Planning your visit
We look forward to welcoming you to our Institute. The FIM staff will help you with the organisation of your stay, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
Once you arrive at the FIM please pass by at our offices (G 44.1 or G 44.2) to collect your office key and computer access information.
If you are a FIM guest, we will organise accommodation for you - a hotel room for shorter stays and a studio or furnished apartment for longer stays. You will be contacted by e-mail with the details of your accommodation.
In case you need to find your own accommodation please see here for a list of hotels and furnished apartments.
Health insurance is compulsory in Switzerland. Therefore, as a general rule, all people residing in Switzerland (even if only temporarily) are required to take out basic health insurance with a recognized Swiss health insurance company. Proof of a valid Swiss health insurance policy needs to be produced within three months of taking up residence.
Due to this period guests staying for less than three months do not necessarily need take out insurance in Switzerland. However, it is strongly advised to make sure that your home insurance will cover any medical issues you might need to have treated while in Switzerland.
Taking out health insurance
If you are staying for more than three months you need to take out basic health insurance with a Swiss insurance company. You are free to choose the company, but make sure it's a recognized one. The companies are all obliged to provide the same benefits, yet monthly premiums can vary to a great extent. It is therefore advisable to compare the rates, and you'll find a very helpful guide on the website external pageComparis (insurance > health insurance). If you don't know your postal code yet, choose 8006 (the area code of the ETH main building).
Child care:
The external pagekihz flex programme offers flexible child care for children of the age of 4 months to 7 years. It is primarily designed for staff and students of ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, but visitors are also entitled to use it. Please check directly with the kihz flex management if you are interested in using the daycare.
Public schools and kindergartens:
external pageDepartment of School and Sport of the City of Zurich
International schools:
external pageLycée Français de Zurich
external pageZurich International School
external pageSwiss International School Zurich North
external pageInter Community School
More information on schools and the Swiss education system.
Please note that private schools in Zurich are very expensive. Public schools are free and they offer special integration classes for children who don't speak German.
Zurich has a very good public transport system, whereas parking spaces are scarce and fairly expensive, and we therefore do not recommend you to bring a car. In case you do need to bring a car we have put together some information here.
Public parking spaces
There are two types of public parking spaces: white zones and blue zones. White zone parking spaces have to be paid for at the parking meter. Usually parking is only allowed for one or two hours. For the blue zone parking spaces you need a external pageparking disc, on which you will have to indicate the time of arrival. For the blue zone there is the possibility of obtaining up to 10 day permits at the cost of CHF 15.00 per day. The permits can be bought at the external pageDienstabteilung Verkehr, Bewilligungsstelle, at local police stations, or via external pageinternet (in German only, credit card needed).
ETH parking garage
Personal parking spaces in the ETH parking garage must be applied for and cost CHF 160 per month. If you need a parking permit please contact the FIM staff, they will help you with the application.
Furher information:
external pageParking in the city of Zurich (in German only)
Flyer Download"Parking in the blue zones" (PDF, 711 KB)