Swiss Excellence Deadlines for the 2027–28 Cycle
There is no global close date. SBFI's country list puts each window between 6 October and 30 November 2026. Your country's line is the only deadline that counts.
ScholarshipUnion Editorial
3 min read
Updated Oct 6, 2026
What is fixed — and what is not
For 2027–28, SBFI has published a national opening and a national start. It has not published one close date for the whole world. Each country has its own window in the official A–Z list of countries and territories (updated 1 September 2026). Anyone selling a single “Swiss Excellence deadline” is inventing it.
The cycle has been open since 20 August 2026. That does not mean your country's GO ESKAS window is open. Some representations open later (Poland and Hong Kong on 15 September, Bulgaria on 3 November); some close much earlier. Every close date is 11:59 pm Swiss local time.
The 2027–28 calendar
- 20 August 2026Applications open
GO ESKAS access published from this date.
- 2Differs by countryCountry close date
Between 6 October and 30 November 2026, 11:59 pm Swiss time. The most common dates are 27 November, 30 November and 10 November. Check your line on the SBFI list.
- 3By the end of May 2027FCS decisions
Awards for the following academic year are announced by the end of May at the latest.
- 41 September 2027Scholarship starts
The same start date for every track.
- 5From August 20272028–29 call advertised
The next cycle, if you miss this one.
How to read a country window
SBFI publishes an A–Z list of all countries and territories with scholarship types and deadlines, plus regional PDFs on the at-a-glance page. Those lists are the source of truth. Selected lines from the 1 September 2026 version:
| Country | Window (2026) |
|---|---|
| United States | 20 Aug – 6 Oct (Fulbright semi-finalists only) |
| Brazil | 20 Aug – 27 Oct |
| Bangladesh | 20 Aug – 30 Oct |
| Pakistan | 20 Aug – 31 Oct |
| Sri Lanka | 20 Aug – 3 Nov |
| India, Egypt, Iran | 20 Aug – 10 Nov |
| Ethiopia, United Kingdom | 20 Aug – 13 Nov |
| Vietnam | 20 Aug – 24 Nov |
| Nigeria, Ghana, Nepal | 20 Aug – 27 Nov |
| Kenya, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa | 20 Aug – 30 Nov |
| China (research fellowship only) | 20 Aug – 30 Nov |
| Türkiye | 1 Sep – 30 Nov |
| Poland | 15 Sep – 30 Nov |
The same list shows the types each country may request. China and Hong Kong are offered the research fellowship only, with no PhD scholarship. Art scholarships appear mainly for European countries, plus Israel, Japan, South Korea and the United States. There is no offer at all for Andorra, Canada, France, Greece, Greenland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain or Sweden.
If your country is not in the table above, do not copy another country's window. Open the A–Z list, find your line, and confirm with the Swiss representation named there. SBFI can update the PDF, so check it again before you submit.
The supervisor search sits before the close date, not in the last week. Professors travel, sit on panels, and already get more ESKAS requests than they can support. FCS even tells Swiss professors to back only one or two candidates a year.
Degree-completion dates that act like deadlines
Even if your country's GO ESKAS window is still open, the degree must exist by a fixed date:
- Research and PhD: Master's or equivalent by 31 July 2027.
- Host at ETH Zurich: Master's by 30 June 2027.
- Art Master's: Bachelor or equivalent by 31 July 2027.
If you miss 2027–28
FCS will advertise 2028–29 from August 2027. You may apply up to three times for the same type. A fourth attempt is an exclusion. If you are already in Switzerland on a doctoral-school place without the scholarship, the exclusion for anyone living, studying or working in Switzerland for more than 13 months before the September start still applies when you try the next cycle.