Enrolment at ETHZ and participation in the PhD Program in Plant Sciences are two distinct, yet closely interconnected processes.
Doctoral candidates must follow the official regulations of their host university and department. In parallel, the PhD Program in Plant Sciences provides guidelines for structured doctoral training, including coursework and skills development.
The sections below outline the key doctoral procedures and explain how ETHZ regulations relate to participation in the PhD Program.

Doctoral studies at ETHZ are governed by the Ordinance on the Doctorate at at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ)  from 23 November 2021 (RSETHZ 340.3 ), which defines the legal requirements, procedures, and institutional responsibilities for the awarding of doctoral degrees. The Ordinance regulates admission (provisional and definitive), supervision, doctoral studies (regular and extended), the aptitude colloquium, the doctoral examination, and the conferral of the doctoral title.
In accordance with Art. 52 of the Ordinance, each department issues its own Detailed Stipulations regarding the Doctorate, which define department-specific procedures within this framework.

Unlike some universities, ETHZ does not organise doctorates within a compulsory overarching doctoral study programme. Doctoral candidates assemble the components of their doctoral studies individually in accordance with the Ordinance and the applicable departmental detailed stipulations. Departments may, however, organise their doctoral studies in the form of structured doctoral programmes. One example is the LSZGS, which jointly offers doctoral programmes at ETHZ and the UZH. Participation in such doctoral programmes is optional for doctoral candidates at ETHZ and does not replace or modify the formal requirements defined in the ETHZ Ordinance on the Doctorate.

The PhD Program in Plant Sciences operates as one of the structured programmes within the LSZGS and functions as a complementary training framework. It does not assume any supervisory, evaluative, or decision-making authority regarding the doctoral thesis, doctoral examination, or degree conferral.

For doctoral candidates affiliated with ETHZ and with the PhD Program in Plant Sciences, the applicable regulatory framework consists of:

1. the ETHZ Ordinance on the Doctorate,
2. the detailed stipulations of the respective department
3. and the program-specific regulations of the PhD Program in Plant Sciences, which govern only the structure, documentation, and quality assurance of structured training activities.
    

Doctoral studies at ETHZ are initiated through direct recruitment by a professorship. Prospective doctoral candidates must first secure the agreement of a doctoral thesis supervisor at ETHZ. 

Next, the prospective students are encouraged to register to the PhD Program in Plant Sciences before enrolling at ETHZ via eApply platform. This is because During the eApply process, candidates could already indicate participation in a doctoral program by selecting the relevant program from the available list. Selecting "plant sceinces" in eApply does not replace formal registration procedure into PhD Program. 

To enroll in a PhD Program, you need to fill in the registration form (PDF, 278 KB) and ideally the interview protocol (PDF, 64 KB) (and send it back to the PhD Program Coordinator. (more information here). 

 Upon successful assessment, we will send you a welcome package with all necessary information, and register you for PSC weekly newsletter where you will get up to date information on courses and other various opportunities the PhD Program in Plant Sciences has to offer.

 Admission at ETH proceeds in two stages:

1. Provisional admission, granted by the Rector upon approval of the department.
2. Definitive admission, granted after submission of the doctoral plan and successful completion of the aptitude colloquium.

Matriculation and enrolment status are administered centrally by ETHZh through Academic Services. Doctoral candidates are responsible for maintaining valid enrolment status throughout their doctoral studies.

Participation in the PhD Program does not influence the admission decision at ETHZ and does not modify the formal doctoral requirements defined in the ETHZ Ordinance. Also, if a doctoral candidate does not obtain definitive admission to the doctorate (for example, following an unsuccessful aptitude colloquium), enrolment in the PhD Program in Plant Sciences is terminated accordingly.

Doctoral candidates should distinguish clearly between: the doctoral thesis process, which is governed and administered by ETHZ and the respective department; and the structured training framework of the PhD Program in Plant Sciences, which provides additional academic development opportunities but does not modify the formal doctoral requirements of ETHZ.
The table below helps you identify the appropriate contact point depending on your request.

ETHZ uses the central platform myStudies as the general student administration system. For doctoral candidates, myStudies is primarily used for:

● Semester enrolment
● Registration for course units from ETH Course Catalogue
● Registration and withdrawal from examinations
● Upload of external course/conference certificates
● Access to transcripts of records
● Submission of degree requests

Thesis-specific procedures and doctoral milestones are coordinated mainly through the department and its doctoral administration. Doctoral candidates should therefore follow the instructions of their supervisor and departmental administration regarding the submission and documentation of doctoral milestones.

