ETH and EPFL Recommendation Letters for Master's
EPFL wants three academic referees and will not process a file with fewer than two letters. Six ETH programmes ask for two. Rules, deadlines, who to ask.
ETH and EPFL Recommendation Letters for Master's
EPFL asks for "The contact details of three academic referees", and "The application will not be processed if EPFL does not receive at least two reference letters." ETH Zurich sets letters programme by programme; the six ETH master's programme pages we checked each ask for two letters, mostly preferring academics.
So an applicant to both needs three professors, not two, and needs them in early November. ETH's international window closes on Monday 30 November 2026 at 11:59AM CET, a minute before midday. EPFL's form closes on 15 December, with letters due a week later. The motivation letter for both schools is covered in the ETH Zurich motivation letter guide; this page covers the letters other people write.
Every ETH and EPFL page quoted below was checked on 31 October 2026. ETH's dates page is for the Autumn Semester 2027 intake; the programme pages and EPFL's page state no intake year. Three ETH programme pages (Data Science, Mechanical Engineering, Quantitative Finance) did not load at the addresses we tried, so they are not covered.
EPFL: three academic referees, two letters minimum
EPFL's online application page sets the rule in four sentences:
"All other candidates are required to provide the contact details of three referees. The recommendation letters must be issued by professors who are aware of your work and achievements. These recommendations are confidential and will only be accepted if they are submitted by the referees themselves, through the electronic application process. The application will not be processed if EPFL does not receive at least two reference letters."
What follows from it:
- Three names, two letters. You nominate three. Two letters is the floor below which EPFL does not process the file. A third letter protects you if one professor goes silent.
- Professors only. The wording is "professors who are aware of your work and achievements", not managers or supervisors in industry.
- The referee submits. You cannot upload a letter yourself.
- The email goes on validation. "Validating your electronic application will generate a personal e-mail to your referees". Until you validate, nobody has been asked.
- Letters are due a week after you are. "The deadline for receiving the letters is one week after the application deadline. The exact day is indicated in the confirmation e-mail you receive once your application is validated." For the window that closes on Tuesday 15 December, that is about Tuesday 22 December (our arithmetic); the confirmation email is the authority.
The exemptions are narrow. Holders of an EPFL bachelor's need no letters. Holders of an ETH Zurich or Swiss university or FHS/HES bachelor's applying "in the same field of study" need none either, but "This only applies when the whole 180 credits of the Bachelor’s program were acquired in the same field of study". Everyone with a bachelor's from outside Switzerland needs three referees.
EPFL runs two windows, "from mid-November to December 15th or from December 16th to March 31st", and "At the Master’s level, you may only submit one application and apply for one program per academic year." The statement of purpose side is in the EPFL master's statement of purpose guide.
ETH Zurich: two letters, set programme by programme
ETH lists "the letters of recommendation" among the elements of its "holistic evaluation", alongside grades, the ranking of your university and the motivation letter. The number and the kind of referee are on each programme page. For applicants with an international bachelor's:
| ETH master's programme | What the programme page asks for |
|---|---|
| Computer Science | "Two recommendation letters in English. We strongly prefer letters from academia, or from referees with an academic background." |
| Electrical Engineering and Information Technology | "Please provide two recommendation letters. We prefer letters from academia or from referees with an academic background. The letters will be part of a potential ESOP Scholarship application." |
| Mathematics / Applied Mathematics | "Two recommendation letters. We prefer letters from academia or from referees with an academic background." |
| Physics | "Two recommendation letters; a comparison of the performance with the peers is very welcome." |
| Robotics, Systems and Control | "Two academic recommendation letters" describing academic performance and attitude at bachelor's level, current GPA, "ranking of the students, comparing with peer group" and "communication skills" |
| Science, Technology and Policy | "Two letters of reference in English. At least one of the letters should be from a professor or scientist from an academic institution." |
ETH's dates page for the Autumn Semester 2027 intake: "International Bachelor's degrees: 1 - 30 November 2026", closing "Monday, 30 November 2026 11:59AM Central European Time (CET)". It adds: "You need to submit your complete application including all required documents by the given deadline. Late or incomplete applications cannot be processed."
Unknown: the ETH pages we checked do not say whether your referees upload their letters or you do. The eApply application shows it at that step. Plan as if the letters must be in place by ETH's deadline, because ETH gives no grace week like EPFL's.
Who should write: professors, not managers
Both schools are built around academic referees. EPFL requires professors. Robotics wants "academic recommendation letters". Computer Science "strongly" prefers academia; Mathematics and Electrical Engineering "prefer" it.
Our view: if you apply to both, ask three professors who taught or supervised you, and send the same three names to both schools. A thesis or project supervisor first; then the two professors whose courses you did best in, closest to the programme. Do not spend a slot on a manager. EPFL would not accept one, and five of the six ETH pages above ask for academic referees or prefer them.
