ETH4D Doctoral Mentorship Programme Description:

Title: ETH4D Doctoral Mentorship Program 2025/2026 | Fully Funded

Application deadline: 30 March 2025

1. Goals of the ETH4D Doctoral Mentorship Programme

The mentorship entails remote support of doctoral students in low- and lower-middle-income countries as well as a research stay of 1-3 months at ETH Zurich (see point 3). The goals of the program are:

• to strengthen collaborations between ETH groups and universities or research institutes in low- and lower-middle-income countries

• to support doctoral candidates at universities in low- and lower-middle-income countries with mentorship and technical knowhow and at the same time to provide research groups at ETH with additional perspectives and insight

• to expand the academic network of doctoral candidates to become successful researchers and leaders inside and outside of academia.

2. Eligibility for the ETH4D Doctoral Mentorship Programme

Eligible are doctoral candidates registered at a university or research institute in any country listed in the DAC list of the OECD1 except from upper-middle-income countries.

Activities and Deliverables

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

•  Mentorship from one ETH professor, senior scientist, or postdoc over one year of the mentee’s doctoral studies. For this, monthly meetings need to be held. We suggest clearly defining the goals of the project, e.g., a presentation at a conference, or a joint publication. ETH mentors are free to serve on the doctoral committee of the ETH4D mentee, but this is not a requirement.
• The applicant must be an ETH professor, regardless of the position of the mentor.
• Research stay at the mentor’s research group (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) for 1-3 months during the mentorship period.
• The mentee can attend an academic conference and/or receive research material for up to 6 CHF.

Finances and Budget

The grant covers expenses up to a maximum of 15’000 CHF and includes the following:

• Economy roundtrip ticket (max. 2 kCHF) to and from Switzerland for the research stay
• Visa fees
• Travel allowance to attend an academic conference and research material (e.g., lab equipment) (max 6 CHF).
• Fees for health insurance
• Local Transport ticket
• Accommodation
• Living allowance for the duration of the research stay at ETH Zurich to cover food and other personal costs (paid in cash by the professorship): 850 CHF per month

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