Fellowship FAQs

Doctoral Fellowship

Doctoral candidates are expected to have completed or be nearing completion of a Master’s degree in computer science, physics, engineering, applied mathematics. They must have an excellent track record and must meet the general admission requirements for a doctorate at ETH Zurich.

NOTE: Master-students are eligible to apply. If the application is successful, they are expected to have completed their masters-studies at least 3 months before the beginning of the fellowship program (latest by June 2027).

Postdoctoral Fellowship

At the time of the submission deadline, candidates must hold a doctorate (PhD) or will complete their doctorate at least 3 months before the beginning of the fellowship program (latest by June 2027). 

The application must be made through our online-application portal. Applications sent via email or postal services will not be considered. 

Applications for the 2027 doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships will open from Tuesday, September 15, 2026 until 16:00 CET on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.

It is not possible to edit your application after submitting. 

The application process for doctoral and postdoctoral candidates involves three parts:

1. Filling out the online-application form and uploading the required supporting documents (your degree certificates and transcripts, a motivation letter, CV, and video). You should receive an automated confirmation email that contains three links. 
2. Send the links individually to your referees (one link to each referee). Using the link, your referee can directly upload the reference to our application portal. By forwarding these links you agree that the references uploaded by the referees will be combined with your application automatically. (If the references are not submitted on time, your application will not be considered. Only complete applications will be reviewed.)
3. Promising candidates will be short-listed and invited to the doctoral or postdoctoral symposium to give a research talk and have personal interviews with the potential mentors. 

All application documents must be uploaded by the application deadline (Tuesday, 27 October 2026, 16:00 CET).

Reference letters must be uploaded by the reference letter deadline (Monday, 2 November 2026, 23:59 CET). Applications without reference letters will not be considered.

Motivation Letter (1–2 pages)

Your motivation letter should explain why you are applying and why you are an ideal candidate for the ETH AI Center. Please address:

• Your motivation for joining the ETH AI Center and what makes you a strong fit
• Your strengths and skills relevant to your selected interdisciplinary impact area
• Your experience and interest in working within interdisciplinary teams
• Your strengths and skills relevant to entrepreneurial or other technology transfer-related interests
• How you would contribute to the ETH AI Center's community and culture

Research Statement (Postdoc applicants only, 1–2 pages)

Your research statement should give an overview of your research trajectory and how it connects to the Fellowship. You can include:

• An overview of your past research and current work
• Your future scientific projects and goals, and how they align with the ETH AI Center Fellowship 

Note: page limits above exclude references. 

No, it is not a requirement to contact faculty members before applying. 

At least two reference letters must be submitted. An optional third reference letter may further support your applications.

The following information are obtained from the referees: external page see example link

For doctoral candidates

The referees should be professionally established researchers who know you well, both academically and personally. At least two referees must be at the level of independent investigator, principal scientist, group leader, lecturer or above. A maximum of one reference may come from a postdoc. References from PhD students or class-mates cannot be accepted.

For postdoctoral candidates

The referees should be professionally established researchers who know you well, both academically and personally. At least two of the references must come from established professionals with research responsibilities or experience (e.g. at the level of principal scientist, group leader, lecturer, senior research scientist or any equivalent senior position). An optional third reference may come from any of the above professions. References from Postdocs, PhD students or classmates cannot be accepted. 

The ETH AI Center fellowship coordination team does a formal review for completeness of all received applications. Only complete applications will be fowarded to the faculty for technical review. Promising candidates will be short-listed and invited to the doctoral or postdoctoral symposia. 

Approximately 1-2 weeks before the Symposium.

Postdoctoral Symposium: 28-29 January 2027
Doctoral Symposium: 1-2 February 2027

Note: The symposium will take place online via Zoom.

Invitations to the symposium will be communicated by the middle of January 2027.

Fellowship offers will be sent out by the end of March 2027.