External thesis project

What is an external thesis project?

A doctoral thesis project is normally carried out at ETH Zurich or at one of the research institutions in the ETH Domain. The ETH Domain includes all the ETH institutes plus the following research institutions:

PSI (Paul Scherrer Institute)
WSL (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research)
EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology)
EAWAG (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology)
SEC Singapore

However, it is possible to carry out your thesis project outside the ETH Domain. If some or all of the data included in your thesis is obtained outside of ETH, for example at another university, at an external research institute or in industry at a private company, the thesis project must be declared “external”.

External thesis projects are only approved subject to certain conditions. These conditions are described in the DownloadThesis project outside the ETH Domain (PDF, 768 KB) application form, which must be submitted together with an outline of your proposed thesis and your application for a doctorate.

Approval for short research visits outside of the ETH Domain is at the discretion of your doctoral thesis supervisor. In any case, your supervisor must have access to the facilities you have used and to your test material at all times.

> Contact the Doctoral Administration