ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship

ThinkSwiss is an official scholarship program managed by the Office of Science, Technology, and Higher Education at the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C. The program is funded by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) and is supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in Ottawa, Canada. The aim of the program is to promote research opportunities in Switzerland for American and Canadian students and to foster the exchange between Swiss, U.S., and Canadian universities and research institutions.

The ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship program provides a monthly scholarship of CHF 1,050 (approx. USD 1,050) for a period of 2 to 3 months (CHF 3,150 maximum).

Responsibilities

Recipients of the scholarship will participate in a blog to share experiences during the research period in Switzerland. Upon return to the U.S., recipients must carry out at least one activity as student “ambassador” to promote Swiss research. Half of the scholarship will be paid at the beginning and half at the end of the grant period, after scholarship holders have submitted a final report.

Eligibility Requirements

Students must:

• Be currently enrolled at an accredited U.S. university/college
• Be a graduate student or an undergraduate student who will have completed the sophomore year by the time the research stay in Switzerland begins
• Provide a written confirmation from a professor at a Swiss university that he/she will accept you for a research stay in his/her group

Knowledge of German, French and/or Italian is not required, though beneficial

Application Process

A complete application requires:

• Cover letter
• Résumé
• Letter of acceptance by a professor at a Swiss university into his/her research group
• A current official university/college transcript
• A letter of reference from a senior academic in your field of study