The annual ETH4D Doctoral scholarship

ETH Zürich is a public university in Zürich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The University annually awards CHF 200,000 to PhD students from low income countries. The ETH4D Doctoral scholarships promotes research and education with a priority is given to doctoral projects which develop a method or product which is directly relevant for improving the livelihoods of underprivileged people in low-income countries.

Scholarship benefits

The ETH4D doctoral scholarship amounts CHF 200’000 for a period of three years.

The scholarship/project period can be extended on a no-cost extension. Out of the scholarship grant, CHF 181’400 is reserved to cover the salary of the ETH4D Fellow for three years (level of employment: 100%, incl. social security), CHF 8’200 for material costs and/or travels.

Eligibility

All interested applicants must ensure they meet the following requirements before applying:

• The general entrance requirements for doctoral studies at the ETH Zurich1 and the respective department must be fulfilled.
• Experience in the selected research area is required.
• Candidates must be citizens of least developed, low-, or lower-middle-income countries according to the OECD DAC-2024-25 list classification

Supervisor requirements:

• The doctoral supervisor must be an ETH professor and must have a guaranteed ETH position for the entire duration of the proposed project.
• The supervisor confirms their commitment to the project by a letter of support, indicating their financial contribution to the project.
  • Supervisors must contribute the remaining salary costs of a four-year PhD.

Research project requirements:

• The research topic is within the thematic scope of ETH Zurich.
• The proposal is a new doctoral project, not complementary funding to ongoing research.
• Priority will be given to projects which develop methods, technologies, tools or products that generate a direct impact for underprivileged people in low-income countries, and which take into account the ecological, socio-economic, and cultural context.

Partnership requirements:

• Projects must include partners from countries on the OECD DAC-2024-25 list.
• Partnerships must be based on the KFPE principles • All partners are involved in project formulation and development.
• All partners make a substantial in-kind or cash commitment.
• The project is integrated in the general activities of the involved institutions.

How to apply

Interested applicants are to submits the application form to the ETH4D programme office by e-mail to francis.baranyk@nadel.ethz.ch in one single pdf document. Along with:

• Concept notes: Only concept notes fulfilling all indicated requirements will be taken into consideration and will be evaluated by the ETH4D committee for exchanges with regard to their suitability for the second step. The deadline for submitting concept notes is 22 February 2025. Candidates can expect to receive a decision for this stage five to six weeks after the deadline.
• Proposal: Candidates whose concept note is accepted by the committee for exchanges are required to elaborate a full proposal together with the professor who agreed to supervise the project. Full proposals must be submitted by the ETH professor to the ETH4D Programme Office (francis.baranyk@nadel.ethz.ch) by 10 May 2025 in one single pdf document. Candidates can expect to receive a decision seven to eight weeks after the deadline

Required documents

1. Concept Note Application Form 2025 (DOCX, 38 KB)CV of the candidate (max. 2 pages)
2. Motivation letter of the candidate with career intentions
3. Excellent MSc degree from a recognised university and grade transcripts
4. Support letter of the supervising professor at ETH Zurich, stating financial contribution to cover remaining salary costs of the four-year PhD
5. 2 reference letters from your field of research
6. Relevant own publications or documentation of relevant activities relating to the project
7. List of 5 independent reviewers (same field of research, but unknown to candidate and professor)
8. Bibliography

Application deadline

Applications for 2025 are currently closed.

For more details visit the ETH4D Doctoral scholarship page.