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Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships for Bulgarian Scholars and Artists for the Academic Year 2025/2026

Each year the Swiss Confederation awards Government Excellence Scholarships to promote international exchange and research cooperation between Switzerland and over 180 other countries. Recipients are selected by the awarding body, the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS).

The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships are aimed at young researchers from abroad who have completed a master’s degree or PhD and at foreign artists holding a bachelor’s degree.

Full description of the scholarships can be found on the web-page of the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Science and Innovation.

Types of scholarship

The research scholarship is available to postgraduate researchers in any discipline (who hold a master’s degree as a minimum) who are planning to come to Switzerland to pursue research or further studies at doctoral or postdoctoral level. Research scholarships are awarded for research or study at all Swiss cantonal universities, universities of applied sciences and the two federal institutes of technology. Only candidates nominated by an academic mentor at one of these higher education institutions will be considered. Art scholarships are open to art students wishing to pursue an initial master’s degree in Switzerland. Art scholarships are awarded for study at any Swiss conservatory or university of the arts. This scholarship is available to students from a limited number of countries only.

Selection criteria

The FCS assesses scholarship applications according to three criteria:

  • Candidate profile
  • Quality of the research project or artistic work
  • Synergies and potential for future research cooperation

For Bulgaria the Swiss Government offers the following opportunities:

  • Research Fellowships: 2 months (September – August) – no prolongation possible; Cannot be upgraded into a prolongable PhD scholarship. Grant applications for stay lasting less than 9 months will not be treated as a priority. Grant applications for stay lasting less than 6 months will be rejected.
  • PhD Scholarship: 12 months (September – August) – prolongable up to 36 months; The PhD scholarships can be prolonged in three steps of 12 months based on the achieved academic results. It is the concerned grant holder’s and the supervisor’s responsibility to find sufficient funding beyond the maximal duration of the PhD scholarship (36 months) if it turns out to be necessary to end the doctorate.
  • Postdoctoral Scholarship: 12 months (September – August) – no prolongation possible; Grant applications for stays lasting less than 9 months will not be treated as a priority. Grant applications for stays lasting less than 6 months will be rejected.
  • Arts Scholarships: 12 months (September – August) – prolongable up to 21 months at most, depending on the Master programme chosen and the necessary ECTS credits.

For additional information and to receive application forms, please write to the contact person.

Deadline for submission of the application documents: 20 November 2024.

Contact person:

Mr Dimiter Dimov, Project Coordinator
Center for Advanced Study Sofia
7B Stefan Karadja Str., entr. 3, apt. 23
phone: +359 2 980 08 43
email: [email protected]
web: https://cas.bg