Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships 2027/28

Written by Keagan HendricksStaff Writer (Unisa Alumnus)

Reviewed & verified by Naledi KhumaloSenior Admissions and Bursaries EditorVerified

The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships pay foreign researchers a monthly living allowance to do doctoral research in Switzerland. The Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS, known in Switzerland as ESKAS) selects the scholars, and the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) runs the programme. South Africans can apply for the 2027/28 academic year until 30 November 2026 at 23:59 Swiss time, for scholarships that start on 1 September 2027.

These are not Master’s scholarships. Applicants must already hold a Master’s degree, or finish one by 31 July 2027, and they must have a professor in Switzerland willing to supervise them before they apply.

The PhD scholarship and the research fellowship

SERI’s country list shows two scholarship types open to South African citizens this round.

PhD scholarship

This funds a full doctorate at a Swiss university or recognised research institute. It is awarded for 12 months and can be renewed twice, to a maximum of 36 months, depending on academic progress in the first year. The Swiss Federal Council has decided that doctoral scholarships can be extended to up to four years from 1 January 2028. A student can do a PhD either through individual supervision, where a letter of support from the supervisor is enough at the application stage, or through a doctoral school, where confirmation of admission to that school is compulsory. Applying for the scholarship and applying for admission to the doctorate are two separate procedures.

Research fellowship

This is for someone registered for a PhD outside Switzerland, for example at a South African university, who wants to spend part of that doctorate researching in Switzerland. It lasts between 6 and 12 months, cannot be extended, and covers full-time research only. SERI names young medical doctors in the target group. Students on a formal joint-supervision (“cotutelle”) agreement between a Swiss and a foreign university can only apply for this 12-month fellowship, not a PhD scholarship.

Two other types are not available to South Africans. Art scholarships for a first Master’s degree at a Swiss art school or conservatory are offered only to a limited number of countries, and South Africa is not one of them this round. Postdoctoral scholarships have been scrapped: SERI stopped awarding them from the 2027/28 academic year.

Finding a Swiss supervisor first

Every application needs a letter of support from an academic supervisor at a Swiss higher education institution, plus that supervisor’s short CV. Without it, the FCS does not consider the application. Suitable supervisors are professors and laboratory group leaders; for a PhD scholarship the supervisor must be allowed to supervise doctoral theses. At a university of applied sciences, a doctorate needs two supervisors, one of whom must be able to confer doctorates at a traditional university. SERI warns that finding a supervisor can take weeks or months because professors receive many requests, and its FAQ says ESKAS recommends that each professor supports only one or two candidates a year.

Host institutions include the ten cantonal universities (among them Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern and Lausanne), ETH Zurich and EPFL, the four ETH Domain research institutes (PSI, WSL, Empa and Eawag), the Graduate Institute in Geneva and the universities of applied sciences.

Age limit and other cut-offs

• Date of birth after 31 December 1991.
• Master’s degree or equivalent completed by 31 July 2027, or by 30 June 2027 for ETH Zurich.
• Priority goes to people who have not studied or done research in Switzerland before. Anyone already living there must have arrived on or after 1 August 2026; living, studying or working in Switzerland from more than 13 months before the scholarship starts rules an applicant out.
• Previous holders of a Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship cannot apply again, and a fourth attempt after three unsuccessful applications is excluded.
• One application only: applying to several host universities or for several scholarship types at once, or submitting more than one research proposal, leads to exclusion, as does an incomplete application.

CHF 2,450 a month, and the costs it leaves to the scholar

The Federal Council raised the monthly amount to CHF 2,450 from 1 January 2026, the first increase since 2006, when it was set at CHF 1,920. To pay for the rise without extra spending, it cut the number of funded places from 350 to between 200 and 250 a year, counting new and continuing scholars.

SERI stresses that the scholarship is not a salary and covers one person only. It pays no family allowances, and residence permits for family members are decided by Swiss migration authorities under what SERI calls a restrictive policy. Scholars must live in the city or canton of their host institution. Some institutions, including EPFL, ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, require the supervisor to add funding on top of the scholarship, and the FCS must be told about any other income, such as teaching or research assistant posts. Anyone planning to earn money on the side should read up on working in Switzerland as a student, since the scholarship may not be used to supplement full-time employment.

What goes into the GO ESKAS application

Applications are made only through SERI’s online system, Grants Online (GO ESKAS). SERI says not to send applications by email or on paper. The research application needs:

1. A full CV with degrees, awards, positions, publications, and teaching and practical experience.
2. A motivation letter of no more than two pages explaining why Switzerland and how the stay fits the applicant’s career plans.
3. A research proposal of up to five pages, including a summary for non-specialists, on the FCS form that downloads inside GO ESKAS, with a timeline and milestones.
4. The Swiss supervisor’s letter of support and two-page CV; research fellowship applicants also add a short CV of their supervisor at the home university.
5. The email addresses of two professors in the field, whom GO ESKAS contacts to upload recommendation letters on the FCS form.
6. Copies of university certificates and transcripts, with certified translations if they are not in English, French, Italian or German.
7. A copy of the passport (both passports for dual citizens), and for PhD applicants at a graduate school, confirmation of admission.

The Swiss Embassy in Pretoria and the 30 November deadline

The call for South Africa opened on 20 August 2026. Applications close at 23:59 Swiss local time on 30 November 2026; Switzerland is an hour behind South Africa at that time of year, so the system closes at 00:59 on 1 December by South African time. The Embassy of Switzerland in South Africa, at 225 Veale Street, Parc Nouveau, New Muckleneuk, Pretoria, is the contact point for South African applicants, on pretoria.science@eda.admin.ch and +27 12 452 0695.

The FCS judges each application on the candidate’s academic profile and motivation, the originality and method of the research project, and the quality of supervision and prospects for future research cooperation. It announces its decisions by the end of May 2027 at the latest. SERI says the scholarships for 2028/29 will be advertised from August 2027.

Applying is free. SERI has warned about fake scholarship offers that use the Swiss government’s name and ask for money for visas or insurance, and advises never to reply to such emails or send money. SERI’s own programme address is sgs@sbfi.admin.ch. Full details are on SERI’s Scholarships at a Glance page. Doctoral candidates who would rather stay in South Africa can compare the DSI-NRF postgraduate scholarship and our postgraduate bursaries list.

FAQs