Student Application
Apply to the ETH Exploration Lab
Ready to turn bold ideas into reality? Join our next cohort and spend six months driving forward disruptive innovation with real industry partners.
14 Sept 2026 – 31 Mar 2027
Full project duration, aligned with the academic semester
Accreditable Traineeship
Counts as an industry internship and/or semester project. Already have an internship? Another one won't hurt. Need only the internship? We promise the full course will be worth your time and help you with future applications.
Interdisciplinary Teams
Work with students from across ETH departments
Close Mentoring
4:1 student-to-mentor ratio with ETH innovation engineers
Work-Life Balance
Christmas is work-free, plus one extra week of vacation — use it for spring semester courses or recharge.
Our Partners
These are the companies you'll have the chance to work with during the fall semester of 2026:
Semester Structure
Semester Start: 3 Weeks
The BasecampLectures and exercises that build the foundations of lean innovation, rapid prototyping, and agile hardware development. Go on-site at our corporate partners and start project scoping.
6 Months
Master ThesisMTEC
Jump straight into your Master Thesis, supervised by your Uni faculty, on a topic developed during the Basecamp.
Until end of March 2027
MTEC, ITET, INFK, MATL, MAVT, HST, USYS, etc.
Strategically de-risk multiple projects, and then optionally deepen your work into a rigorous academic thesis. A great path to discovering a future Master Thesis topic.
What We Are Looking For
- Curiosity and drive to explore the unknown
- Comfort with ambiguity and fast-paced iteration
- Willingness to work across disciplines
- Currently enrolled at ETH Zurich (any department), ZhdK, or UZH. Contact us if you are enrolled at another University.
What to Submit
- Cover Letter
- CV / Résumé
- Transcript of Records
- Maker portfolio or list of projects you've worked on
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