Document checklist
Tick what you have ready. This is a planning tool, not an official SBFI decision. Download current FCS forms inside GO ESKAS.
This is a planning tool, not an official SBFI decision. Incomplete files and formal errors are exclusion criteria.
What FCS expects in GO ESKAS
The at-a-glance page lists the core pieces. Incomplete files and formal errors are exclusion criteria. Download current FCS forms inside GO ESKAS rather than recycling last year's PDF from a blog.
Complete CV
Education, degrees, awards, positions, publications, teaching, and practical experience. Art files should list exhibitions, concerts, and performances.
Motivation letter — maximum 2 pages
Why Switzerland, what the stay does for the next decade of your career, and what you will do after the scholarship. FCS is building cooperation, not funding an open-ended move.
Research proposal on the FCS form — maximum 5 pages
Research and PhD tracks. Include a timeline with milestones and a summary a non-specialist can read. One proposal only. The form is downloaded in the online application.
Supervisor letter + short CV
Letter of support on official letterhead, plus the Swiss supervisor's short CV (maximum 2 pages). Research fellowships also need a short CV of the supervisor at the home university.
Two referee emails
Two different professors in the field. GO ESKAS contacts them and asks for the FCS recommendation form. They are not optional attachments you upload yourself at the last minute.
Certificates and transcripts
Copies from previous universities. If they are not in English, French, Italian, or German, add a certified translation. For India, SBFI notes that self-certification is accepted.
Passport
Copy of the passport. Dual citizens submit copies of both passports.
Residence proof if you are already in Switzerland
Copy of the residence permit or registration confirmation. Entry must not be earlier than 1 August 2026.
Extra pieces by track
Doctoral schools
Add the official admission letter from the recognised graduate school. Missing that letter is an exclusion for school-based PhDs. Individual doctorates do not need admission at this stage — see the official FAQ.
Art portfolio
A PDF with links or QR codes: music (three styles, or scores for composers), visual arts (three works with sketches, dated and labelled), or other domains (recordings of performances). Plus confirmation of admission, conditional admission, or that the university's admission process has not opened yet.
What “complete” means in practice
Referees upload late. Supervisors travel. Translations take days. Build a buffer inside your country's window rather than treating the published close date as the day you start scanning PDFs. One research proposal, one host, one type. A second proposal is not a backup — it is an exclusion.
Checklist source: Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships at a glance.