The countercase: ETH's Science, Technology and Policy programme asks only that "At least one of the letters should be from a professor or scientist from an academic institution", so a policy or industry referee can fill the second slot there. If your strongest evidence is from work and you apply only to that programme, use it.
If your thesis supervisor is a junior lecturer and the head of department barely knows you, the supervisor still writes the better letter. The head of department or professor guide covers that choice.
What the letter should say for a Swiss reader
Two ETH pages say what they want in the letter. Physics: "a comparison of the performance with the peers is very welcome." Robotics: current GPA, "ranking of the students, comparing with peer group", and "communication skills". ETH's application page explains why rank matters: "We are looking for applications from excellent Bachelor graduates from universities comparable to ETH Zurich", and "We also look favourably at candidates from nationally top ranked universities."
Our recommendation to the professor: give the student's rank with the group size ("second of 120 in the 2026 graduating class"), the GPA with its scale, and one piece of work you saw closely. Do not write "one of the best students I have taught" without a number. European readers calibrate differently from US readers; European vs American recommendation letters shows how a US-style superlative reads in Zurich and Lausanne. For grades on a non-Swiss scale, see explaining grades and class rank in a recommendation letter.
Timeline for an application to both
- By Monday 2 November 2026: ask three professors. Send them both programme links and your CV.
- Week of 9 November: start the ETH application; EPFL's window opens in mid-November.
- By Monday 23 November: submit ETH. If ETH's letters come from your referees, they need this week.
- Monday 30 November, 11:59AM CET: ETH closes for international bachelor's holders.
- By Tuesday 1 December: validate the EPFL application, so your referees get EPFL's email with three weeks to respond.
- Tuesday 15 December: EPFL's form closes. Letters are due about a week later, on the day your confirmation email gives.
If a referee says EPFL's email never came, check the address you entered and the referee's spam folder; the recommender did not get the link guide covers the fixes portal by portal.
Constructed example: one request for both schools
Constructed example, written by us, not a real email. Context (invented): a final-year electrical engineering student asks her project supervisor. The email is 92 words.
Dear Professor Shah, I am applying for the MSc in Robotics, Systems and Control at ETH Zurich and an electrical engineering master's at EPFL. Both want letters from academics who know my work. ETH closes on 30 November at 11:59AM CET; EPFL will email you when I validate my application, by 1 December, and needs your letter about a week after 15 December. Would you write for me? The ETH programme asks for my ranking compared with my peer group, so my rank in your course would help. My CV is attached.
It names both deadlines, says which email to expect, and passes on the one content ask a Swiss programme publishes.
Questions about ETH and EPFL letters
Can EPFL process my file with two letters?
Yes, two is the minimum: the application "will not be processed if EPFL does not receive at least two reference letters." You still have to nominate three referees.
Do I need letters if I studied at EPFL or ETH?
At EPFL, not if you hold an EPFL bachelor's, or an ETH or Swiss bachelor's earned entirely in the same field. At ETH, some programme pages waive letters for some Swiss bachelor's holders; Mathematics, for example, says they are "Not required for students with BSc Mathematics from EPFL".
Do the letters have to be in English?
ETH Computer Science and Science, Technology and Policy say "in English". EPFL's page says the application process is "done entirely online, in French or English" and says nothing more about the letters' language.
Can I upload my professor's letter to EPFL myself?
No. EPFL says letters "will only be accepted if they are submitted by the referees themselves". Applying for a doctorate next? PhD references in Europe compares EMBL, Max Planck and CRG rules.
Get a free review of the letter
Get a free Quick Review of your recommendation letter against GradPilot's international academic recommendation letter rubric. It reads how you know the candidate, whether each quality is shown by an incident, whether your grades and rankings make sense to a Swiss reader, and whether your endorsement names the programme. For the same student's US applications, choose the graduate school recommendation letter rubric.
More on Swiss applications: applying to ETH before your bachelor's is finished, and the ETH direct doctorate and EPFL PhD statement guide. The graduate school essays hub lists the rest.
Sources
Retrieved 31 October 2026, except where noted.
- EPFL, Online application, master's (no intake year stated): three referees, professors, referee submission, two-letter minimum, validation email, one-week letter deadline, windows, exemptions, one application per year, French or English.
- ETH Zurich, Application dates, Autumn Semester 2027: 1 to 30 November 2026, 11:59AM CET, complete applications.
- ETH Zurich, Application, master's (no year stated): holistic evaluation, comparable universities, nationally top-ranked universities.
- ETH Zurich programme pages (no year stated): Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Mathematics, Physics, Robotics, Systems and Control, Science, Technology and Policy: letter counts, referee preferences, content asks, exemptions.
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