For the 2026-27 cycle, Switzerland raised its government research stipend from CHF 1,920 to CHF 2,450 a month, a 27% increase, and nearly doubled the number of scholarships awarded worldwide, from roughly 281 to around 500. GCC nationals are explicitly named among the eligible nationalities. If Switzerland wasn’t already on your list of study destinations alongside the US and UK, this reform is worth changing that.
Why Switzerland Belongs in the Same Conversation as Oxford and Harvard
Switzerland hosts two of the world’s top 15 ranked universities, ETH Zurich and EPFL, alongside ten cantonal universities and four specialized research institutes. Unlike Fulbright or Chevening, funding here doesn’t run through a single home-country-restricted channel. Two separate routes exist, and they work differently enough that picking the right one matters.
Route One: The Swiss Government Pays (ESKAS)
The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship, known by its German acronym ESKAS, is administered by the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students and funds postgraduate research, doctoral, and postdoctoral work at any Swiss cantonal university, ETH Zurich, EPFL, or one of four ETH Domain research institutes.
What changed for 2026-27: the monthly research stipend rose to CHF 2,450, and the global scholarship count rose to roughly 500, a meaningful expansion that most scholarship guides published before this reform still haven’t caught up with. If you find older content citing the previous CHF 1,920 figure, it’s outdated.
What it covers beyond the stipend: tuition and, in most cases, health insurance, though some universities, including EPFL, ETH Zurich, and the University of Zurich, require an additional funding commitment from your academic supervisor on top of the government stipend.
The requirement that trips up most applicants: you need a letter of support from a Swiss academic supervisor who agrees to guide your research before you can apply at all. This isn’t a formality. Finding and securing this supervisor typically takes months and needs to happen well before the application window opens.
Eligibility: open to applicants from 183 countries, with country-specific guidelines and deadlines published each year. GCC states are explicitly included among eligible nationalities. You generally need a master’s degree completed (or nearly completed) by mid-2027 and must have been born after December 31, 1991, for most research scholarship tracks.
Timeline: applications open August 20, 2026, with country-specific deadlines published around the same time. Since finding a supervisor takes real lead time, start that process now rather than waiting for the application window to open.
Route Two: The University Pays Directly (ETH Zurich Excellence Scholarship)
This is a completely separate program from ESKAS, funded and administered by ETH Zurich itself rather than the Swiss government, and it targets a different level of study.
What it’s for: incoming Master’s students, not postgraduate researchers, which makes it the more relevant option if you’re applying straight out of a bachelor’s degree rather than already holding a master’s.
What makes it stand out: it places no nationality restriction on applicants at all. Students from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and everywhere else compete on identical terms, evaluated on academic trajectory, not just a final GPA. Admissions committees specifically look at whether your grades improved over time and whether you took on genuinely challenging coursework, not just the final number on your transcript.
How to apply: through the ETH eApply portal alongside your general admission application, since scholarship consideration happens as part of the same process rather than through a separate scholarship-only form.
What About Home-Government Funding?
If you’re a Saudi or Emirati national, your own government’s outbound scholarship programs can generally be directed toward scholarships in Switzerland as well as the US or UK. Saudi Arabia’s KASP and the UAE’s Ministry of Education-approved university list both extend to strong non-US, non-UK destinations, so Switzerland doesn’t have to compete against your home-country funding; it can work alongside it. We cover these home-government routes in detail in our guide at Scholarship100 for Gulf students at Harvard and the Ivy League, which applies the same logic to Swiss destinations.
| ESKAS (Swiss Government) | ETH Zurich Excellence Scholarship | |
| Who runs it? | Swiss Confederation | ETH Zurich directly |
| Degree level | PhD, postdoctoral research (some Master’s research tracks) | Incoming Master’s students |
| Nationality restriction | None; 183 eligible countries including GCC states | None |
| Key requirement | A Swiss academic supervisor’s letter of support | Strong, improving academic trajectory |
| 2026-27 stipend | CHF 2,450/month | Varies, covers tuition and living costs |
A Few Quick Questions
Is the CHF 1,920 stipend figure I’ve seen elsewhere still accurate?
No. That’s the pre-2026-27 figure. The current rate is CHF 2,450 a month, part of a reform that also nearly doubled the total number of scholarships available.
Do I need a Swiss supervisor before I apply for ESKAS?
Yes, this is a mandatory prerequisite. Contact potential supervisors well before August, as securing academic support often takes several months.
Can Gulf nationals use their own government scholarship for Switzerland instead of ESKAS?
Generally yes. KASP and UAE government scholarships cover global destinations, making Switzerland a fully valid choice alongside the US or UK.
What if I’m applying for a Master’s, not a PhD?
Look at the ETH Zurich Excellence Scholarship specifically, since ESKAS mainly targets postgraduate researchers who already hold a Master’s degree.
Are ETH Zurich and EPFL the only good options in Switzerland?
No, though they’re the most globally ranked. Beyond top tech schools, ESKAS extends to ten cantonal universities and four ETH Domain research institutes across various specialized fields.