Doctoral candidates enrolled in the PhD Program in Plant Sciences additionally use Student Admin, provided within the framework of the LSZGS.

Student Admin serves exclusively for program-level documentation and thesis progress overview. Since the PhD Program does not have access to ETHZ internal systems or departmental records, doctoral candidates enrolled in the Program are requested to upload relevant documentation (e.g., doctoral plan, aptitude colloquium documentation, annual meetings, and certificates of completed coursework) to Student Admin. This enables the PhD Program to document and monitor thesis milestones for quality assurance purposes. For more details see Doctoral Progress Milestones below.
 

Student Admin does not replace departmental administration or myStudies and has no regulatory or decision-making authority within the formal doctoral process at ETHZ.

First Login to Student Admin (ETHZ Candidates)
ETHZ doctoral candidates enrolled in the PhD Program in Plant Sciences receive a welcome message from Student Admin once their account has been initialised. The username corresponds to the ETHZ e-mail address imported from the ETHZ systems. The welcome message is sent to this address with instructions how to access the platform. Please note that deadlines in Student Admin should be taken as reminders rather than strict administrative deadlines for milestone submission. 

Doctoral studies at ETHZ are governed by the ETHZ Ordinance on the Doctorate and the department-specific Detailed Stipulations. The responsible department (e.g. D-BIOL or D-USYS) monitors all formal milestones of the doctoral process. The PhD Program in Plant Sciences does not assess doctoral research progress. It just documents selected milestones for quality assurance purposes within the framework of the LSZGS.
Information about doctoral studies at ETHZ and requirements of different ETHZ departments are available here. Below is an overview of the main milestones and some department-specific particularities.

Second Advisor and Doctoral Committee - In consultation with the doctoral student, the doctoral thesis supervisor must designate an academically qualified person who, as a second advisor, will also assist the doctoral student academically. This person must be appointed by the time the doctoral plan is submitted at the latest. The doctoral administration (doktorat@ethz.ch) must be notified of the second advisor before the aptitude colloquium. Doctoral students have the right throughout the doctoral study to request another person to be available for additional professional or non professional advice and support as needed.
D-BIOL requires the formal establishment of a doctoral committee consisting of the doctoral thesis supervisor, the second advisor, and a professor from outside ETHZ (or equivalent expert). The doctoral committee must be constituted and approved at the latest when the doctoral plan is submitted. After definitive admission, D-BIOL requires at least one doctoral committee meeting per year in addition to the annual status conversation.
D-USYS does not require a formal doctoral committee structure in the same way as D-BIOL. The supervisor designates co-examiners separately. Approval of co-examiners must be requested well in advance of the doctoral examination (at least six months before the exam).

Doctoral Plan (Research Plan) - provisionally admitted candidates must draw up a doctoral plan that includes: research objectives, teaching tasks, other duties, timeline for extended doctoral studies (if applicable).
It must be submitted to the doctoral thesis supervisor, the second advisor and the doctoral committee (for the aptitude colloquium). The doctoral plan is not a legally binding contract but a structured declaration of intent and may evolve. Significant changes should be documented in annual progress reports. The Doctoral plan can be uploaded into Student Admin for PhD Program in Plant Sciences documentation.
D-BIOL requires Doctoral Plan submission no later than 10 months after provisional admission. The document should have maximum 5 pages (approx 2000 words), defined structure, and committee members listed on the title page.
D-USYS requires submission within 12 months after provisional admission (or after fulfilling additional admission requirements). The document should have maximum 10 pages, specific D-USYS title page required, formal submission to department secretariat.

Aptitude Colloquium is an oral defense of the research plan to be held the last 12 months after provisional registration at ETHZ (see myStudies). The defense lasts around 60 minutes including a presentation by the doctoral student (max 30 minutes) and a discussion between the doctoral student and the aptitude committee about the doctoral plan. The aptitude committee is composed of the chairperson and the Thesis Committee. The chairperson must be (a) a member of the doctoral studies panel or (b) a person appointed by the doctoral studies panel who must be a full or associate professor at ETHZ department. The aptitude committee evaluates whether the candidate is capable of conducting independent research and authoring a doctoral thesis. If the colloquium fails, one repetition may be possible. The organisation of the aptitude colloquium is the doctoral students' own responsibility. Missing the deadline without approved extension leads to exmatriculation. Definitive admission is granted if the aptitude colloquium is passed. Aptitude colloquium report (PDF, 275 KB) protocol should be uploaded into Student Admin for PhD Program in Plant Sciences documentation. More information about doctoral plan and aptitude colloquium can be found on the Student Portal of ETHZ.

