What is Bridge?
The GCC Bridge Program is our 9-week pro bono consulting program where Master’s students, PhD candidates, and postdocs from diverse fields team up to solve real-world business challenges faced by startups and NGOs. Participants sharpen their consulting skills and work directly with clients to deliver actionable recommendations.
At the beginning of the program, the participants attend a bootcamp to develop essential consulting skills and meet the client to establish the project objectives. The remaining 8 weeks are divided into multiple phases, with short-term deliverables presented at client meetings scheduled at the end of each phase.
The Bridge program emphasizes learning through practice, allowing consultants to acquire valuable problem-solving, communication, and interpersonal skills while working collaboratively within a team. Team leaders and project managers receive support and mentorship from GCC alumni and an oversight committee, empowering them to develop their leadership capabilities.
Each team is supported by a structured leadership setup, ensuring high-quality project execution and close collaboration with the client throughout the engagement.
Overall, the GCC Bridge Program provides an unparalleled opportunity for graduate students and postdocs to gain practical consulting experience, develop key skills, and make a positive impact by contributing to the success of startups and NGOs.
We’ve consulted for:
FAQ
Who can join?
If you attended or are affiliated with a Swiss university and have an interest in solving a real-world business problem for one of our clients, we invite you to join the Bridge program. We particularly encourage students with a non-business background to apply and expand their knowledge.
To sign up for Bridge, you need to have requested membership from the Graduate Consulting Club. You can do so on our membership page. As soon as you create the account, you can use the links above to submit your application.
When does the program take place?
In general the Bridge program starts on the Monday of the third week of each semester, and lasts 8 to 9 weeks. Specific dates for the next edition can be found above, on this page.
Where does the program take place?
The program mostly takes place on ETH Zurich campus (for the kickoff/wrap up/Apéro/workshops). Virtual participation is possible in principle, but is not recommended as the collaboration and netorking are a major part of the Bridge experience.
Do I need previous consulting experience to participate?
No previous consulting experience is required to participate in Bridge. The program is a learning experience and an introduction to consulting for all members, regardless of their past experiences. However, we do encourage our previous Bridge participants to apply for a leadership position to enhance your consulting experience.
How are participants selected?
Participants will be selected based on experience, motivation, and commitment. While we may consider preferences for a particular project/role and notable skills/experiences for the staffing of our teams, we foremost want to offer a learning platform to our participants. Previous Bridge participants with a recommendation from their Team leader/Project managers have priority for leadership positions.
How are teams selected?
The teams will be composed on the basis of experience, background and project preferences. While we try to account for preferences of the applicants wherever possible, we cannot guarantee them. This also holds true for the combination of applicants that wish to work together in the same team.
Which position should you apply to?
Every project team consists of up to 20 people, which are further broken down into teams of approx. 5 people.
The project manager oversees the entire project, steers the team of 15 - 20 consultants, and acts as the liaison between team leaders and the client. Consulting experience advantageous.
Team leader leads a small team of approx. 5 people, distributes the individual tasks and acts as the liaison between the consultants and the project manager. Leadership experience advantageous.
Consultants conduct research, analyze data and synthesise results in teams of 4-5. This role is not client facing and is perfect for participants who would like to experience working on a consulting project with lower responsibilities.
If you are interested in both consultant and leadership roles, please apply for a leadership position only. We will evaluate you for both positions.
Who organizes Bridge?
The organization of Bridge is coordinated by the head of consulting services in conjunction with the other memnbers of the board of the Graduate Consulting Club. The core oversight team also consists of the President of the GCC, and often one other board member.
Key Facts
Current edition: Fall 2025 (running until December)
Next edition: Spring 2026
Planned Kick-off: tbd
Duration: 9 weeks
Estimated workload:
6-8 hours / week (consultants)
8-10 hours / week (team leader or project manager)
Application
The application window for the Spring 2026 edition will open in January 2026
Application Portal: tbd
For Clients
Who can I talk to about participating?
Reach out to GCC board member Marco La Fortezza at marco.lafortezza@graduateconsultingclub.org.
Can my organization participate?
As one of our core organizational aims to to provide real-world consulting experience for Swiss students, we prefer to work with Swiss startups (spin-offs of ETH Zürich, EPFL, etc), large companies with significant presence in Switzerland, and NGOs. However, we are willing to take on any interesting project which serves to give students consulting expereince. Please reach out to Marco La Fortezza at marco.lafortezza@graduateconsultingclub.org to discuss your needs.
What are the participation fees?
No monetary compensation is expected from the client for the pro bono consulting services. However, depending on the client's preference, we could organize networking/social event with the participants of the Bridge program and ask for reimbursement for such an event.