ETH4D Doctoral and Pre-Doctoral Mentorship Grants: Historical 2026 Reference

ETH4D Doctoral and Pre-Doctoral Mentorship Grants: Historical 2026 Reference

The ETH4D Doctoral and Pre-Doctoral Mentorship Grants were a research-mentoring and mobility programme run by ETH for Development (ETH4D) at ETH Zurich. The official programme page now says that the call is closed and that future calls have not yet been announced. This page therefore preserves the verified 2026 cycle as a historical reference. It is not a current application invitation.

The closed cycle had a clear practical purpose: connect an eligible doctoral candidate or master’s student with an ETH-based mentor for a one-year appointment, then support a short research stay with the mentor’s research group in Zurich. The programme was designed around an existing research project and an academic relationship, rather than around an open scholarship pool with automatic supervisor matching. Anyone looking for a later cycle should use the official ETH4D page linked above and wait for a new call and new criteria before preparing an application.

2026 cycle at a glance

The date in the table is the actual closing date for the archived cycle. It is retained in the front matter so the entry records what happened. The historicalReference flag is what tells the site that this is an archive entry rather than a live opportunity with a missed deadline. Because ETH4D has not announced a later round, the page does not guess at another date and does not label the programme rolling.

What the programme provided

The official description presents the mentorship as a one-year appointment during the mentee’s doctoral studies. ETH4D suggests regular meetings, including monthly meetings, and clearly defined project goals. Examples given by the programme include a conference presentation and a joint publication. An ETH mentor could serve on the mentee’s doctoral committee, but the official page says that this was optional rather than a requirement.

The second part was a research stay lasting between one and three months at the mentor’s research group in Switzerland. This arrangement matters because the stay was connected to the mentorship relationship and to a concrete research plan. It was not described as a general tourist or study-abroad award. A credible plan would need to explain what the applicant would do with the host group, why the work required that setting, and how the visit fit into the wider doctoral or pre-doctoral project.

The programme page listed a maximum grant of 10,000 CHF. The listed uses were:

• An economy round-trip ticket to and from Switzerland for the research stay, with a maximum of 1,500 CHF.
• Accommodation during the stay.
• A living allowance of 850 CHF per month for food and other personal costs during the stay, paid in cash by the host professorship.
• Visa fees.
• Health insurance, which the applicant must organise independently.
• Local transport in Zurich.
• Where applicable, research materials and conference attendance.

The 10,000 CHF figure was a ceiling for the eligible expenses described by ETH4D. It was not presented as a four-year doctoral salary, a general tuition award, or unrestricted personal income. Applicants in the closed cycle would have needed to build a detailed budget around the proposed stay and the programme’s permitted costs. A future call may change the ceiling, cost categories, or payment arrangements, so these 2026 terms should not be copied into a later application without checking the new official criteria.

Eligibility for the closed cycle

ETH4D described two sides of the arrangement. ETH professors were eligible to receive funding to host a student. The official page also said that ETH professors who were not already members of ETH4D would become members upon receiving a grant. The host was therefore not a decorative name on an application: the relationship needed to be real, and the host needed to be prepared to plan activities with the mentee and support the research stay.

Eligible mentees were doctoral candidates and master’s students registered at a university or research institute in a country on the current DAC list of ODA recipients, except for upper-middle-income countries. That wording is important. Eligibility was tied to the country classification used by the programme, not simply to nationality, continent, or a broad description such as “developing country.” A prospective applicant would have needed to check the relevant DAC list and confirm that their institution and country situation matched the published criteria.

The programme page also warned that students from certain countries might need a security screening before arrival. ETH4D said it was not involved in that process. That means travel planning could not stop at the grant application: an applicant whose stay required screening would have needed to allow additional administrative time and confirm the relevant requirements before making plans.

The programme was relevant to doctoral researchers who already had a defined project and could identify a meaningful connection with an ETH research group. Master’s applicants could also be considered in the pre-doctoral route, but the application materials required them to describe their plans for applying to a PhD after the pre-doc mentorship. The programme was therefore a poor fit for someone seeking an unstructured introductory visit or an award with no proposed host and no research plan.

Application package listed for 2026

The official page listed an electronic application form as the starting point. It also required a detailed budget prepared with the programme’s template. The budget needed to agree with the proposed length of stay, accommodation plan, travel, living costs, and any additional research or conference expenses claimed.

