Heyning-Roelli Foundation Scholarship for Exchange Students (Switzerland)

About the scholarship

The Heyning-Roelli Stiftung, founded in Zurich on 15 February 2010 by Eduard C. Heyning, supports talented but economically disadvantaged students who take part in official exchange programmes at Swiss universities. Get the framing right: the foundation does not award full scholarships. It pays grants that cover a documented budget shortfall, decided case-by-case by its Board of Trustees based on need, destination and duration — and other scholarships you hold are counted against the award. It is an independent foundation (administration runs through the Zurich law firm Blum & Grob), not administered by ETH Zurich, and the grant is open to exchange students at any Swiss university.

Eligibility

• Bachelor's and Master's students taking part in an official exchange programme (the Swiss-European Mobility Programme, or bilateral agreements between Swiss and foreign universities) for one or two semesters at a partner university.
• Incoming route: students at foreign universities with an approved exchange placement at a Swiss institution, remaining enrolled at their home university; Swiss students invited to write their Bachelor's/Master's thesis abroad are also covered.
• Excluded: double-degree students, students who have already completed an exchange, and retrospective applications (exchange already started).
• Nationality is open — no official source restricts this to developing countries; that framing appears only on some blogs.
• You must be economically disadvantaged with a documented budget shortfall.

Benefits

• A grant sized to your documented shortfall, covering travel and living/subsistence costs during the exchange, plus other exchange-connected costs — decided individually by the Board of Trustees.
• There is no fixed lump sum: blog figures such as "CHF 8,800 per semester" are not supported by any source, and a dated university document's "up to CHF 5,000" cap contradicts the foundation's current no-fixed-amount policy.
• No tuition waiver is mentioned anywhere in the foundation's materials.
• Grants from other sources reduce the award — the foundation only covers the remaining gap.

Documents required

Officially named by the foundation: motivation letter (no template) and proof of financial need (bank documents, tax returns, letters from relatives, etc.). Independent guides consistently add:

1. One-page motivation letter (no template)
2. Bachelor's/Master's transcripts and GPA calculation result
3. Confirmation/nomination from the host university (preliminary proof, e.g. an email confirmation, is accepted; formal admission can follow)
4. Proof of financial need — bank documents, tax returns, letters from relatives
5. CV

How to apply

1. Secure your exchange placementthrough your home university's official exchange programme first (nomination/confirmation from the host Swiss university).
2. Apply online through the foundation's website— email applications are no longer accepted. Respect the cutoff: 24:00 CET on 20 October for the spring round.
3. Sign the declaration of commitmentafter arrival in Switzerland (submitted to the administration email); payout happens once it is received, at the earliest one month before the exchange starts.
4. Decisions are emailed by end of Novemberfor the spring round (end of July for the autumn round).

FAQs

Verified 16 Oct 2026 via heyning-roelli-stiftung.ch (official foundation site) and ETH Zurich mobility materials. No fixed award amount exists; CHF 8,800/CHF 25,000 blog figures are unsupported or contradicted; no tuition waiver; not ETH-administered; nationality is open.