CYD Doctoral Fellowships in Switzerland18 Views

If you plan to build a serious research career in cybersecurity, privacy or data science, the CYD Doctoral Fellowships in Switzerland offer a structured path that links academic excellence with national cyber-defence priorities. The scheme is jointly run by EPFL and the Cyber-Defence (CYD) Campus and supports selected PhD candidates for up to four years, with a possible one-year extension, enabling them to complete a full doctoral thesis at a Swiss university while conducting their research at the CYD Campus under the guidance of a Swiss professor.

The CYD Doctoral Fellowships in Switzerland fund talented researchers to complete a full PhD in cyber-defence, cybersecurity and data science, combining world-class academic supervision with hands-on research at the national CYD Campus and access to cutting-edge infrastructure and strategic security partners for impactful, future-ready careers in global cyber-security and policy.

What Are the CYD Doctoral Fellowships?

Position Within the CYD Talent Programme

The CYD Doctoral Fellowships form one pillar of the broader “CYD Fellowships – A Talent Program for Cyber-Defence Research,” which also includes Master Thesis, Distinguished Postdoctoral and Proof-of-Concept fellowships. Together, these schemes create a continuous pipeline of talent from the master’s level through to postdoctoral and early innovation stages.

Within this ecosystem, the doctoral fellowships specifically support candidates registered for a PhD at a Swiss higher education institution while they conduct their research at the CYD Campus. This dual setup ensures that fellows receive strong academic supervision and, at the same time, gain exposure to real-world cyber-defence questions and stakeholders.

Host Institutions and Supervision

Doctoral fellows:

• • Enrol in a PhD programme at a recognised Swiss university, federal institute of technology or university of applied sciences.
  • Carry out the bulk of their research at the CYD Campus, which operates on the premises of EPFL and ETH Zurich and at its office in Thun.
  • Work under the supervision of a professor at the host institution, often in co-supervision with a CYD researcher or mentor.

Because of this arrangement, fellows navigate both academic and operational cyber-defence environments, which can significantly strengthen their scientific and professional profile.

Key Features at a Glance

Duration and Extension Options

A central attraction of the CYD Doctoral Fellowships is the well-defined funding horizon. The fellowship typically covers four years of doctoral study, which aligns with the standard length of many Swiss PhD programmes. In justified cases, a one-year extension may be granted, ensuring that candidates can finalise their thesis without compromising quality because of funding constraints.

Coverage and Support Components

The programme offers several integrated forms of support, allowing

fellows to focus fully on their research:

• • Salary contribution: A PhD-level salary in line with the host institution’s pay scales, including social security contributions.
  • Research funds: A dedicated budget that can be used for project-specific expenses such as specialised software, consumables and experimental costs.
  • Conference budget: Financial support to attend international conferences, workshops and specialised summer schools, which is crucial for networking and dissemination.

Host Environment and Strategic Focus

Another distinctive feature is the dual host environment. Fellows remain embedded in a university laboratory, yet they also work closely with the CYD Campus, which functions as a national cyber-competence centre. This combination brings fellows into contact with defence agencies, industry partners and policy stakeholders. Consequently, projects must clearly address cyber-defence questions and contribute to wider fields such as information security, cyber-physical system protection and trustworthy data processing.

For highly motivated candidates, this framework offers academic mentorship, national-level infrastructure and access to realistic datasets within one coherent programme.

Research Focus: From Cyber-Physical Systems to AI for Security

Core Thematic Areas

The CYD Doctoral Fellowships do not confine applicants to a single academic discipline. Instead, they emphasise

cross-cutting research themes that matter for cyber-defence. Typical focus areas include:

• • Protection of cyber and cyber-physical systems: securing critical infrastructure, industrial control systems, embedded platforms and IoT networks against sophisticated attacks.
  • Information sharing, data fusion and crowdsourcing: methods to integrate data from multiple sources so that threats can be detected earlier and decisions can be made on more robust evidence.
  • Data science and AI for cyber-relevant data: development of machine-learning models, anomaly-detection techniques, graph-based analytics or language models tailored to security use cases.
  • Security, privacy and digital-trust technologies: cryptography, privacy-enhancing technologies, secure identity management and mechanisms that improve trust in digital transactions.

