Lopez-Loreta Prize / Grant

Each laureate receives EUR 1,000,000, which must be spent on the awarded research project (e.g. salaries, consumables, etc.) within five years. The project can be carried out anywhere in the world.

The Prize is awarded to the top master's and doctoral graduates from four renowned universities in Switzerland and France, selected by Jean-Jacques Lopez-Loreta:   

• Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France
• Institut Sup¨¦rieur de l¡¯A¨¦ronautique et de l¡¯Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), Toulouse, France
• ETH Zurich (Eidgen?ssische Technische Hochschule Z¨¹rich), Switzerland
• EPF Lausanne (Ecole Polytechnique F¨¦d¨¦rale de Lausanne), Switzerland

The top graduates at ETH Zurich, e.g. silver medal winners with outstanding doctoral theses or Pioneer fellows, can apply by invitation.

The relevant degree must have been obtained within the two years prior to the date of the current call for applications.

The next call for applications will be on 1 May 2025. Therefore, ETH Zurich top graduates who received their doctorate on or after 1 May 2023 are eligible to apply for the 1 September 2025 dateline.

The granting process is organised in several steps. First, each of the four universities nominates five candidates. Interested persons can apply to the Grants Office. In addition, the Grants Office will actively invite persons to apply.  

An application comprises the following documents written in English (please follow the order): 

1. Cover page with the applicant's contact details, the name of the University and the name of the project; please use this Download template (DOCX, 38 KB)
   
2. 4-page description (Arial 10 font) of your 5-year project, including a summary in layman's terms of the main technical data of the project (the bibliography does not count in the number of pages, but must be included);
3. Overview of the costs of the project, including any taxes;
4. SWOT analysis for entrepreneurial projects;
5. Motivation letter, stating what makes the proposed project innovative and why you are particularly suited to implement it (max. 1 page, Arial 10 font);
6. CV, including a list of outstanding scientific, academic, or entrepreneurial achievements, and contact details (max. 1 page);
7. Copy of Master's and/or PhD degree;
8. List of major publications;
9. Letter of support signed by the head of the host laboratory if it is a research project;
10. Two letters of reference from international researchers who are or have been in contact with the applicant. The letters must include a letterhead and the signature of the reference provider.

Applications must be submitted via ETH Zurich's web-based grant application system eResearch, which will be opened for the Lopez-Loreta Call around mid-2025 (tbc).

The five best applicants are nominated by ETH Zurich. They are informed as soon as possible and are given time until February (date tbc) of the following year to make some (optional) updates to the proposal.

In addition to the English version, the full proposal to the Lopez-Loreta Foundation must include a French version of the required documents #1 to #5.

Further details can be found in the Download prize guidelines (PDF, 103 KB). See the timeline for the current deadlines.

The ETH Zurich internal application deadline is 1 September at 17:00 Swiss local time each year.

If a submission deadline falls on a weekend, it will be postponed to the following Monday, 17:00 Swiss local time.

Applications must be submitted via ETH Zurich's web-based grant application system eResearch, which will be opened for the Lopez-Loreta Call around mid-2025 (tbc). The prize winners are expected to be announced by the end of June of the following year.