ETH Postdoctoral Fellowship 2025/2026 in Switzerland

The ETH Postdoctoral Fellowship 2025/26 is a fully funded research opportunity for early-career researchers to conduct a two-year postdoctoral project at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. The program is designed to attract young researchers from around the world and support their career development in an excellent research environment. This prestigious early career programme is geared towards high potential academics with 40-50% of the fellows securing a professorship within a few years after the fellowship.

Fellows will work under the guidance of an ETH Zurich faculty supervisor in their chosen field. The fellowship offers a generous salary package, research funding, and mobility allowances. Applicants must either have already completed their PhD or be close to completing it at the time of application.

The ETH Fellowships are available for researchers in all disciplines represented at ETH Zurich.

Eligibility

Who can apply:

• Applicants must hold a doctorate (PhD)

•  Applicants with the doctorate (PhD) must have obtained it a maximum of two years prior to the submission deadline. The decisive date is the date of the examination or defense/viva voce.

• Applicants who have not yet completed their doctorate must submit a certification of the planned date of their defense signed by the advisor or department chair. The examination or defense/viva voce must have been completed by the time the fellowship is started (and no later than six months after the deadline).

• Applicants need to have at least one scientific publication in a peer-reviewed journal or have been awarded a prize for their doctoral thesis.

• Applications have to be supported by an ETH Zurich professor who is willing to act as the mentor of the fellow.

Restrictions:

• Applicants who earned their PhD from ETH Zurich or the University of Zurich will not be considered.

• Applicants may not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Switzerland for more than twelve months in the three years immediately before the submission deadline.

• Applicants may not have carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) at either ETH Zurich, EPF Lausanne, a research institute of the ETH domain (PSI, WSL, Empa and Eawag), or the University of Zurich for more than six months in the three years immediately before the submission deadline.

Program Dates:

• Application Deadline: 1 September 2025
• Interview Dates (via video-call): 11, 12, 13 September 2025
• Program Start Date: Must begin within 6 months after the deadline (latest by March 2026)
• Program End Date: 2 years from the start date

Program Coverage / Benefits:

• Fully funded fellowship
• Monthly gross salary:
  • Year 1: CHF 92,500
  • Year 2: CHF 97,200
• Research fund to support project activities
• Mobility and travel allowance
• Supportive mentorship and research environment

NOTE: Funding is sufficient to support independent research and living costs in Switzerland.

Required Documents:

Applications must be submitted electronically in pdf format using the ETH Zurich grant application system (eResearch). The online tool guides you through all required information. Please read the information on “How to submit” on the website carefully. Required documents include:

• PhD certificate or proof of expected defense within 6 months
• An invitation letter of supervision from an ETH faculty member
• Certification from advisor or department chair (if PhD not yet awarded)
• Research proposal (not to exceed 5 pages + a page for references if needed)
• CV
• List of publications
• Letters of recommendation. NOTE: For confidentiality reasons the reference letters must be sent electronically directly to the Grants Office, to the following address: ethfellows@sl.ethz.ch. For administrative reasons, the reference letters should arrive 10 days before the relevant submission deadline at the latest. Only two reference letters will be accepted. Additional reference letters will not be considered.

Important / Additional Information

• Fellowship is highly competitive and prestigious within the European research community
• Applicants are encouraged to begin early, especially in contacting potential supervisors
• Projects must align with ETH Zurich’s research areas
• Grants Office cannot support candidates in their search for a suitable host professor. The candidates have to identify and contact the preferred host professor on their own. Candidates are asked to check if they fulfill the eligibility requirements before contacting a potential ETH host professor.