Expectations on Scientific Impact

Applicants must demonstrate that their proposed research not only fits these topics but also has the potential to influence security and data-science research more broadly. In addition, reviewers expect candidates to outline how their work can produce tangible benefits for Swiss cyber-defence, such as improved threat detection, more resilient systems or better privacy guarantees for critical services.

Eligibility: Who Can Apply for a CYD Doctoral Fellowship?

Formal Eligibility Criteria

The programme is intentionally open to a broad international pool, but it maintains clear quality thresholds. According to the official guidelines, applicants

must:

• • Hold citizenship of any country; there are no nationality restrictions.
  • Face no formal age limit; assessment focuses on academic and professional merit.
  • Be enrolled, or ready to enrol, in a doctoral programme at a Swiss higher education institution by the Stage-2 submission.
  • Obtain endorsement from a professor at that institution who agrees to supervise and host the PhD project.
  • Be at any point in their PhD, although early-stage candidates or those yet to start are typically prioritised.

Special Arrangements with Universities of Applied Sciences

The scheme also allows for collaboration with professors at universities of applied sciences. In this case, the fellow must still be registered as a doctoral student at a Swiss university, and there must be written confirmation of the joint arrangement. This flexibility enables projects that combine academic rigour with strong applied components, such as industrial testbeds or field deployments.

Because competition is strong, applicants are expected to present excellent academic transcripts, strong quantitative or technical skills, and clear motivation for addressing cross-disciplinary cyber-defence challenges.

Funding Package: Salary, Research and Conference Costs

Salary and Living Support

One of the most practical questions for prospective candidates concerns financial security. The CYD Doctoral Fellowships provide a salary aligned with the doctoral pay scales of the host institution. This salary typically covers living expenses in Switzerland and includes standard social security contributions.

Research Budget and Allowable Costs

In addition, fellows receive an annual research allowance. This budget can support items such as domain-specific software licences, data acquisition, small pieces of equipment or specialist training directly related to the project. Standard IT hardware is generally excluded, which encourages efficient use of institutional resources.

Conference and Networking Funds

The programme recognises that doctoral training is not limited to lab work. Therefore, it offers a separate conference budget, which can be used for international travel, registration fees and accommodation when presenting results at recognised scientific events. Strategic use of this funding allows fellows to build a strong professional network and gain feedback on their work from leading experts.

When you present these funding details on your website, consider adding a short checklist or infographic to attract reader attention and encourage other sites to reference your page as a concise summary of CYD benefits.

Application Timeline and Two-Stage Selection

Typical Call Schedule and Upcoming Cycles

For CYD Doctoral and Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowships, there are usually two calls per year, whereas the Master Thesis and Proof-of-Concept schemes operate on a rolling or separate schedule. Recent calls suggest a pattern where one round runs with deadlines around August, and the next follows with deadlines around February.

Looking ahead, you can therefore indicate to readers that the next Stage-1 deadline for the doctoral fellowship is expected around February of the following cycle, while another deadline may occur around August (we will update soon once official months and years are confirmed). This approach keeps the article current without locking it to specific days that may change.

To maintain accuracy and SEO freshness, plan to review and update this section at least twice per year—ideally shortly after new calls are announced.

Stage 1 – Pre-Proposal and Fit Evaluation

The selection process unfolds in two main steps. In Stage 1, candidates submit a concise pre-proposal through the online platform. An internal committee at the CYD Campus examines how well the profile of the candidate and the draft project align with the programme’s objectives and thematic priorities.

Shortlisted applicants are then assigned a prospective CYD mentor. This mentor holds an interview with the candidate, explores the feasibility and relevance of the proposed project, and ultimately decides whether to endorse the candidate for Stage 2. Because this endorsement is essential, preparing thoroughly for the interview and clearly articulating your research vision are critical steps.

Stage 2 – Full Proposal and Final Decision

In Stage 2, endorsed candidates submit a full research proposal, including a detailed work plan, timeline, budget and the necessary institutional confirmations. A committee chaired by the Director of the CYD Campus and composed of representatives from CYD and Swiss higher education institutions evaluates these proposals.

The committee reviews scientific quality, feasibility, potential impact on Swiss cyber-defence, and the strength of collaboration between the host institution and CYD Campus. Final decisions are communicated after this multi-step assessment, allowing successful applicants enough time to plan the start of their fellowship.

