Fast Track to PhD

This program allows excellent students to begin doctoral studies after one year of master studies.

Conditions for admission

• Students who started the master studies in Biology at ETH Zurich and obtained excellent results (as a rule marks must be in the best 10%)
• all credit points, except those for the master thesis and master examination must have been gained (56 CP) within the first year of the master studies
• the doctoral studies assessment examination (see below) must have been passed

Application

There is one deadline per semester for application submissions. The next deadline is on Friday, 16. August 2013.

The application must be sent to the biology student administration office and is accompanied by the following documents:

• a copy of the Bachelor degree awarded to the candidate
• a proof that all additional admission requirements have been fulfilled
• an up-to-date copy of the candidate’s MSc Learning Agreement
• a written confirmation from an authorised PhD supervisor that she or he will supervise and fund the doctoral studies
• a written outline of the planned project

To speed up the administrative process, a candidate should report all examination marks obtained from the most recent examination session to the biology student administration office as soon as possible after receiving them.

Assessment examination

Eligible candidates will be invited to an oral assessment examination (at least 60 minutes) and will be graded as having either passed or failed. A repetition is not possible.

The examination will comprise:

• a talk about the planned doctoral research project
• questions concerning the content of the planned project
• general questions about matters concerning the candidate’s chosen major

After a successful assessment, a candidate may register for doctoral studies and is admitted provisionally. Please find all of the necessary information here.

MSc graduation and registration for the doctoral studies program

11 months after the provisional admission to doctoral studies, a candidate must submit to the supervisor and a co-referee an interim report on the results obtained so far. This report will be evaluated and marked as the MSc thesis. A second copy must be handed in at the biology student administration office.

The master examination must take place within 30 days after submission of the MSc thesis.

The doctoral research proposal must be submitted separately within 12 months of the provisional doctoral studies registration. Please check the details here.

After MSc graduation and approval of the doctoral research proposal by the D-BIOL doctoral studies panel, a candidate may be definitively admitted to the doctoral studies program.