Lopez-Loreta Prize

Each laureate receives EUR 1,000,000, which must be spent on the awarded research project within five years.  

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

• Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France
• Institut Supérieur de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), Toulouse, France
• ETH Zurich (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich), Switzerland
• EPF Lausanne (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Switzerland

The relevant degree must have been obtained in the last two years before the date of the current call for applications.

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: 

1. Cover page with the applicant's contact details, the name of the University and the name of the project; please use this Downloadtemplate (DOCX, 38 KB)vertical_align_bottom
   
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.

Please send all documents as a single PDF to .

The five best applicants are nominated by ETH Zurich. They are informed as soon as possible and are given time until spring of the following year to work out a detailed proposal.  

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

The ETH Zurich internal application deadline is 1 September at 17:00 Swiss local time each year. Please submit your applications electronically to . The prize winners are expected to be announced by the end of June of the following year.