Information for refugees, affected persons and HSG members

The University of St.Gallen supports students and researchers from Ukraine with various offers and measures.

In order to quickly grant protection to refugees from the Ukrainian war, the Federal Council has activated the "protection status S":

Fact sheet "Protection Status S" of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM)
Information from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), including entering and leaving the country, accommodation and financial support
Information from the Canton of St.Gallen

Bachelor's and Master's students from Ukraine who cannot continue their studies and have a protection status S in Switzerland (see information on protection status S above) have the following options.

Regular studies

Applicants must fulfil the regular admission requirements and prerequisites for a study programme. An application can be made for the first Bachelor semester (assessment year) or first Master semester. A credit transfer or entry into a higher semester is not possible. With protection status S, a selection procedure for foreign applicants is waived; the HSG selection procedure for the Bachelor's level and the "Sur Dossier" procedure for non-specialised Master's programmes are not applicable.

The Admissions and Crediting Office informs about the admission requirements as well as the possibility of a waiver of the application and processing fee. Please send an email to admissions@unisg.ch with the following documents: CV, current transcripts, degree documents, and protection status S.

Guest studies

Guest studies as incoming freemover are possible. A guest semester is intended to bridge the time over one to two semesters (no university degree can be obtained) and to have the achievements credited afterwards at the home university in Ukraine. A transfer to a regular degree programme cannot be guaranteed (again, entry into the first semester is necessary).

The most important prerequisite is that studies have already begun in Ukraine in a suitable field of study. For more information on freemover programmes, click here.

Guest auditors

Students who have the necessary previous education and are interested in attending courses at the University of St.Gallen outside of the public programme have the opportunity to participate in events as guest auditors. Guest auditors cannot take an examination and do not earn ECTS credits. You can find more information here.

Financing your studies

All persons with protection status S (see above) receive social assistance from the canton. In addition, the University of St.Gallen has a loan and scholarship fund that provides financial support to visiting students with protection status S as well as matriculated students at the Bachelor's and Master's level. The support can be granted in the form of a scholarship for Bachelor students or a loan for Master students. To be eligible for support, students and their parents must be in financial or existential need. An application can only be submitted after admission and commencement of studies.

The website of the University of St.Gallen provides comprehensive information on the topic of financing studies.
Scholarship and grant database
If you need assistance in finding a job, you can contact the HSG Career Center by email.

Together with other Swiss universities, the University of St.Gallen is trying everything to support and host researchers affected by the war in the Ukraine.

Since the HSG has a research focus on management, economics, law, social sciences, international affairs and computer science, we can only offer a suitable environment for researchers from these disciplines. We will try to help you find a suitable host and make resources available. For the HSG to be able to accommodate you, we will need you to take the following steps and provide us with the following material:

Please apply with the Scholars at Risk Network. You will receive a response from SAR recognizing you as a “Scholar at Risk”.
Please send the following documents to the SAR coordinator at the University of St.Gallen:

Confirmation of Scholars at Risk status.
Your CV (preferably in English)
List of your publications
Scans of relevant degrees (PhD/Master)
An outline of the research that you would like to pursue at the HSG. This should be a document of approximately 2-4 pages.

The last point is of particular importance as you will need to find an academic host at the HSG. We can assist you in this process but ask you to search the HSG’s website to see whether there is a research group that you think would be a good match for you. When contacting professors or research group leaders, we advise you to include your research outline and your CV.

When a host is found, we will ask the host for a letter inviting you into the group. We will then pass on your documents and the invitation letter to our rectorate. Finally, the rectorate will assess whether there are financial resources available to support a stay at the HSG. Please note that we cannot guarantee a financial support.

Scholars at Risk (general information)

The HSG is member of the Global Scholars at Risk Network. Scholars at Risk (SAR) works with its global network of higher education institutions around the world to arrange short-term, temporary research and teaching positions for threatened scholars. They also provide advisory, referral, and career support services for scholars.

The Swiss Section (SAR Switzerland) promotes the values and work of Scholars at Risk by hosting at-threat scholars, sharing good practice and initiating joint activities. Scholars seeking placement at a higher education institution in Switzerland through the services of SAR are advised to consult this information for prospective SAR scholars in Switzerland.

Further SNSF support measures for scientists from Ukraine

In addition to the SAR budget for applications to host researchers from Ukraine at universities in Switzerland, the SNSF offers a series of additional measures:

Flexibility for ongoing SNSF projects and doctoral studies:

Project extensions: If a research project might experience delays because of the war in Ukraine, a request for an extension of up to 12 months can be made.

Doctoral studies: Doctoral students whose work might be delayed because of the war in Ukraine can apply for an extension of up to 12 months beyond the usual four years of SNSF funding for doctoral studies.

Additional contributions for employing researchers from Ukraine: If you are hiring or intending to hire researchers from Ukraine as members of your team for an SNSF-funded project, you can request additional funding to cover their salaries for up to 12 months.

#ScienceForUkraine

#ScienceForUkraine is a community group of volunteer students and research scientists from academic institutions in Europe and around the world. Its mission is to collect and disseminate information about support opportunities at the university, national, and international level for graduate students and researchers directly affiliated to an academic institution in Ukraine.

On its website you will find a wide range of paid academic positions for scientists (PhD student or above), academic transfer opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, as well as temporary housing.

Further HSG internal support options

Open positions on the HSG job portal: Find here an overview of current academic and administrative employment opportunities at the University of St. Gallen as well as our institutes and research centers.

Pastoral counselors, the Psychological Counselling Services and, especially for students, the Special Needs Office are available to all HSG members to help them cope with their personal situation.

Support services for HSG members

Solidarity with Ukraine

Solidarity measures: Swiss Solidarity, St.Gallen helps Ukraine

Ukraine-website of the canton St.Gallen with essential information

Ukraine: Information from the city of St.Gallen

St.Gallen helps integration: platform for NGOs and volunteers

Ukraine Direkthilfe Schweiz: Overview of existing initiatives

Report offers of help to the municipality: Many residents of the canton would like to help refugees from Ukraine and take in people directly. This regularly leads to confusion because the needs of the refugees have not been clarified in advance. The canton calls on private individuals to consistently contact the municipality with offers of help and not to take in people directly.