Alfred Werner Scholarship Program

The scholarships are granted to nominees presented by the institutions that admitted the students to their MSc Programs; The SCS Foundation does not accept applications from individuals. The nominations are reviewed by the Alfred Werner Fund Allocation Committee. The members of the Committee are appointed by the participating companies and academic institutions.

Next Call for Nominations:
Master's Student Scholarships 2023-2025: Call open until March 31, 2023

The current members of the Committee are:

Prof. Christian Bochet, Chair, Swiss Chemical Society and University of Fribourg

Dr. Richard Lewis, Novartis Pharma AG, Basel

Prof. Jeffrey W. Bode, ETH Zurich

Dr. Elodie Brun, Firmenich SA, Genève

Prof. Peter Chen, ETH Zurich

Prof. Karl Gademann, University of Zurich

Dr. Stefan Hildbrand, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Basel

Dr. Markus Gautschi, Givaudan Suisse SA, Dübendorf

Dr. Edouard Godineau, Syngenta

Prof. Jiri Vanicek, EPFL Lausanne

Prof. Titus A. Jenny, University of Fribourg

Prof. Stefan Matile, University of Geneva

Prof. Philippe Renaud, University of Berne

Prof. Christof Sparr, University of Basel

Prof. Bruno Therrien, University of Neuchâtel

Since 2013, sixty-one students, thirty women and thirty-one men, natives from over thirty countries, were granted an Alfred Werner Scholarship. With a very few exceptions, all scholars successfully completed their studies. Many of them with distinction. A short report on their MSc thesis projects is published in CHIMIA (see pages for each Class)

A total of twenty scholars are currently enrolled in their MSc study programs. The 61 Werner Scholars were (and are being) trained at ETH Zürich (17), the University of Geneva (17), the EPFL Lausanne (11), and the Universities of Zürich (5), Basel (7), Bern (2), and Fribourg (1).

For the countries of origin and other statistical information about the Werner Scholars, please have a look at the Werner Scholarships, Statistics below.

 

For the complete list of Alfred Werner Scholars see links below (in reverse chronological order):

Scholarships 2022-2024

Scholarships 2021-2023

Scholarships 2020-2022

Scholarships 2019-2021

Scholarships 2018-2020

Scholarships 2017-2019

Scholarships 2016-2018

Scholarships 2015-2017

Scholarships 2013-2015

 

Alfred Werner, born in Mulhouse (Alsace), was a student at ETH Zurich and professor at the University of Zurich. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1913 for proposing the octahedral configuration of transition metal complexes. Werner developed the basis for modern coordination chemistry. He was the first inorganic chemist to win a Nobel prize, and the only one prior to 1973 (awarded to E.O. Fischer and G. Wilkinson for their work on organometallic componds).

The Alfred Werner Excellence Scholarship Program: A Success Story on Bringing Talented Students to Switzerland

It is my pleasure and great privilege to write few words about the remarkable achievements of the Alfred Werner Excellence Scholarship Program established in 2013.

The aim of the Alfred Werner Excellence Scholarship Program of the Swiss Chemical Society Foundation is to bring young, highly talented students of Chemistry, Biochemistry or the Pharmaceutical Sciences to Switzerland to perform their Master of Science studies at one of our universities or federal institutes of technology. To date, the program has supported 48 young scientists, 23 women and 25 men, from 30 different countries. All of them completed their studies, many of them with distinction, as this report will show.

The process of scholar nomination, selection and quality control builds on a fruitful collaboration with our academic partners, who welcome the scholars are a valuable addition to their student body. We have reached in 2021 a stage where the Alfred Werner Excellence Scholarship program gained international visibility and appreciation, attracting an increasing number of high profile candidates. The feedback of our industry partners, who either welcomed scholars for internships or offered them employment, further illustrates the quality of the program.

The SCS Foundation is actively supporting the program throughout the entire process, including the integration of the scholars by offering mentorships, visits at the industrial partners, and by providing free access to all activities of the Swiss Chemical Society.

I would like to thank our academic, industrial and private partners most warmly for their excellent collaboration. I hope that many more students will have the opportunity to study in Switzerland through the Alfred Werner Excellence Scholarship Program. This, however, is only possible with the continuous financial support of our private and industrial partners. I would like to thank them again for their support and commitment. I also invite other donors to join us to reach yet another milestone of this very successful program.

With my most sincere congratulations and thanks to all the actors of this program.

Dr. Alain De Mesmaeker

President of the Swiss Chemical Society and the
Swiss Chemical Society Foundation

The Alfred Werner Excellence Scholarship Program: How a Foundation Responded to the Changing Needs for the Support of Talented Young Scientists in Switzerland

Today, the aim of the Alfred Werner Excellence Scholarship Program is to bring talented Master students to Switzerland, and to facilitate their next career steps. It is an excellent example for partnership between industry and academia. It also shows how a foundation, created nearly 80 years ago, managed to adjust its mission to respond to the changing needs of the chemistry community.

It began in 1944, when the Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Chemische Industrie realized that almost without exception, the professors of Swiss universities and the ETH came from abroad. To inspire the Swiss students to consider an academic career, rather than to seek employment in a booming industry, the Stiftung für Stipendien auf dem Gebiet der Chemie was established¹. Nobel Laureate Paul Karrer, former student of Alfred Werner’s at the University of Zürich, was its first president.

A number of distinguished Swiss chemists emerged from this stipend program, which supported post-graduate research appointments at Swiss or foreign universities.

In 1990, the foundation board, led by Ernst Schumacher, adapted the scope of the program to the changing needs. The newly established Alfred Werner Stipends supported young chemists to start an academic career as assistant professors at Swiss universities. Again, this stipend was a steppingstone for many careers. Among the Alfred Werner Fellows, you find a number of Swiss university professors[1].

Around 2010, the foundation board, based on an evaluation of the program, decided on taking the following measures:

• Broaden the scope of disciplines covered for stronger support of the Life Sciences
• Increase the number of stipends and partner universities as hosts of the supported talents
• Stronger focus on gender balance
• Accessing the global talent pool to invite young scientists to perform their Master studies in Switzerland, and to become part of the next generation of Swiss chemists
• Joining forces with the Swiss Chemical Society Foundation

This transformation was implemented end of 2013, with the creation of the Alfred Werner Excellence Scholarship Program as we know it today.

Looking back, the partnership between academia and industry was exemplary, and the programs developed were a success. They became role models for funding agencies, including the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF). For a limited time-period, the SNF supported the Alfred Werner Stipends.

Given the success of the Alfred Werner Excellence Scholarship Program, I am convinced that the financial contributions of our private and industrial partners are a great and timely investment in support of our next generation scientists in Switzerland.

It is my honour to serve for such an excellent foundation, and I like to thank all people and organisations contributing to these programs.

Dr. Reto Naef

Former Secretary of the Alfred Werner Foundation and
Board Member of the Swiss Chemical Society Foundation

 

[1]  Paul Müller, Stiftung für Stipendien auf dem Gebiete der Chemie, CHIMIA 51 (1997) 233-234