Engineering for Development (ETH4D) Doctoral Mentorship Program 2026/2027 (Fully Funded to ETH Zurich, Switzerland)

Application Deadline: 30 March 2026

Applications are now open for the 2026/2027 Engineering for Development (ETH4D) Doctoral Mentorship Program. ETH4D provides grants for mentoring doctoral candidates and master’s students from least-developed, low- and lower-middle-income countries.

The mentorship is a one-year appointment and comprises the following components:

• Research stay at the mentor’s research group (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) for 1-3 months during the mentorship period.
• Mentorship from one ETH professor, senior scientist or postdoc over a period of one year of the mentee’s doctoral studies. We suggest monthly meetings and clearly defined goals of the project, e.g., presentation at a conference, joint publication. ETH mentors are free to serve on the doctoral committee of the ETH4D mentee, but this is not a requirement. 

Eligibility Requirements

• ETH professors are eligible to receive funding to host a student. ETH professors who are not currently members of ETH4D must become members upon receiving a grant. 
• Eligible mentees are doctoral candidates and master’s students who are registered at a university or research institute in any country listed in the current external pageDAC-list of ODA recipients, except from upper-middle-income countries.
• For students from Downloadcertain countries, a security screening may be required prior to arrival. ETH4D is not involved in this process. 

Expense covered

The grant covers expenses up to a maximum of 10k CHF and includes the following:

• Economy roundtrip ticket (max. 1.5 kCHF) to and from Switzerland for the research stay
• Accommodation
• Living allowance of 850 CHF per monthfor the duration of the research stay at ETH Zurich, to cover food and other personal costs (paid in cash by the host professorship) 
• Visa fees
• Health insurance (self-organised)
• Local transport in Zurich
• If applicable
  • Research materials
  • Conference attendance

Application Documents

• Completed electronic application form
• Detailed budget using template
• Letters of support, submitted via email from the authors directly to the ETH4D Programme Manager ([email protected])
  • One academic reference letter
  • Support letter from the hosting ETH professor, including
    • Statement of any financial or in-kind contributions, if applicable 
    • Interest in hosting the candidate, and any planned activities within the group
    • For pre-doc applications, the professor should also describe how the stay will help facilitate a future doctoral study
• Submission of all other project documents in a single PDF:
  • Project description (see below for requirements) 
  • Work plan and timeframe of the mentorship, including planned activities, in the form of a Gantt Chart
  • Motivation letter of the doctoral candidate or master’s student (3’000 characters excl. space characters, using Arial/ size 11/ line pitch 1.15).
    • Master’s students should also describe their plans for applying to a PhD after the pre-doc mentorshipo   University transcripts
  • CV of doctoral candidate or master’s student (max. 2 pages), incl. publications
  • Doctoral project proposal (if available)

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Engineering for Development (ETH4D) Doctoral Mentorship Program