ETH Zurich Foundation, Projects & funding opportunities

Because science and society need outstanding emerging talent

Every year, the ETH Excellence Scholarships support students in the top two to three percent of their year group. Excellence Scholar Josien de Koning is working to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. The world needs imaginative young individuals such as Josien to enable the construction sector to do its bit for the climate. Thanks to your contributions, we can continue to provide the best possible support for these students as well as future specialists from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.

Because bright ideas should reach the market faster

Many groundbreaking ideas are born at ETH. Some of them have the potential to survive in the market and contribute to society. Pioneer Fellow Lukas Ambühl is developing a tool to simulate urban traffic systems, with the aim of making traffic planning more resource-efficient. The planned ETH Centre for Students and Entrepreneurs will ensure that young entrepreneurs like him receive even better support in future.

Find out more about the ETH Centre for Students and Entrepreneurs

Data & information

Because data science, AI and quantum technology open up new horizons

Basic research develops powerful tools for gaining new insight. Fostering it enables progress in numerous fields. At the ETH AI Center, for example, research is carried out into and with trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) and its applications. Next-generation researchers are a crucial success factor. Like doctoral student Afra Amini, who thanks to the AI Center’s Fellowship programme is studying automated human language processing.

Find out more about Afra Amini

Materials & manufacturing technology

Because we need better, resourceefficient and more cost-effective materials

New, resource-efficient, sustainable materials and manufacturing technologies are of key importance to both Switzerland as an innovation hub and to the world as a whole. Your support opens up new opportunities in development, manufacturing and recycling. For example, the supported ETH spin-off FenX is introducing an insulation material made from waste that is high performing, recyclable and non-flammable, as co-founder Enrico Scoccimarro demonstrates.

Find out more about Enrico Scoccimarro and FenX

Resposibility & sustainability

Because the global challenges are enormous

For a more sustainable world, interdisciplinary collaboration and research in the fields of climate, natural resources, energy, mobility, food and development are urgently needed. 2022 sees the start of a joint Master’s degree programme in Mechatronic Engineering, offered by Ashesi University in Accra, Ghana, and ETH Zurich – a boost for the training of highly qualified engineers in Africa and for the next generation of responsible leaders.

Find out more about the Master’s degree programme

Health & medicine

Because we can improve the quality of life for every age group

The ageing population requires new approaches in medicine. Excellence Scholar Giulia Amos took part in a project that motivates rehabilitation patients to perform their exercises through engaging gameplay. Just one example of how digitalisation and advanced technology in engineering and life sciences can lead to new approaches in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.

Because turning visionary projects into reality requires greater freedom

Great things begin with a vision and the will to shape the future together. Unrestricted donations to the ETH Foundation are used by the ETH Board as a catalyst to realise visions and enable opportunities in teaching and research to be acted upon immediately. By not earmarking your donation, you give ETH Zurich more freedom to drive ideas to fruition quickly, flexibly and unbureaucratically.

Find out more about the Poly Fund

Projects & funding opportunities

Your commitment makes great things happen. There are many ways to support teaching and research at ETH Zurich. Do you have a personal request or a specific funding wish? Then we would be pleased to hear from you.

Un-earmarked support

The ETH Foundation supports top-class research and excellent teaching at ETH, thus contributing to the development of solutions to the most pressing challenges of our time and strengthening Switzerland’s position as a hub for knowledge and business. Making a general, non-earmarked donation allows the university the greatest possible flexibility. ETH can, for example, create new professorships or support exceptional research projects

Earmarked support

An earmarked donation allows you to support specific strategic projects at ETH or a subject area of your choice. Are you passionate about supporting excellent students, researchers with entrepreneurial ambitions or outstanding female scientists at ETH Zurich? Do you want to enable innovation in a particular research field such as climate change, sustainable food systems, healthy ageing or quantum research? The ETH Foundation will be happy to help you find a cause close to your heart.

Support in your name

You can provide long-term support for a cause close to your heart or ETH in general through a named fund. We will set up a fund in your name, for your chosen purpose, e.g. the “Joanna Smith Fund for the Promotion of Excellent Female Students” or the “John Smith Fund for the Promotion of Climate Research”. We will provide regular updates on the supported projects and the fund’s finances. We will also give your named fund the level of publicity you wish.

Making an impact beyond your lifetime

By leaving a legacy or bequest to the ETH Foundation, you can make a lasting commitment to those topics and values that are particularly important to you – from a commitment to excellent talent to the promotion of a specific field of research. This way, you create a memento of your life and make an effective contribution to a brighter future.

Bequeathing property

Your emotional attachment to your home tends to grow over the course of a lifetime as it becomes a place of life-defining experiences and milestones. This makes it all the more understandable that you want to know that your property will be in
good hands when you are no longer around. As a reliable partner, the ETH Foundation ensures that donations, legacies or bequests of property are handled professionally. Together with Immobilien ETHZF AG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the ETH Zurich Foundation, set up specifically to manage real estate on behalf of ETH Zurich, we will ensure that your interests and wishes are respected.