Collegium Helveticum expands its senior fellowship programme
The Collegium Helveticum has received a generous donation from the NOMIS Foundation. This will enable the Collegium, as Zurich’s Institute for Advanced Study, to expand its fellowship programme for established international researchers. Questions and answers about who will benefit from the new fellowships – and what they will fund.?
Who can become a NOMIS Senior Fellow?
Internationally renowned researchers who are established in their field and wish to work in an interdisciplinary manner, or already do so, can be nominated for a fellowship at the Collegium. Potential fellows must hold a professorship or at least a tenure position. A nomination is required to be invited to apply. In this way, the Collegium aims to ensure that the members of its supporting institutions also benefit from the presence of the fellows in Zurich. The Collegium offers other funding opportunities for early-career researchers.
Who can nominate candidates?
Professors from the three supporting institutions – ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and the Zurich University of the Arts – can nominate internationally renowned researchers. To be nominated, researchers must wish to work in an interdisciplinary manner and have developed a reputation in their field that extends beyond their own discipline. Self-nominations are possible but require the support of two professors from the supporting universities. What we consider most important is the exceptional profile of the proposed researcher and whether they have a strong interest in interdisciplinary exchange at the Collegium.
What does the Collegium Helveticum offer?
Fellows are given the opportunity to develop and pursue new research questions in a stimulating environment for five or ten months. With the new fellowships, the Collegium aims to invite researchers to Zurich who seek and promote interdisciplinary exchange. Former fellows report that the Collegium’s distinctive environment of exchange allowed them to gain new perspectives on their own research.
What does the Collegium expect from its fellows?
NOMIS Senior Fellows spend most of their time during the sabbatical at the Collegium. Provided this requirement is met, involvement in the working groups of colleagues is encouraged and supported.
Why is a NOMIS Senior Fellowship attractive?
Zurich is a very attractive location for researchers from Switzerland and abroad, but the high cost of living in Zurich makes a sabbatical in Zurich a financial challenge for many. Thanks to a donation from the external page NOMIS Foundation, the Collegium Helveticum can offer substantial financial support for five- or ten-month sabbaticals. All fellows are free to pursue a research project of their own choosing and find inspiration in a new environment; at the same time, they are integrated into the research contexts relevant to them.
Does the Early Career Programme also benefit from the partnership?
The Collegium is open not only to all disciplines, but also to researchers at all career stages after their doctorate. All fellows benefit from the exchange among the fellow community While funding from the supporting universities focuses on early-career fellowships, the NOMIS Foundation’s donation allows the Collegium to offer better support for established international researchers. The additional resources will be used to improve and expand the range of senior fellowships. Previously, these fellows received 1,000 Swiss francs per month, with the requirement that they spend one day per week at the Collegium Helveticum and organise their an event around their work. This amount will now be increased to 1,400 Swiss francs. In addition, fellows who wish to work at the Collegium for more than one day per week can receive correspondingly higher financial support.
Will the number of senior fellows be increased?
The primary goal is not to substantially increase the number of fellows, but to further improve the conditions for the fellows and thus make the programme even more attractive. Exchange across the wide range of disciplines present at the Collegium is only possible among a relatively small cohort of fellows.
When is the deadline for nominations?
Nominations for fellowships starting in September 2026 can be submitted until 15 January 2026. For subsequent years, there will be two application deadlines, always one year before the semester in which the fellowship is to begin.
Collegium Helveticum
The Collegium Helveticum is the Swiss Institute for Advanced Study supported by ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and the Zurich University of the Arts. It is part of an international network of sister institutes where international researchers and artists pursue their work in a stimulating interdisciplinary environment. Each year, the Collegium hosts up to forty international fellows who pursue their research projects, take advantage of opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange and organise public events related to their research interests. The Collegium Helveticum was founded in 1997 by ETH Zurich. The current director is ETH professor of theoretical biology Sebastian Bonhoeffer, and the managing director is science historian Mario Wimmer.
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