Doctoral examination

Ordinance on Doctoral Studies ETH Zurich Art. 39 / Implementation Provisions Art. 11.7

The doctoral examination shall take place no later than six years after provisional admission. The Vice Rector for Doctoral Studies  may approve an extension of this period upon a justified request by the Doctoral Committee.

Registration to the doctoral examination must take place at least 15 working days before the examination date. The examination must be taken within the following 3 months.

The oral examination lasts at least one hour. A talk on the doctoral thesis topic may also be required. If this is the case, it does not shorten the duration of the oral examination.

The departments stipulate the modalities of the doctoral examination (its organisation, its sequence and how far it will be public, among other things) in their detailed stipulations regarding the doctorate.

The examination committee is composed of the following persons:

  • A chairperson
  • The doctoral thesis supervisor as examiner
  • At least one co-examiner
  • A further independent expert if there is any relationship of dependence between the thesis supervisor and the co-examiner(s)

The Head of the responsible department names the chairperson. The chairperson must be a member of the Professors’ Conference of an ETH Zurich department.

The doctoral committee names the co-examiner(s) at the request of the doctoral thesis super-visor, subject to the following points:

  • If the doctoral thesis supervisor is not a professor, at least one co-examiner must be an ETH Zurich professor.

Mandatory for doctoral exams as of January 1, 2024:

  • At least one co-examiner must come from outside ETH Zurich and be a proven expert in the area of the doctoral thesis.

Attention!

The following are eligible for election as external co-examiners:

  • Active professors from other universities
  • Persons who are proven experts in the area of the doctoral thesis and are equivalent to professors in this
    (example: a research director from a research institution in the ETH domain, a Max-Planck institute or a Centre National de la
  • Recherche Scientifique).

Not included are persons from universities of applied sciences or private industry with the corresponding expertise. They may, however, be appointed as additional members of the examina-tion committee.

Ordinance on Doctoral Studies ETH Zurich Art. 39 / Implementation Provisions Art. 11.6

The physical presence of the examination committee or the doctoral student at the doctoral examination is not compulsory. The participants may attend via video link. The departments may set out rules in their own detailed provisions regarding doctoral studies as to the minimum amount of presence they require. Whether physical or via video link: all members of the examination committee must participate in the examination.

If examination committee members and/or the doctoral student take part by video link, two-way communication – both video and audio – must be guaranteed during the entire duration of the examination. Responsibility for the functioning of the video link lies with the examination organiser and the connected person(s). If two-way communication via video or audio is not or is no longer possible, it is the duty of the examination chairperson to interrupt the examination and to organise a date to resume it. The examination chairperson decides whether to restart the examination from the beginning, or whether it can be resumed from the point at which it was interrupted.

Ordinance on Doctoral Studies ETH Zurich Art 41 / Implementation Provisions Art. 11.8

The assessment of the doctoral thesis takes into account not only scientific quality, but also linguistic quality. The examiner (the doctoral thesis supervisor) and the co-examiners set out their assessments in written reports. These reports must state whether the thesis should be accepted or rejected and whether corrections are required (“accepted with additional requirements”). Co-examiners must provide their affiliation and contact data in their reports.

The reports must reach the department five days before the examination date at the latest. Nevertheless, this deadline does not apply to all departments. How long before the doctoral examination they have to reach them varies from department to department. Information on this can be obtained from the person responsible for doctoral studies in the relevant study secretariat (departmental contacts).

As a rule, the content the reports follow the customs of the discipline. Nevertheless, expert reports should contain the following elements:

  • Date
  • Author's contact details (address / affiliation / e-mail).
    Letterheads commonly used in written correspondence usually meet these requirements.
  • Name of the author and title of the doctoral thesis
  • Brief summary of the doctoral thesis
  • Evaluation of the thesis
  • Recommendation on acceptance or rejection of the doctoral thesis
  • Signature (electronic signatures are permitted)

If the doctoral thesis is accepted or accepted with additional requirements, the doctoral examination may go ahead.

The examination committee evaluates the examination as "passed" or "failed". If the examination is passed, the board also advises whether and which corrections are to be made in the revision of the doctoral thesis (e.g. more detailed descriptions of results, additions of discussion points as well as spelling and grammatical errors).

The Downloaddirective on payment for taking part in performance assessments at ETH Zurich (PDF, 82 KB) states that the payment for external co-examiners of theses, including attending the doctoral examination where applicable, must be CHF 400. This excludes co-examiners who are employed in the ETH Domain or at the University of Zurich. The payment is made by the professorship responsible for supervising the thesis.

protected pageInvoice for services performed on behalf of ETH Zurich

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