Lis Sinner was looking forward to this evening. Finally, the material sciences student would be able to meet the people whose donations have helped her to receive the “Excellence Scholarship and Opportunity Programme” scholarship. ETH Zürich and the ETH Zürich Foundation invited sponsors and supported students to get to know each other last week. “I am very interested in meeting these people in person. It makes the scholarship more tangible for me”, says Lis Sinner. She is one of 30 students who are being supported with the new performance scholarships.

In 2007, the ETH Zürich administration introduced this programme to support talent. The aim is to recruit excellent students, nationally and internationally, for the master’s degree and thus educate outstanding up and coming employees for industry. The “Excellence Scholarship and Opportunity Programme” is financed in a new way: all the funds for the programme have come from private persons, foundations and companies.

Sponsors on a national and international level

Take for example the "Starr International Foundation" (SIF), based in Zug. It is a sister organization of the "Starr Foundation" based in New York, which was founded in 1955 by Cornelius Vander Starr and primarily supports projects in education, health and medicine and human needs. Although relatively unknown in Switzerland, the Starr Foundation is one of the largest foundations in the United States and has established scholarship funds in 130 colleges and universities. Caroline Keeley is the Program Officer and Head of Administration of the Starr International Foundation and is the official liaison with the ETH Zürich. "Following Mr. Starr's legacy, SIF aims to support extraordinary students, and found a match in ETH's 'Excellence Scholarship and Opportunity Programme'". She is delighted to be able to speak to the scholarship recipients directly. "All of the students I have spoken to here are very ambitious and show real promise in their chosen fields of research." This project guarantees to fulfill one of the Starr International Foundation's goals: "We are proud to support young talents and see this as an important investment in the future", Keeley says.

Application with project work

When registering for the master’s degree at ETH Zürich, every student can apply to the programme. Alongside very high achievements in their bachelor degree, the students have to submit a sketch for a research or development project. These documents are then examined by the departments and a central commission. ETH principal Heidi Wunderlich-Allenspach then decides who will receive the scholarship. In the selection process, it is very important for her that the student should have “a high quality sketched project as well as an excellent record of achievement.” The current selection process has 30 scholarships available. The decision will be made towards the end of May. In future, around 50 scholarships are to be given out every year. The selected students receive 1750 Swiss Francs every month during term time of the master’s degree – regardless of their financial situation.

Researching own projects

Lis Sinner was made aware of the programme by her professor. She was particularly tempted by the prospect of leading her own research project. “In the bachelors’ degree there are many compulsory activities. I wanted to work on my own project, and this programme offers a unique opportunity for that.” She applied and received the scholarship but she’s not sure about the term “excellence” being used. “Whenever I hear that term I start to blush. It’s not just about being good in your specialist subject, it’s about developing an idea yourself and realising that idea.” Her project looks at the improvements in the use of medical titanium implants. Several researchers are already examining the subject, but Lis is different in that she is looking at the way in which the titanium is coated. Using physical vapour deposition (PVD), the titanium is steamed with a substance. This makes the implants, such as artificial hip joints, adhere to the bone more effectively.

Doctorate or joining industry

The project has been completed successfully and Lis Sinner will have finished her research paper in July. Afterwards, she will be treating herself to a holiday and travelling by train from Istanbul to Iran. Then she is thinking about doing a doctorate or entering industry directly. “I am open to both; if someone makes me an offer I’ll see.” She has taken the business card of one of the sponsors just in case.