4. Arrival & starting your stay
Deadline
14 days after your arrival in Switzerland (required by Swiss law)
Registration procedure
Non-Swiss scholar coming from outside of Switzerland
You need a residence permit, regardless of your nationality or visa requirements.
Non-Swiss scholar already living in Switzerland
You should have a valid Swiss residence permit.
Swiss citizens
You do not need a residence permit, yet still need to register upon arrival at your place of residence (unless you have already registered). For this you need a valid Swiss passport.
Scholarship holders from non-EU/EFTA countries
- The Advisor Swiss Insurance OPTIMA and HMO programme already includes the personal liability insurance.
- If you wish, you can purchase an additional household (home contents) insurance from Advisor or any other insurance company.
Scholarship holders from non-EU/EFTA countries
We strongly recommend that you purchase a personal liability insurance and if desired also the household (home contents) insurance from Advisor or any other insurance company.
- As a principle, personal liability and household (home contents) insurance are not mandatory in Switzerland.
- A liability insurance is strongly recommended by ETH. This insurance protects you from claims for damages if you injure another person or damage property belonging to another person. Insurance premiums are lower than the costs of potential damage. Examples of when you might need it:
- ETH is covered against material damage but is subject to a high deductible. If damage to installations or equipment is caused by the gross negligence of a scholar (e.g. in the laboratory), ETH can require the person responsible to cover the damage, wholly or partially.
- There is no special insurance for cyclists but if you ride a bike or do sports like skiing you are recommended to take out personal liability insurance.
- Some landlords insist on seeing evidence of your personal liability insurance before you can sign a rental agreement.
- Home insurance covers damage to your personal belongings in your home caused by fire, water damage, theft or broken glass. It is often combined with personal liability insurance.
Right after your arrival in Switzerland, you must enter your official email address and postal address in Mobility-Online (see your workflow). Enter the email address you received from your research institute and the postal address that you use to open your bank / post office account.
You are required to enter any change of address directly into Mobility-Online (see your workflow).
Note:
- Post is only delivered if the name of the recipient is on the letterbox. Either put your name on the letterbox or (if you are subletting) have your post sent c/o to the name of your proprietor. Include your room or flat number if there is one (e.g. in student residences).
- Inform the responsible residents' registration office, your health insurance company, your bank or post office, FCS, and the Reception Service as well as any other office you maintain business with of any address change.
- If you change your address during your scholarship stay, you can request that external page your mail be forwarded from your old address to your new address. This ensures that important mail is not lost.
First two instalments
- The first two stipend payments (so for September and October) will be paid out in cash, and can be picked up from 1 September on from the cash desk (room HG F 67.1, main building / "Hauptgeb?ude"). You can choose to pick up both payments at once, or one payment early September, and one payment early October.
- With the first stipend payment, you also receive financial support of CHF 300 for rental costs.
- ?To cover initial expenses upon arrival in Switzerland—such as purchasing a half-fare travel card, paying deposits, and other essentials—we recommend bringing between CHF 500 and CHF 1000 in cash. Alternatively, ensure you have a debit or credit card that allows ATM withdrawals during your first few days, until your scholarship funds become available.
Bank Account Setup & Scholarship Payments
- After registering for your residence permit, you must open a Swiss PostFinance or bank account within six weeks of your arrival (see the AVETH's "survival guide" for information on banks if necessary).
- Add your account details in Mobility Online: Enter the details correctly with all letters and numbers, as you can only enter them once.
- Any subsequent change of your account details must be communicated to the Reception Service, including the correct IBAN, to guarantee your scholarship payment.
- To open an account, you will need at least the following documents:
- Passport, ID
- Copy of rental agreement
- Residence permit (or confirmation of registration "Meldebest?tigung")
- Important: The address you use to open your Swiss PostFinance or bank account must be identical to the address registered with Mobility-Online.
- Scholarship Transfers: Starting with the third instalment, your scholarship will be transferred directly to your Swiss bank account—provided your details are correctly entered in Mobility Online by 15 October (typically).
- Scholarships are paid at the end of each month for the following month.
- Salaries, if applicable, are paid at the end of each month for the previous month.
Deadline
30 April
To help you make the most of your exchange experience at ETH, additional funding is available.
By the end of September, you will receive a separate email outlining which expenses can be reimbursed in your case. Please remember to keep all receipts.
Scholarship holders who do NOT receive supplementary income in addition to their scholarship are eligible for reimbursement of the following travel cards:
- Full reimbursement for the half-fare card
- Full reimbursement for the GA Night card (if you are under 25 years old)
- Partial reimbursement for the GA card (equivalent to the cost of a half-fare card)
These travel cards can be purchased online or at major train stations.
More information on all travelcards: SBB desks or external page online, external page ZVV Tickets i.e. the external page NetworkPass for the City of Zurich.
Customer Service of SBB and ZVV will be happy to answer your questions for example how to merge the ZVV NetworkPass with the Half Fare Travelcard on your external page SwissPass.
How to get your refund - deadline 30 April
Please upload the following documents as a single PDF in Mobility Online:
- A photo of your half-fare card, GA Night, or GA
- Proof of payment for the public transport cards mentioned above
- Personalized receipts for other eligible items as specified in our email
You may submit your reimbursement request at any time before 30 April. Important: Reimbursement is only issued once. Be sure to upload your receipts only when you are confident that all eligible expenses are included.
- You are allowed to take up to 5 weeks / 25 days of leave per year (pro rata) without the scholarship being reduced or suspended.
- Any absence must be agreed with your supervisor.
- Any absence of two weeks or more must additionally be reported to the Reception Service at least two weeks before your departure.
- You are responsible for clarifying your insurance situation when you leave Switzerland. Please contact your insurance company directly and, if necessary, take out additional travel insurance at your own expense.
- Check possible visa requirements for your journey.