Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships 2027–28: CHF 2,450 a Month for PhD and Research in Switzerland

The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships 2027–28 are open, and for many applicants the closing date is only weeks away. Switzerland's State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) offers the awards to early-career researchers from 183 countries. Winners receive CHF 2,450 a month to do a PhD or a research stay at a Swiss university, starting on 1 September 2027.

The scholarship is run by the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS, also known as ESKAS). Unlike most scholarships, you do not apply to a university. You apply through the Swiss embassy or consulate that covers your country, and each embassy sets its own deadline.

What the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships 2027 offer

There are three types of award for 2027–28. SERI lists them on its "at a glance" page:

• PhD scholarship: 12 months, renewable twice, so up to 36 months in total. Renewal depends on your progress in the first year.
• Research fellowship: 6 to 12 months with no extensions. This is for people already doing a PhD outside Switzerland who want a research stay at a Swiss institution. Young medical doctors can apply too.
• Art scholarship: 12 months, extendable to 21 months, for a first master's degree at a Swiss university of the arts or music. Only applicants from a limited number of countries can apply for this one.

All three types begin on 1 September 2027. You can hold the award at a cantonal university, a university of applied sciences, ETH Zurich, EPFL or one of the four ETH Domain research institutes (PSI, WSL, Empa and Eawag).

Money and benefits

SERI lists the following benefits for 2027–28:

• A monthly payment of CHF 2,450, meant to cover basic living costs for one person.
• Compulsory health insurance premiums paid by the FCS for holders from outside the EU and EFTA.
• A return flight allowance for non-EU/EFTA holders. The amount depends on your home country.
• A one-off CHF 600 grant towards a rental deposit.
• A Swiss Half-Fare Travelcard for public transport.

Be clear about what is not paid. Tuition and semester fees are not covered, and SERI says some institutions charge between about CHF 600 and CHF 2,000. Conferences and fieldwork are not funded, and there is no family allowance. If you plan to bring a partner or children, budget for that separately.

Who can apply

The programme is aimed at talented early-career researchers who already hold a master's degree. The main rules for 2027–28 are:

• You must be born after 31 December 1991.
• For a PhD scholarship or research fellowship, you need a master's degree by 31 July 2027 (30 June 2027 if you are going to ETH Zurich).
• For the art scholarship, you need a bachelor's degree by 31 July 2027 and no master's yet.
• You need a supervisor at a Swiss institution who agrees to guide your research and writes a letter of support. SERI is blunt about this: applications without an academic supervisor will not be considered.
• Priority goes to people who have not studied or done research in Switzerland before.

You will be excluded if you have already held this scholarship, have lived or studied in Switzerland for more than 13 months before the start date, or have already applied unsuccessfully three times.

Deadlines: check your embassy

There is no single closing date. The online application portal, GO ESKAS, opened on 20 August 2026, and SERI publishes country-specific deadlines in regional PDFs on its website. As an example, the Swiss embassy in Ethiopia gives a deadline of 13 November 2026 for Ethiopian applicants.

Look up your own country's date on the SERI page before you do anything else. Finding a supervisor can take weeks, so if your deadline is in November you are already short of time. Decisions are announced by the end of May 2027.

Documents you will need

For a PhD scholarship or research fellowship, SERI asks for:

1. A full CV.
2. A motivation letter of no more than two pages.
3. A research proposal with a timeline, on the official FCS/ESKAS form (up to five pages, including a summary for non-specialists).
4. A letter of support from your Swiss supervisor, plus their short CV (up to two pages).
5. For research fellowships, a short CV of your supervisor at your home university.
6. Contact details for two professors, who will upload recommendation letters themselves.
7. Degree certificates and transcripts, with certified translations if they are not in English, French, Italian or German.
8. A copy of your passport.

Art applicants submit a portfolio and proof of admission to a Swiss arts or music university instead of a research proposal.

How to apply

1. Open the SERI scholarship page and find the regional PDF that lists your country's deadline and available scholarship types.
2. Identify a professor at a Swiss university whose work matches yours, and email them with a short proposal and your CV. Ask whether they would supervise you and write a letter of support.
3. Write your research proposal on the FCS/ESKAS form. Keep it within five pages.
4. Ask two professors at home to act as referees, and warn them they will receive an upload link.
5. Submit everything through GO ESKAS before your embassy's deadline. SERI does not accept email or paper applications.

The application is free. SERI warns about fake offers that ask for money for visas or social insurance. Never send money to anyone claiming to process this scholarship.

Tips from the selection criteria

The FCS judges research applications on three things: your academic profile and motivation, the originality and method of your project, and the quality of the supervision and future collaboration. In practice the supervisor letter carries a lot of weight. A specific letter from a professor who has read your proposal is far stronger than a general note of support.

Make the proposal concrete. Name the data or lab work you need, explain why it has to happen in Switzerland, and show a realistic timeline. Reviewers read hundreds of proposals, so a clear one-page summary helps.

If you are a strong bachelor's graduate rather than a researcher, the ETH Zurich Excellence Scholarship 2027 may suit you better. Its application window runs from 1 to 30 November 2026.

Contact

Questions about the programme go to SERI at sgs@sbfi.admin.ch. For country deadlines and local rules, contact the Swiss embassy or consulate responsible for your country. Always confirm the details on the official SERI page before you submit.