Letters of support were to be sent by their authors directly to the ETH4D Programme Manager. The package called for one academic reference letter and a support letter from the hosting ETH professor. The host letter needed to address the professor’s interest in hosting the candidate, planned activities within the research group, and any financial or in-kind contributions where applicable. For a pre-doctoral application, the professor also needed to explain how the stay would help facilitate future doctoral study.

The remaining project documents were to be combined into a single PDF. ETH4D listed the following contents:

1. A project description prepared according to the programme requirements.
2. A work plan and mentorship timeframe with planned activities shown in a Gantt chart.
3. A motivation letter from the doctoral candidate or master’s student. The stated limit was 3,000 characters excluding spaces, using Arial at size 11 with 1.15 line spacing.
4. For master’s students, an explanation of plans to apply for a PhD after the pre-doctoral mentorship.
5. University transcripts.
6. A CV of no more than two pages, including publications.
7. A doctoral project proposal, if available.

ETH4D stated that all application documents had to be written in English and submitted through the online application form. Since the 2026 form is no longer a current route, applicants should not rely on an old saved form, an old email instruction, or the former application URL. The live programme page is the correct place to watch for a future call and its replacement materials.

How an applicant would have prepared

The strongest preparation for the closed cycle would have started with the host relationship. ETH4D’s supervisor guidance says that students are responsible for securing a suitable host or supervisor before applying. It recommends contacting a professor in the same discipline two to three months before the relevant deadline, sharing a concise research summary, a CV with publications, transcripts, and— for the mentorship programme— a one-page summary of the current doctoral project. That guidance also makes clear that the match should be based on a real connection between the proposed work and the professor’s research.

Once a host was interested, the applicant and host would have needed to turn that connection into a workable year-long plan. The plan should identify the purpose of the Zurich stay, the activities that would happen with the research group, the expected outputs, and the points at which the mentor and mentee would review progress. The official programme examples—monthly meetings, a conference presentation, and a joint publication—show the level of specificity expected, but they do not force every applicant into the same output. A project might instead focus on a defined method, a manuscript draft, a dataset, or another research result that fits the field.

The budget and the project description also needed to tell the same story. A three-month stay would require a different accommodation, living-allowance, and travel calculation from a one-month stay. Health insurance was the applicant’s responsibility, and visa or security-screening requirements could affect the practical schedule. The single PDF requirement made document control part of the task: transcripts, CV, project description, Gantt chart, motivation letter, and any available doctoral proposal needed to be assembled in the requested format, while support letters followed the separate direct-submission route.

What to do now

There is no verified current application window to follow for this programme. The official page says the 2026 call is closed and that future calls have not yet been announced. Readers should treat the date, budget ceiling, document list, and eligibility wording above as a record of the 2026 cycle, not as a promise that the next call will use identical terms.

If ETH4D announces another round, begin with the new official programme page and read the new criteria before contacting a host. Recheck the eligible-country list, the grant ceiling, the permitted expenses, the required letters, the form, the deadline, and any travel or security conditions. A later call may retain the same one-year mentorship structure and 1–3 month research stay, but only ETH4D can confirm that. Until it publishes a new announcement, this entry should remain a useful record of the completed 2026 opportunity rather than a page that tells readers to apply to a closed form.

Frequently asked questions about the archived cycle

Is the 2026 grant still open?

No. ETH4D’s official programme page says that the call is closed. The verified deadline was 30 March 2026.

Has ETH4D announced the next round?

No. The official page says that future calls have not yet been announced. There is no sound basis for adding a future date or calling the programme ongoing.

How much funding did the 2026 cycle offer?

Up to 10,000 CHF for the eligible expenses listed by ETH4D, including travel, accommodation, the 850 CHF monthly living allowance during the stay, visa fees, self-organised health insurance, local Zurich transport, and, where applicable, research materials or conference attendance.

Who was eligible?

Doctoral candidates and master’s students registered at a university or research institute in a country on the current DAC list of ODA recipients, except upper-middle-income countries. An ETH host was also part of the arrangement.

Was this a full PhD scholarship?

No. The official description covered a one-year mentorship and a 1–3 month research stay. It did not describe the award as funding a full doctoral degree or a four-year salary.

Where is the official information?

Use the live ETH4D Doctoral and Pre-Doctoral Mentorship Grants page in the opportunity’s source link. It is the verified official destination for the programme, while the former application-page URL was no longer the right current destination.