Student Mobility for Studies (SEMP SMS)

Stays at partner universities which include course attendance or Bachelor’s and Master’s thesis and other project work are conducted within SMS (part of ?Swiss-??European Mobility Programme?, SEMP).

Application deadline

1 March 2025, 23.59, for the following academic year

Important: Students must discuss a planned application with their departmental exchange coordinators in advance.

Before, during and after the exchange, various requirements must be met. Among other things, you will need to submit several different documents via Mobility-Online at different times.

We will notify you by email at the appropriate points. Thus, read our emails and follow our instructions even during your stay at the host university.

Some partner universities require proof (e.g. a certificate) of language proficiency. Check as early as possible whether such proof is required, and in what form. Any language certificates will have to be submitted only with the application to the host university, and not with the application to ETH Zurich. Our prerequisite, of course, is that you have sufficient knowledge of the teaching language at the host university!

For an overview of host university requirements go to the search portal for online applications and look for the desired university. Click on the icon in front of the university names (“Display details of this bilateral agreement”). The relevant documents and/or the link to the host university will appear if they have been sent to us. If no information is available please consult the host university website directly.

If your host university requires a language certificate, it is often sufficient in Europe to submit an informal proof of sufficient language skills from the home university (just for English), a certificate from the Language Center of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich regarding courses completed (see below), or a copy of the Matura/Abitur academic record which documents the respective language taken. We will issue an informal language certification confirming the English language level of C1 once we have approved your application, if you have declared an adequate language level in your application form. If in doubt, contact the host university.

We strongly recommend that you attend courses in the host university’s teaching language or national language at the external page Language Center of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich as early as possible. The Language Center issues confirmations of courses completed. These are not official language certificates, but such confirmations are often accepted in Europe.

Visa UK

Take notice that due to Brexit and corresponding new immigration rules you may require a language certificate for your Visa application. Browse: external page Study in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Requirements of the host university

Before applying, carefully check the host university's information and requirements, especially regarding the study plan and any restrictions on course enrolment as well as language requirements (see above).

For an overview of host university requirements go to the search portal for online applications and look for the desired university. Click on the icon in front of the university names (“Display details of this bilateral agreement”). The relevant documents and/or the link to the host university will appear if they have been sent to us. If no information is available please consult the host university website directly.

Also read the exchange reports of former outgoing exchange students in the IKB. They often contain helpful information.

British academic year

At most UK universities, the academic year is divided into trimesters (this affects examination planning). For stays of one trimester only lasting less than 90 days the scholarship will be reduced (see Tab “Scholarships”).

Imperial College London (ICL)

Applies to students of D-BAUG, D-BIOL, D-CHAB, D-MATH, D-MATL, D-MAVT: Please note if applying to Imperial College in London that as a rule only applications for an entire year are accepted. Project and thesis work which involves no course attendance is excepted. In the department of aeronautics no exchange for course work possible for the time being, but only for projects.

University College London (UCL)

Only exchanges which involve attending lectures are possible! You may apply for project work via SEMP Europe Projects & Traineeships.

The application deadline is 1 March for an exchange in the academic year immediately following. Be aware of any earlier deadlines in your department.

Late applications for the Spring Semester are possible until 1 September, provided there are still free exchange places available. (Free places are listed in the Mobility-Online portal and allocated by the departmental exchange coordinators in the department.)

For unproblematic and fast online application, start collecting the required documents and information early.

ETH reserves the right to exclude students from future exchange programmes if they withdraw from an exchange without sufficient grounds for doing so (examination failure, illness, accident).

JavaScript has been disabled in your browser