in case you need to ask more questions or inquiries. Whether it’s a small question about the program’s value or a heavy one regarding the programme’s application procedure, always ask the questions you need answers to. Last but not least, don’t forget to give out your 100%, either for this scholarship, or the next. Happy applying, future scholars of the world!

Address: ETH Zurich, Financial Aid Office, Rämistrasse 101, HG F22.1, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Phone Number: +41 44 632 20 40 or +41 44 632 20 88
Email: studienfinanzierung@sts.ethz.ch
Website: https://ethz.ch/students/en/studies/financial/scholarships/excellencescholarship.html