Living-stipend planning estimate
Slide months to see CHF 2,450 × months. This is a planning estimate, not an official SBFI decision and not a salary, tuition grant, or family budget.
Planning months
months
Estimate at CHF 2,450/month
CHF
Research stay
6–12 months. No extension.
Art Master's
12 months, extendable to 21 depending on the programme and ECTS.
PhD
12 months, renewable twice up to 36 if first-year progress is acceptable.
Official published rate is CHF 2,450/month living costs for one person. Not a salary. Not tuition. Zurich and Geneva cost more than this figure often feels like. This calculator does not add unpublished allowances. This is a planning tool, not an official SBFI decision.
CHF 2,450 is living money, not a salary
For research fellowships, PhD scholarships, and art scholarships, SBFI publishes CHF 2,450 per month to cover basic living expenses for one person. The same page says the scholarship is not a salary and must not be treated as regular pay, financially or legally. You cannot use it as a top-up on a full-time job.
That number is the same in Zurich, Geneva, Bern, and Lugano. The cost of living is not. Zurich and Geneva regularly sit at the top of European city-cost rankings. A single room in a shared flat in those cities can absorb a large share of CHF 2,450 before you buy food, pay a phone, or put money aside for a deposit. Smaller university towns are usually easier; they are still Switzerland.
Figures below for rent are illustrative, not SBFI official rates. Check current listings in the host city. Do not treat a “fully funded” label on an aggregator as a promise that the stipend will feel generous.
What FCS adds on top
Health insurance
FCS covers compulsory health-insurance premiums for holders from non-EU/EFTA countries. Holders from EU/EFTA countries pay those premiums themselves.
Rental deposit
A one-time grant of CHF 600 toward the rental deposit. Many Swiss landlords ask for more than that as a guarantee.
Half-Fare Travelcard
Public-transport Half-Fare card. Local travel is still not free.
Return flight (non-EU/EFTA)
A return-flight allowance, amount set by country of origin, usable up to two months after the scholarship ends and only to return home. EU/EFTA holders pay their own travel.
What you still pay
Zurich and Geneva, honestly
If your host is ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich, the University of Geneva, or IHEID, assume housing will be the hard part. Shared flats in those cities often list rooms in a range that can run from the high hundreds of francs into well over CHF 1,000 a month. A studio is usually more. Those are market observations, not official SBFI figures, and they move.
Some hosts (SBFI names EPFL, ETH Zurich, and the University of Zurich as examples) expect the academic supervisor to add funding. Any extra scholarship, teaching, or research-assistant pay must be reported to FCS. The Excellence award is not a licence to stack a full salary on top.
You must live in the city or canton of the host institution. That rule kills the idea of commuting from a cheaper country next door while drawing the stipend.
Amounts and extras: at a glance. If a listing site quotes a different monthly figure, ignore it until SBFI changes the page.