Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship 2027-28: Pakistan Guide

Pakistani applicants for the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships 2027-28 must submit online by 31 October 2026, 11:59 pm Swiss time (3:59 am on 1 November in Pakistan). For Pakistan the scheme offers two things: a full PhD scholarship for up to three years, or a research fellowship of 6 to 12 months for someone already doing a PhD. Both pay CHF 2,450 a month and both need a professor in Switzerland who has agreed to supervise you.

We checked every date and rule below on the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) website on 20 October 2026. SERI's pages are the final word, so confirm there before you submit.

The Pakistan deadline and how to submit

SERI publishes one list of countries with their own dates. The row for Pakistan in the 2027-28 country list (PDF) says:

You apply through SERI's online system (ESKAS). SERI's at a glance page says clearly that applications sent by email or on paper are not accepted. Switzerland is in Central European Time, four hours behind Pakistan after the clocks change on 25 October, so treat the evening of 31 October in Pakistan as your real cut-off and do not leave the upload to the last hour.

Our Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships page keeps the summary, and the deadlines calendar shows what else closes this season.

Who can apply from Pakistan

For the PhD scholarship and the research fellowship, SERI's 2027-28 rules ask for:

• A master's degree (or equivalent) completed by 31 July 2027. For ETH Zurich the cut-off is 30 June 2027. So final-year MS or MPhil students can apply now if they will finish in time.
• Born after 31 December 1991.
• A research proposal with a detailed timeline, on the official form (up to five pages including a summary for non-specialists).
• A support letter from a Swiss supervisor, who must be a professor or research group leader at a Swiss university, university of applied sciences, ETH Zurich, EPFL or an ETH research institute. For a PhD, the supervisor must be allowed to supervise doctorates.

You cannot apply if you have lived, studied or worked in Switzerland for more than 13 months before the start date, if you already held this scholarship, if you have already applied three times without success, or if you send more than one application at once. Priority goes to people who have not studied or done research in Switzerland before.

What the scholarship pays, and what it doesn't

From SERI's 2027-28 rules:

• CHF 2,450 a month for living costs for one person. SERI stresses it is a scholarship, not a salary, and there is no family allowance.
• Health insurance premiums paid for holders from outside the EU and EFTA, which includes Pakistan.
• A one-off CHF 600 towards a rental deposit.
• A Half-Fare Travelcard for Swiss public transport.
• A return flight allowance for non-EU/EFTA holders, for the trip home after the scholarship ends.

Tuition is not covered. Some universities charge semester fees, which SERI puts at roughly CHF 600 to 2,000, and some (SERI names EPFL, ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich) may ask your supervisor for extra funding. Conferences and fieldwork are not funded. Ask your future supervisor about fees before you submit. Our cost calculator helps you see how far CHF 2,450 goes.

Duration: the PhD scholarship runs 12 months at a time, renewable twice up to 36 months, depending on progress in the first year. The research fellowship is 6 to 12 months and cannot be extended.

The documents you need

SERI's list for research applicants:

1. CV with education, awards, positions, publications and teaching or work experience.
2. Motivation letter, at most two pages.
3. Research proposal on the official form, at most five pages.
4. Letter of support from your Swiss supervisor, plus their short CV (at most two pages).
5. Contact details of two professors in your field. They upload their recommendation letters into the system themselves.
6. Degree certificates and transcripts, with certified translations if they are not in English, French, German or Italian.
7. Copy of your passport.
8. Proof of admission from the Swiss university where your PhD needs it, for example at graduate schools.

Pakistani degrees and transcripts are normally issued in English, so no translation is needed. If your Swiss university later asks for attested copies, HEC attestation takes time, so our HEC degree attestation guide is worth reading now.

Because your referees upload their letters directly, ask them today and give them the deadline in Pakistan time. Our request for recommendation email and the PhD recommendation letter sample show what a strong letter covers. For the motivation letter, see our PhD motivation letter sample, and for the proposal, our research proposal template.

Can you still make it if you have no supervisor yet?

Honestly, it is hard. SERI warns that finding a Swiss supervisor can take weeks or months, and without the support letter the application is incomplete. With eleven days left:

• If you are already in touch with a Swiss professor, ask for the support letter this week and send them your draft proposal.
• If you have not contacted anyone, you can still try professors whose recent papers match your MS work closely, with a short, specific email. Use our email to a potential supervisor, and if someone doesn't reply in a week, our follow-up email to a professor. Don't send the same email to dozens of people.
• If it doesn't come together, use the time to plan for the 2028-29 round. SERI opened this round in August, so expect a similar pattern next year. Our guide to contacting professors for a funded PhD explains how to build those contacts over the year.

Other Swiss options we track, such as ETH Zurich's master's scholarships, are on our scholarships in Switzerland page.

Applying is free: watch for scams

SERI says applying is free and that it never advertises the scholarship by email. Never send money to anyone who emails you about a Swiss scholarship, and never pay an agent to "submit" your ESKAS application for you. The only route is the online system linked from SERI's page. Our guide to avoiding scholarship scams lists the warning signs.

Your next step

Open SERI's Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships page, register in ESKAS today, and message your referees and your Swiss supervisor before the weekend. Submit by the evening of 31 October in Pakistan, and if anything is unclear, email the Swiss Embassy in Islamabad at the address in the table. Always check the date and rules on SERI's own pages before you submit, because they are the final word.