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Unclaimed
Discovery tool, not advice. Every figure is the published rule, not a decision on your case.
Grants

ETH Zurich Pioneer Fellowship

ETH Pioneer Fellowship

Status

Runs biannual; last round closed 2026-09-01

Projected from its published cycle — not a date the funder has confirmed.

Closed

Projected from the pattern of past calls — confirm on the funder's page before planning around it.

Amount
180,000 CHF

GIVEN, equity-free: Deep-Tech track pays CHF 120,000 for 12 months (ICT, space tech, engineering and others) or CHF 180,000 for 18 months (life sciences, pharma, medtech). The Global Development track pays CHF 150,000 for 18 months across all fields. TAKEN: nothing - ETH takes no equity through the fellowship, though separate licence terms apply if you license ETH IP. About 5-6 Deep-Tech and 1 Global Development fellowship are granted per call.

You must co-fund 0%.

Funder

ETH Zurich

public · national

Deadline: Fixed cut-off dates — The application portal opens 1 July 2026 and closes 1 September 2026 at 5pm Swiss time. Deep-Tech interviews are scheduled for 29 October 2026; the Global Development interview date is to be confirmed.

Your odds
Not published

This funder does not publish a success rate. We rank it using the rate observed across similar programmes and label it as an estimate rather than implying we know.

Effort
major

Major bid — written case, budget, possibly partners.

Who can apply

Applicant must be an ETH Master's or doctoral student or ETH researcher wishing to commercialise ETH research. The company must NOT yet be incorporated at the time of application. Global Development projects must serve populations earning under USD 10 per day in eligible low- and middle-income countries.

How to apply

  1. Secure the support of an ETH host professor - the project must be fully backed by them
  2. Prepare the business case and technical plan
  3. Apply through the ETH Pioneer Fellowship portal before the September deadline
  4. Interview with the selection panel
  5. Fellowship starts; the company must not yet be incorporated at application

What you will need

Related reading: How grant deadlines actually work

Apply on the funder's site

Source. https://entrepreneurship.ethz.ch/startups-spinoffs/find-offers-programs-space-grants-for-entrepreneurs/pioneer-fellowship.html

"CHF 120'000 for 12 months (ICT/Space Tech/Engineering/Others) or CHF 180'000 for 18 months (Life Sciences / Pharma / Medtech)"

Verified on 25 September 2026

Source: entrepreneurship.ethz.ch

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