How to Prepare a Competitive CYD Doctoral Fellowship Application

Strategic Preparation and Supervisor Engagement

Because the programme is highly selective, a strong application goes beyond simply answering form fields. Begin by contacting potential supervisors at Swiss universities well in advance. Share a short concept note that outlines your background, proposed topic and its alignment with their research. During discussions, explore whether the CYD fellowship could fit into their group’s strategy and infrastructure.

Building a Convincing Cyber-Defence Narrative

In your proposal, highlight the specific cyber-defence challenges you intend to address. Move beyond generic terms like “AI” or “security” and instead explain concrete use cases, stakeholders and systems. Clarify why the Swiss context matters—for example, by pointing to infrastructure, regulatory environments or operational partners for whom your results could be particularly valuable.

Demonstrating Scientific Excellence and Feasibility

In addition, use your CV and motivation letter to show evidence of scientific excellence: high-quality publications, open-source contributions, prior work experience in security or strong performance in relevant courses. At the same time, design a realistic four-year plan, broken into work packages with milestones, expected outputs and risk-mitigation strategies. Reviewers look for proposals that are ambitious yet clearly achievable within a standard PhD timeframe.

Respecting Guidelines and Maintaining Originality

Finally, follow the official guidelines and application toolkit carefully, paying close attention to formatting rules, page limits and document templates. When you summarise information from official CYD documents on your own website, always paraphrase and provide proper attribution rather than copying text directly. This practice protects you from plagiarism concerns and contributes to a unique, SEO-friendly article that can rank well for long-tail keywords such as “CYD doctoral fellowships in Switzerland” or “fully funded PhD in cyber-defence.”

For complementary guidance on preparing competitive applications, you may also link internally to resources such as a general guide on how to write a strong PhD research proposal on your platform.

Why Consider the CYD Doctoral Fellowships?

The CYD Doctoral Fellowships offer far more than a standard scholarship. They provide a distinctive training environment that bridges academic research and national cyber-security strategy, giving fellows access to both university laboratories and the CYD Campus ecosystem. This combination exposes candidates to researchers, public authorities and industry partners, which can be invaluable for future careers in academia, government agencies, security-focused companies and international organisations.

Moreover, the fellowship gives you a platform to work on high-impact topics such as secure e-voting, privacy-preserving identity systems, machine-learning security, critical-infrastructure resilience and other emerging cyber-defence issues. When presented clearly on your site, these elements can attract backlinks from students, advisors and scholarship portals looking for reliable, well-structured information on Swiss PhD opportunities.

Final Thoughts

The CYD Doctoral Fellowships represent a robust opportunity for talented researchers who wish to combine a fully funded PhD with meaningful contributions to national and international cyber-defence. With four years of salary, dedicated research and conference funding, and a collaborative environment that spans leading Swiss universities and the CYD Campus, successful candidates gain both academic depth and practical exposure to real security challenges. As the official CYD programme overview emphasises, the fellowships are designed to foster excellence, promote innovation and build a new generation of experts capable of addressing complex security threats in an increasingly digital world.

Key Programme Snapshot

Feature	Details
Program Name	CYD Doctoral Fellowships – A Talent Program for Cyber-Defence Research
Host Country	Switzerland
Funded By	CYD Campus and armasuisse Science and Technology, in collaboration with EPFL and Swiss higher education institutions
Duration	Up to 4 years of funding, with a possible 1-year extension
Study Mode	Full-time, on-site research at CYD Campus and a Swiss host institution
Eligibility	Doctoral candidates of any nationality, enrolled (or enrolling) at a Swiss higher education institution with endorsement from a supervising professor
Financial Support	Doctoral-level salary, research allowance and dedicated conference budget
Fields of Study	Cyber-defence, cybersecurity, cyber-physical systems, data science and AI for security, privacy and digital trust
Deadline	Next Stage-1 deadline expected around February (we will update soon with the confirmed month and year)
Official Website	Click here

References

[1] CYD Doctoral Fellowships – Official EPFL Page
[2] CYD Fellowships – A Talent Program for Cyber-Defence Research (EPFL Overview):

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)