Fulbright Scholarships

The U.S. Fulbright - Swiss Scholarship Program

As the most prestigious international exchange program in the world today, the Fulbright Program has been instrumental in fostering mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other nations for sixty years. Since its creation, the Fulbright Program has offered over 225,000 participants the opportunity to learn about the political and economic institutions and cultures of another country, exchange ideas, and conduct joint projects that serve the public good. Upon completion of their year-long programs, Fulbright alumni join an extensive network of engaged, influential citizens of the world.

The U.S. Fulbright - Swiss Scholarship Program has been active for many years, providing scholarships for Swiss students to study in the United States and for U.S. students to study in Switzerland. The program continues to be an important tool for the U.S. and the Swiss governments to promote mutual understanding, as evidenced by their ongoing financial and administrative support of the Fulbright program. In addition to government support, generous private sector donations permit an average of fifteen grants to be awarded each academic year, which are used to support both Swiss and U.S. students. 

In January 2000, U.S. Ambassador J. Richard Fredericks and Prof. Dr. Konrad Osterwalder, Rector of the ETH in Zurich, founded a private association, "Friends of Fulbright," to support the bilateral Fulbright program.  In the most recent round of fundraising, 13 corporations invested in the future of U.S.-Swiss relations. They include:

Friends of Fulbright 2007

Anton Schrafl	F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG	Fedex
Goldman Sachs	Kudelski Industries	Movado Watch Co.
Nestlé	Novartis	Pfizer AG
Presence Switzerland	Swiss Re	UBS
	Zurich Financial Services

Friends of Fulbright 2005  more

Friends of Fulbright 2000  more

Information on how to apply for a Fulbright scholarship can be obtained from the Rectors' Conference of the Swiss Universities (CRUS), which is located at: CRUS, Sennweg 2, 3012 Bern. The office can also be reached by e-mail and by telephone (031-306-6056 from Monday through Friday, except Tuesday and Thursday afternoon). CRUS is only responsible for the application procedure for Swiss students wishing to study in the United States. U.S. students can apply for a Fulbright Scholarship at the Institute of International Education.

For information on making a donation to the U.S. Fulbright - Swiss Scholarship Program, please contact the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Bern at 031-357-7238.

For additional information on the Fulbright Program please use the following link: Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs: Fulbright Program.