20 years of ESOP – The Give-Back Challenge
Since 2007, the Excellence Scholarship & Opportunity Programme (ESOP) has been running at full speed: What began with a small group of exceptional talents has grown into around 60 scholarships per year – fully funded by donations. Today, the programme has grown into a community of around 800 brilliant minds worldwide. To date, over 90 former scholars have already “passed the baton” by becoming donors themselves.
Now we take the next step. To mark 20 years of ESOP, we launch the Give-Back Challenge.
The mission:
Raise CHF 50’000 collectively to fund one full Excellence Scholarship by 2027.
Where do you step in?
Join the challenge and enable the next Excellence Scholar to take their place at the starting line — give forward the opportunity that once shaped your path.
Whether you aim for one of the challenge categories or choose an amount of your own, every donation counts towards the same goal.
Depending on the category you reach by the end of the Challenge, you will receive the respective benefit. If you donate but live outside of Switzerland, you will be invited to an online special.
1 The Frontrunner (CHF 5’000)
Tailor-made ETH (lab) visit for you and up to 4 guests + recognition.
2 The Relay Squad (CHF 1’000)
Invitation to the ESOP Welcome Event 2027, including Meet & Greet with the funded scholar + recognition.
3 The Crowd Champion (CHF 500)
Lunch at ETH Dozentenfoyer with current ESOP scholars + recognition.
4 The Pacemaker (CHF 250)
After-work drink at the ETH Foundation + recognition.
5 Every step counts (CHF 50, 100, …)
Recognition (Website & LinkedIn, invitation to Meet the Talent).
+ Post-Race Celebration
If we achieve our goal, all challenge contributors are invited to an exclusive “Victory Dinner” to celebrate our collective win and refresh the network.
Make a gift
100% of your donation goes directly toward funding an Excellence Scholarship in 2027. We recommend using the QR-bill.
US donors can make tax-deductible contributions via the ETH Foundation USA website (please indicate “ESOP Challenge”). For donations from other countries, please contact us.
🚀 Extra boost from the ETH Alumni Association
Every donation to the ESOP Challenge is matched by the ETH Alumni Association – doubling its impact. Together, we aim to offer not just one, but two additional Excellence Scholarships by 2027.
A huge thank you to the ETH Alumni Association for making every contribution go twice as far!
© ETH Foundation / Alessandro Della Bella
Many thanks to all ESOP alumni participating so far:
- Maria Sophie Schnuck
- Nadja Herger
- Pol Duhr
- Kiril Vasilev
- Aurel Berger
- Aljaz Simonic
- Omoefe Grant-Oyeye
- Václav Volhejn
- Franziska Eckert
- Nino Wili
- Benedikt Wahl
- Marius Hodel
- Linus Boll
- Carla Anais Ferradini
- Karin Yu
- Benjamin Savinson
- Theo Lequy
- Bernadino
- Michelle Ammann
- Tongcheng Ouyang
- Reyhan İrem Yılmazer
- Leonard Zourek
- Kian Bigović Villi
- Junyang Gou
- Sally Liu
- Redona Hafizi
- Maximilian Eberlein
- Sayed-Rzgar Hosseini
- Alina Badamshina
- Hongruyu Chen
- Ema Borevković
- Ayush Garg
- Maša Nešić
- Matteo Berchier
- Sandro Berchier
- Nicole Kleger
- Marc Himmelberger
- Janine Wetter
- Joris Chomarat
- Simon Muntwiler
- Andreas Brown
- Mattias Ivarsson
- Dominic Egger
- Larissa Laich
- Daniel Bechstein
- Andrei Poenaru
- Markus Suess
- Kaveh Razavi
- Marco Hutter
- Hannah Knüsel-Cassard
- Philippe Knüsel
- Jasmin Frei
- Tobias Esswein
- Klemens Iten
- Fabio Widmer
- Juliana Zapata Riveros
Reasons to join the Give-Back Challenge
Everyone has their own reason to give. Hear from across the ESOP community what inspires them to take part and give back.
“The Excellence Scholarship shaped my life at a key moment”
In 2009, Juliana Zapata Riveros was awarded an Excellence Scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree in Energy Science & Technology. In the video, she explains why she supports the programme today.
