PLEASE NOTE THAT STARTING FROM 2024 THE SUBMISSION PROCEDURE WILL BE THE FOLLOWING:

MASTER’S THESIS GRANT

These grants are to support collaborative inter-university cutting-edge research for students with top academic credentials studying towards an engineering degree (with engineering understood as to include environmental engineering and involving the use of scientific principles for the design, construction or production of physical or virtual structures or systems to implement an application*), or towards a degree in all medieval disciplines, as well as towards a degree in digital humanities at the intersection of medieval disciplines and computer or data science.

* Note: For projects that are at the intersection of engineering and other disciplines, we require that challenges posed by the project be in engineering and not in the field of application of the project’s outcome. For this reason, the host faculty and laboratory must be mainly active in engineering.

The grant aims to encourage research collaboration between two universities that must be located in two different countries, namely the home university of the candidate and a hosting university or research institute, with one of the two being situated and governed in Switzerland. The grant will contribute to cover local living costs of the candidate while she/he is visiting in person for the entire period the hosting university or research institute exclusively, together with travel costs corresponding to a low-fare economy-class return airfare/train ticket from the home university to the hosting university.

Please note that this grant :

• cannot be used, be it directly or indirectly, to cover fees charged by the hosting university to the student (such as tuition, visiting student, hosting, administrative, processing, department bench, laboratory fees or the like). To be considered for funding, all applications must therefore include an explicit statement from the director of the hosting chair or laboratory that any fee charged by his/her institution to visiting students will be waived or fully covered by the hosting chair or laboratory. This of course does not concern payments made via the hosting institution for student expenses that are not charged by that institution (such as health insurance or visa processing fees);

• will not be awarded to students enrolled in inter-university degree or exchange programs for exchanges between universities of the program(s) in question.

The Foundation will give no information, justification or reason for its decisions concerning acceptance or rejection of applications. By submitting an application, the applicant implicitly accepts that no reply will be given to such requests.

We wish to inform applicants that, due to a significant increase in the number of applications to our fellowship programs, there is a high probability that students whose grade point average is not in the upper tier (roughly top ten percent) for their institution(s) of study will not be selected.

Stipend duration

Three to six months.

Grant

A stipend of 2’000, -- Swiss francs per month to defray local living expenses at the hosting university or research institute, plus flat rate economy-class return airfare/train ticket from the home university to the hosting university.

If the applicant has other sources of funding:

• for an amount of up to 20% of our grant there will not be any deduction
• for an amount above of 20 % of the grant, the deduction will be that amount from the other source of funding that exceeds 20% of our grant
• nevertheless at least 10% of our original grant will be maintained.

No other fees and/or university overhead (tuition fees or visiting fees) will be covered.

The last installment of the grant (CHF 2’000.-) will be paid only upon receipt of a statement sent directly from the thesis advisor at the home university (the same who signed the project), confirming that the attendance was successfully completed.

Application procedure

Applicants should send before the relevant application deadline for an intended Master’s thesis stay abroad that begins at the earliest five (5) months after that application deadline an email to the ZKS Foundation’s email address (info@zenokarlschindler-foundation.ch), with attached the following three files:

1. the “Application form” completely filled in.
2. the "Affidavit" duly completed, dated and signed.
3. a single PDF document containing the following documents in that order:

• A one-page resume, including descriptions of the candidate’s education and work experience, plus elementary personal data (date and place of birth, citizenship, marital status, language proficiency).

• two-page description of the candidate’s proposed research project including its goals and methodology, relevant references, and ending with the name, and signature of the thesis advisor at the candidate’s home university. Note that if this research project does not fall within disciplines sponsored by the Foundation (see first paragraph above) a grant will not be awarded.

• A short (maximum half a page) statement penned by the candidate indicating her/his grade point average in the units used by her/his institution, over all courses excluding the thesis grade for each diploma that she/he has earned or is currently studying towards.

• The candidate’s complete grade transcripts otherwise known as Transcripts of Records or Mark-sheets for all years of higher education with their translation into English if not originally written in English, French, German or Italian.

• A scanned email or letter from the hosting professor on letterhead from the hosting institution with her/his address and phone number, confirming that (i) she/he will host, provide guidance to the candidate for the entire duration of her/his stay, (ii) providing any relevant information she/he may wish to contribute concerning funding for your work during your Master’s thesis, and (iii) certifying that any fee charged by his/her institution to visiting students will be waived or fully covered by her/his chair or laboratory (without this last statement the application will not be considered).

Recommendation letters are not considered, hence please abstain from sending them to us.

IF YOUR APPLICATION IS NOT ACCEPTED, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO APPLY A SECOND TIME FOR THE SAME GRANT.

Note: in considering the application, the ZKS Foundation may contact the hosting professor.

Deadlines

Twice a year : May 1st and November 1st of each year, at 23:59 (Swiss time).