Swiss scholarships are very helpful for Indian students as they help cover the fees and living expenses when completing academic courses in Switzerland. The education in Swiss universities is more affordable for international students when compared to European universities. In this blog we will we will provide information regarding the different scholarships, application process, eligibility criteria, and other details.
Indian students willing to study at prestigious colleges in Switzerland find it difficult to meet the tuition fees and other expenses. However, the fees of public colleges in Switzerland are less and provide quality education, the fees of private institutions are very high when compared to the public universities. Scholarships are provided to students in the form of a parietal or full tuition fee waiver and result in ultimately reducing the total expenses of the students. Scholarship in Switzerland is provided on a financial and merit basis depending on the availability of the academic awards or the financial or economic background of the students. The most important aspect of Swiss scholarship for Indian students is that it helps make the academic journey easy for the students.
There are generally two types of scholarships available for Indian students to apply for
The government Swiss scholarship provides financial aid to Indian students in the form of tuition fee waivers and various fellowships to motivate them to be admitted to various research programs in different Swiss universities. Let's examine the different types of Swiss government scholarships
The scholarship is provided by the Swiss Confederation to promote research cooperation between Switzerland and other countries and international exchange. Moreover the scholarshi[p also promotes research and artistic ability among the students. The scholarship is available for international students completed their bachelor's degree and want to complete their master's and PhD in Switzerland.
Duration: It provides monthly payments to cover the living costs for 12 to 21 months.
Benefits: Monetary payment to cover the cost of living amounts to 1920 CHF or Rs.1.79 lacs per month.
Eligibility Criteria:
Application process: Apply from the official website
Application deadlines: For the academic year 2025-26, the application will be released in August 2024.
The scholarship is available for Indian students to complete higher education in Switzerland, including their eligibility criteria, benefits, description, deadlines, and application process. A large number of colleges in Switzerland provide waivers in tuition fees, and monthly stipends to cover the living expenses of the students.
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne provides this scholarship to any student undergoing any degree course at any Swiss university and requires financial support to complete the course.
Duration: Applicable for the total duration of the course (depending on the length of the course)
Benefits: The scholarship provides a monthly stipend of 1920 CHF or Rs.1.78 lakhs per semester to cover the study and living costs. The scholarship also provides some additional benefits such as the:
Eligibility Criteria
Application Process: The candidates can apply online from the website of the university
Application deadlines:
The faculty of science along with its external partners, has created the Excellence Master’s Scholarship program, for highly meticulous and motivated students pursuing a Master of Science at the University of Geneva. The selection of the candidate is based on their excellence.
Duration: The scholarship is awarded for a year, and it can extended further depending on the academic performance and specialization of the student.
Benefits: The Excellence Fellowship includes a grant of 10000-15000 CHF, or 9 lakh to 13 lakh INR.
Eligibility criteria:
Application process: Students can apply on the website of the university by submitting a motivation letter and other required documents like an academic transcript from a bachelor's degree and CVS.
Application Deadlines: The application deadline for the master's starting from September 15, 2025, is 28 February 2025.
The University of Lausanne provides master’s grants to new undergraduate students who have achieved academic excellence in thrift previous studies. The grant provides around ten scholarships every year. Although the grants are not fully funded in the case of a master's degree the amount the student gets is not sufficient for meeting the expenses of living and studying.
Duration: The scholarship is provided for the entire duration of the academic program.
Benefits: CHF 1600 or INR 1.48 lakh per month from 15 September to 15 July (or ten months a year) during the complete duration of the course.
Eligibility criteria:
Application process: The application of the students should be automatically considered for the scholarship application.
Application deadline: The applications can be submitted on or before November 1st, 2024.
The scholarship is provided to international students enrolled in any type of master's program conversing with the living and studying costs of the students during the total duration of the course.
Duration: 3-4 Semester
Benefits: Students are provided with 12000CHF or 1.11 lakhs per semester to cover the studying and living expenses of the students along with a waiver in tuition fees (depending on the course).
Eligibility criteria:
Application Process: The students can apply for the scholarship from the official website of the university.
Application deadline: The application should be submitted on or before November 30th, 2024.
These are fully paid scholarships in Switzerland for international students including India. The scholarship helps in making it easy for the students to manage their living and studies in Geneva. The scholarship covers the living costs and tuition fees of the students in the city. The scholarship is available for international students pursuing LLM at the Geneva Academy Switzerland.
Duration: The scholarship is applicable for 10 months only during the entire duration of the program.
Benefits: Covers the living costs and tuition fees of the students.
Eligibility criteria:
Application process: The candidates can apply for the scholarship program on the official website of the Geneva Academy.
Application deadline: The applications can be submitted on or before February 24, 2025.
Franklin University Switzerland provides the “Franklin Honors Award Program” for international students including Indian students with exceptional and strong academic backgrounds willing to take admission in undergraduate courses.
Duration: Applicable for the total duration of the program
Benefits: The university provides 2600-8900 CHF or 2.41-8.27 INR per semester.
Eligibility Criteria: Students are required to have a minimum of 3.5 GPA or any equivalent and proof of rigorous academic curriculum and academic performance.
Application process: The application for the scholarship is considered automatically.
Application deadlines: The application can be submitted on or before December 1st, 2024.
Here is the list of Swiss scholarships available for Indian students during PhD courses.
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research provides a scholarship program for international PhD students at Swiss universities. ELES Doctoral Scholarship program is to doctoral candidates from various disciplines excluding the medical program.
Duration: The scholarship program is applicable for 2 years but can also be renewed for another year.
Benefits: The monthly stipend for doctoral scholarship students is 1350 EUR or 1 lakh per month and monthly 100 EUR or RS 9000 additional for research work. Also in some cases, monthly health insurance is provided to the students.
Eligibility criteria: Students should have an excellent academic background and motivation to conduct will be preferred.
Application Process: Application for the scholarship program can be submitted from the official website of the ELES or Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk.
Application Deadlines: The application for the scholarship can be submitted on or before December 1st, 2024.
The documents required for applying for different Switzerland scholarships for Indian students depend on the type of university and the type of course selected by the students. The documents required also depend on the eligibility criteria of different courses.
However, the scholarship schemes require some standard documents that are required in the majority of universities. Some of the major documents that are required for applying for Scholarships programs in the universities of Switzerland are:
The availability of affordable education programs and scholarship opportunities in various Swiss universities for international students including Indian students makes it easy for the students to manage their educational and living expenses in Switzerland. The scholarship provided by the Swiss universities helps in reducing the burden of the international students, by supporting their living expenses in their country. They also provide other benefits to international students such as health insurance, partial or complete tuition fee waiver for private universities where the cost of education is very high, and also travel costs.