NCCR Automation Fellowship FAQ

Please find answers to frequently asked questions below.
  1. When will I receive a notification of whether I receive the fellowship? Both successful and unsuccessful candidates will be personally notified in October 2025. 
  2. Which documents do I need to prepare for the application? 
    • Curriculum Vitae (CV)
    • Motivation letter (for Master's students) or research proposal (for PhD students or postdoctoral researchers, max. 2 pages)
    • Support letter from your home institution
    • University degrees (and/or transcripts).
  3. How do I apply? You must apply using the application platform. Please have a look at the guidelines. You will need to choose a host group out of NCCR Automation affiliated labs. Also check the requirements of your target institution:
  1. How much monetary support does the programme provide? The fellowship provides a contribution for the increased costs of living in Switzerland during the period of the visit. Payments are made through the host institute. 
  1. Which costs are eligible?
    • increased living costs (in comparison to the country of origin), 
    • child support, if applicable, and 
    • travel with 1 return ticket in economy class.
  1. Which costs are not eligible?  
    • visa application-related costs, 
    • materials of enduring value (e.g. laptops, printers, powerbanks, books, …), 
    • journal subscriptions, 
    • stationary, 
    • memberships, 
    • postal charges, 
    • e-mail/internet costs, 
    • fax and phone charges, and
    • photocopies within host institution.
  1. Does the programme offer support for visa applications? No, the visa application process is an obligation of the individual, but the research lab hosting you in Switzerland may provide support in this regard.  
  1. I missed the main application window. Can I still apply? No. We do not accept applications out of the main application window.
  1. Which are the research themes I could choose? 
    • Application: Advanced Manufacturing  
    • Application: Energy  
    • Application: Mobility 
    • Application: Robotics  
    • Application: Social networks and recommender systems  
    • Co-design and control architectures  
    • Computational methods for control  
    • Control and optimization theory 
    • Cyber-physical systems  
    • Data-driven control 
    • Distributed control and optimization 
    • Ethics and fairness in control  
    • Game theory 
    • Humans in the loop 
    • Machine learning and identification 
    • Neural networks  
    • Optimal transport and control of distributions  
    • Robust control 
    • Reinforcement learning  
    • Stochastic optimization 
    • + Other (open text field) 
  1. Which PIs can I choose? 3 of the following