BOSTON UNIVERSITY 2026 TRUSTEE UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP

Application Deadline: December 1, 2025.

LOCATION: USA

Every year, BU welcomes approximately 20 outstanding students to the Trustee Scholars Program. Many of our current Scholars had perfect 4.0 grade point averages in high school and ranked at the top of their class.

ELIGIBILITY:

Submit the Common Application and all required materials for admission to one of the undergraduate degree programs at BU by December 1.

Complete the Trustee Scholarship essay on the Common Application as part of your application to BU.

The Trustee Scholarship Essay:

Please choose from one of the two prompts below and submit one essay, in 600 words or less, as part of your application through the Common Application.

Nobel laureate and BU professor Elie Wiesel once said: “There is divine beauty in learning…” To learn means to accept the postulate that life did not begin at my birth. Others have been here before me, and I walk in their footsteps. The books I have read were composed by generations of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and teachers and disciples. I am the sum total of their experiences, their quests.” Is there a book, film, podcast or life experience that has made you feel more connected to your personal history/identity, and what is the most important thing you learned from it?

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Do not follow where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Describe a time in your life when you stepped out of your comfort zone and forged your own path. What motivated you to take that action, and how did it change your perspective? Share the lessons you learned from that experience and how it might shape your views as a Trustee Scholar.

    BENEFIT:

    A Trustee Scholarship covers full undergraduate tuition plus mandatory undergraduate student fees and is renewable for four years if certain criteria are met.

    APPLY

    SWISS GOVERNMENT EXCELLENCE PHD SCHOLARSHIPS 2026–2027

    Application Deadline: 28 November, 2025

    LOCATION: Switzerland

    Each year the Swiss Confederation awards Government Excellence Scholarships to encourage international exchange and research cooperation between Switzerland and over 180 other countries. Recipients are selected by the awarding body, the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS). This scholarship is intended to support selected applicants in pursuing a PhD at a Swiss university or recognized research institute. Valid only for full-time research in Switzerland.

    ELIGIBILITY:

    Highly qualified researchers who have completed a master’s degree in any academic field

    Priority will be given to individuals who have not previously studied or conducted research in Switzerland (see eligibility criteria for exceptions).

    Master’s degree or equivalent completed by 31 July 2026 (for ETH Zurich: 30 June 2026).

    Date of birth after 31 December 1990.

    Detailed research plan with a timeline specifying key milestones and activities.

    Applicants must have a letter of support from an academic supervisor in Switzerland (including a short CV).

    If the applicant already resides in Switzerland, the date of entry must not be earlier than 1 August 2025 (submit a copy of the registration confirmation or residence permit).

    12 months, renewable twice for up to 36 months (subject to academic progress during the first 12 months).

    Start date: 1 September 2026.

      BENEFIT:

      CHF 1,920 per month to cover basic living expenses for one person

      This scholarship is not a salary

        APPLY