Funding
With donations, bequests and personal commitments, donors enable talented students and ambitious researchers at ETH Zurich to realise their full potential and work at the forefront of scientific breakthroughs in dialogue with industry and society.
Backed by a scholarship for financially disadvantaged students, Riccardo Feingold is on his way to achieving an ambitious life goal at ETH. He wants to found a successful start-up. His mechanical engineering programme is helping him to develop the skills he needs, network with students in other disciplines and finetune prototypes at the Student Project House.
Learn more"At ETH Zurich, I learned how to give my all and take joy in that. With my commitment, I want to help talented young people achieve great things."
Tilla Theus
Stay curious and scrutinise even the best solutions. This is the advice of Tilla Theus, ETH alumna, donor and one of the most important contemporary Swiss architects. Studying at ETH taught her to have a positive attitude to failure, and she remembers lectures from architectural greats like Louis Kahn and James Stirling with great fondness. Seeing how much some of her fellow students benefitted from an ETH scholarship encouraged her to support today’s young talents.
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Nabila Salsabila came to ETH Zurich from Indonesia thanks to an Excellence Scholarship. During her Master’s programme here, she is developing the skills she needs to be able to actively shape the shift to renewable energy and play a part in the fight against climate change.
Learn more"I want to encourage new talents to immerse themselves in the world of science, discover new things and develop a passion for research, just as I had the chance to."
Laura Kobel-Keller
Now an ETH lecturer and donor, Laura Kobel-Keller appreciated how open her own lecturers were to receiving questions and opinions from students during her studies at ETH. She now cultivates this willingness to share knowledge in her own lectures. As a lecturer and donor, she wants to support brilliant minds on their journey to greatness and ignite their passion for research.
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Together with Aurel Neff, Patrick Barton is working on developing new approaches to sustainable agriculture. Their start-up Caterra is developing a weeding robot that uses laser-based technology to till fields in a scalable, ecologically friendly manner, free from chemicals, while saving time and retaining cost efficiency. Through a Pioneer Fellowship made possible by donations, the up-and-coming entrepreneurs are receiving support in the form of start-up capital, mentoring and access to ETH labs.
Learn more"It is inspiring to see how talented researchers are bringing new solutions to life, and I am proud to support my alma mater."
Walter Fischli
ETH alumnus and donor Dr Walter Fischli founded Actelion, now one of Europe’s largest biotech companies, with three of his colleagues in 1997. His foundation supports research projects and young talents at ETH. For Fischli, science is like an orchestra, with outstanding researchers working together to advance sophisticated approaches and technologies until excellence is achieved.
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Making a positive change is also Xenia Voellmy’s goal. A recipient of the Excellence Scholarship, she was working on the “Autonomous River Cleanup” (ARC) student project, which aims to use technological solutions to combat water pollution. Her donation-funded scholarship enabled the future mechanical engineer to dedicate herself to her passion project alongside her studies.
Learn more"The Excellence Scholarship gave me so much on an emotional level. I support ETH to give something back and to keep a good thing going."
David Mzee
David Mzee studied sport at ETH, during which time he benefitted from an Excellence Scholarship. Today he supports outstanding students who belong to the top two to three percent of their year himself by contributing to the scholarship programme. The first quadriplegic sports teacher in Switzerland and member of the national wheelchair rugby team remembers his time at ETH fondly – the wealth of diverse expertise, the close friendships and countless people who are giving their all to make a positive change in the world.
Learn moreThe 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.
An earmarked donation allows you to support specific strategic projects at ETH. Are you passionate about supporting excellent students or researchers with entrepreneurial ambitions 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.
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.
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.
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 Foundation, set up specifically to manage real estate on behalf of ETH Zurich, we will ensure that your interests and wishes are respected.
If you prefer not to mark a loved one’s passing with flowers or wreaths, you can make a memorial donation to the ETH Foundation instead.
An acknowledgment letter will be sent to all donors.