IAESTE Switzerland is a member of the IAESTE A.s.b.l. international exchange organisation and is a non-profit association. IAESTE Switzerland was once part of ETH Zurich, which was one of the founding members of IAESTE in 1948.

Every year, the association provides around 120 internships abroad for students from Swiss higher education institutions and just as many internships for international students at around 100 Swiss companies, research institutions and higher education institutions.

The basis of the association is the National Committee, which is made up of politicians, alumni, representatives of our cooperating partners, (technical) universities and employers, individuals as well as representatives of our student-led local committees.

The Executive Board is elected every two years at the General Assembly.

All administrative tasks, which include coordinating the placement of Swiss interns abroad, placing foreign students at internships in Switzerland, as well as day-to-day business, are carried out by the National Office (headquarters in Zurich, branch office in Lausanne).

Another component of IAESTE Switzerland are the four Local Committees which are based in Basel, Bern, Lausanne and Zurich. The local committees are responsible for supervising foreign students who are interning in Switzerland. The volunteers of the local committees welcome the arriving students from all over the world, provide them with accommodation and organize a wide variety of leisure activities such as events, visits or sports activities for them. They introduce them to Swiss culture and help them settle in.

The placement service of international interns by IAESTE Switzerland is open to all Swiss employers.

IAESTE Switzerland collaborates with almost all Swiss technical and further education institutions/universities with technical and science programmes, as well as with other higher education institutions.

IAESTE Switzerland’s partnerships with companies, institutions and associations, which are represented on the board, form an important pillar to its work.

The aims of IAESTE are:

  • To provide students of science and technical disciplines with practically oriented internships abroad and therefore to support their professional and personal development
  • To provide Swiss employers with qualified and highly motivated international interns
  • To further develop the international network and the intercultural skills of interns and their employers
  • To operate irrespective of background, faith, skin colour or gender.

Become a member of the organisation to support the work of IAESTE Switzerland! Thank you.

The annual membership fees for the following groups are illustrated below:

  • Collective members (e.g. schools, partner companies, companies, associations, etc.), CHF 100
  • Individual members (natural persons), CHF 50

To become a member, please contact: sabine.lenz@iaeste.ch