Doctoral plan and aptitude colloquium

The doctoral plan forms the basis for the aptitude colloquium and must be submitted as a PDF file by e-mail to the aptitude committee and the D-BIOL doctoral administration for the attention of the doctoral studies panel no later than 10 months after provisional admission. It is recommended to submit the doctoral plan after 6 months

DownloadThis template (PDF, 228 KB) can be used to prepare the doctoral plan.

Doctoral plans are a maximum of five pages long including the title page (content approx. 2000 words) and are structured as follows:

Title page:

working title of the doctoral thesis
name and contact information of the doctoral candidate
institute where the doctoral thesis is being conducted
name of the doctoral program (if one is being completed)
names of all members of the doctoral committee
start and planned end date of the doctoral thesis
planned date of the aptitude colloquium

Content:

an introduction to the topic that is generally understandable for biologists
research question (hypotheses) and objectives of the doctoral thesis
experimental approach/strategy
results already achieved up to the submission of the doctoral plan (optional)
schematic timetable
expected publications
indication of references cited in the text
timetable of the extended doctoral studies (if one must be completed)
teaching commitments and other obligations

General rules

All doctoral candidates must complete an aptitude colloquium within 12 months of provisional admission. The deadline for taking the aptitude colloquium can be viewed on myStudies.

Goal and purpose

In the aptitude colloquium, the candidate will be evaluated on her/his understanding of the research field, as well as her/his intellectual ownership, mastery of methods, and scientific achievements in the first year of the research project.

Aptitude committee

The aptitude committee is composed by the doctoral committee together with the chairperson of the aptitude committee.

Organisation of the aptitude colloquium

Choose one of the aptitude colloquium dates on the D-BIOL website and inform the D-BIOL doctoral administration () so that it can be reserved.
Submit your doctoral plan as a PDF file by e-mail to your doctoral committee and the D-BIOL doctoral administration no later than 10 months after provisional admission to the doctorate. It is recommended to submit the doctoral plan after 6 months. The D-BIOL doctoral administration forwards the doctoral plan to the chair of the aptitude colloquium and the D-BIOL doctoral studies panel for notification and initiates the approval process of the doctoral committee by the D-BIOL doctoral studies panel. The doctoral committee must be approved by the D-BIOL doctoral studies panel before the aptitude colloquium. The procedure for the approval of the doctoral committee after submission of the doctoral plan takes up to one month.
Aptitude colloquia can be conducted with partial or full physical presence of the aptitude committee and the doctoral student or entirely by video conference. Contact ETH Multimedia Services for the organization of the video conference. Inform the D-BIOL doctoral administration at the latest one month before the aptitude colloquium with details of the building/room in which the aptitude colloquium will take place and the Zoom invitation in case of hybrid aptitude colloquia or aptitude colloquia conducted entirely by video conference.
The D-BIOL doctoral administration sends an official invitation 15 working days before the aptitude colloquium to the doctoral student and the aptitude committee.

Execution of the aptitude colloquium

The colloquium is an oral examination of at least 60 minutes duration. It starts with a presentation by the candidate on the research project described in the doctoral plan (maximum duration: 30 minutes) followed by a detailed discussion between the candidate and the aptitude committee on specific aspects of the research project described in the doctoral plan (minimum duration: 30 minutes).

Result of the aptitude colloquium

The aptitude committee then discusses without the candidate present to decide on the result of the aptitude colloquium. The decision (pass/fail) is normally communicated directly to the candidate after the discussion. If the committee does not reach a decision, the matter is forwarded to the doctoral studies panel for decision.