Thesis Committee milestone in Student Admin may trigger a reminders sooner than necessary to form the committee. Please upload instead your aptitude colloquium committee. 

Annual Progress Report and Status Conversation - after definitive admission, doctoral students must submit an annual written progress report describing: status and anticipated progress of research as well as report if significant deviations from the doctoral plan occurred. The supervisor conducts an annual status conversation based on this report. It consists of 2 parts and covers the following topics: Part 1 (Scientific Progress) and Part 2 (performance assessment, career and personal development). The meeting must be documented in writing. The progress report and documentation must be submitted to the second advisor for information. The reports must be kept for the entire duration of the doctorate. The duty of safekeeping is incumbent on the persons involved (doctoral students, dissertation supervisors, second advisors). Annual report protocol (PDF, 275 KB) can be uploaded into Student Admin for PhD Program in Plant Sciences documentation.
D-BIOL requires at least one annual doctoral committee meeting in addition to the supervisor’s status conversation.

Course Work requires at least 12 ECTS credits in regular doctoral studies. At least one credit in “Good Scientific Practice and Ethics” is mandatory. Credits must be confirmed before registration for the doctoral examination.
D-BIOL defines three areas in which credits must be distributed with at least one credit in each of the following categories:

1. Deepening/broadening of scientific knowledge
2. Cross-disciplinary competences
3. Integration into the scientific community

D-USYS requires 12 credits, with at least 4 credits outside the research field.

You can upload individual course certificates in Student Admin, however, please do not submit this whole milestone until ALL your credits have been uploaded.

Registration for the Doctoral Examination - doctoral students register for the doctoral examination with Academic Services. The examination must take place within 6 years of provisional admission and take place within 3 months of registration for doctoral examination. The doctoral examination consists of a public presentation and at least one-hour oral examination.
D-BIOL specifies a requirement for a 20-minute presentation, followed by 10-minute Q&A from the public and non-public oral examination of at least 1 hour in duration. The examination committee assesses both the thesis and the oral examination.
More about doctoral examination can be found on Student Portal of ETHZ.

Doctoral candidates at ETHZ must complete regular doctoral studies in accordance with Art. 34–38 of the ETHZ Ordinance on the Doctorate. A minimum of 12 ECTS credits must be acquired during the doctorate. One ECTS corresponds to approximately 25–30 hours of academic work. Regular doctoral studies must be completed before registration for the doctoral examination. At least one ECTS credit in Good Scientific Practice and Ethics is mandatory.The specific distribution of credits is defined by the respective department .

ETHZ doctoral candidates enrolled in the PhD Program in Plant Sciences are expected to earn their required 12 ECTS within this structured framework whenever possible. The table below shows a summary.

Compulsory Activities encompass the participation in the PSC colloquium on "Challenges in Plant Sciences" (2 ECTS) and the training in Research Integrity (1 ECTS).
The colloquium “Challenges in Plant Sciences” is a core module of the PhD Program in Plant Sciences. It introduces participants to the broad spectrum of plant sciences within the PSC network. The topics encompass integrated knowledge on current plant research, ranging from the molecular level to the ecosystem level, and from basic to applied science while making use of the synergies between the different research groups within the PSC. The course offers the opportunity to approach interdisciplinary topics as challenges in the field of plant sciences.
Moreover, all students must attend at least 1 ECTS worth training in Ethics and Research Integrity from their departments. PSC offers an annual course Ethics and Scientific Integrity for Doctoral Students (701-5001-00L course code in ETHZ course catalogue) for which students can register via myStudies platform.

For more information about courses see the CURRICULUM of the PhD Program.

COURSES FROM UZH 

The PhD Program in Plant Sciences collaborates closely with several related doctoral and graduate programs in Zurich and Basel. Through these collaborations, doctoral students registered in our program may attend selected courses offered by these sister programs when they are relevant to plant science research and doctoral training.

For courses where no such arrangement exists, ETHZ doctoral students may still attend courses offered at the University of Zurich through the Swiss inter-university mobility scheme. Under the Swiss mobility framework, doctoral students enrolled at ETHZ may register as mobility students at the UZH in order to attend individual modules. This mechanism allows students to complete assessments at another Swiss university and earn ECTS credits while remaining matriculated at their home institution.

Applications are submitted through the UZH online application portal , selecting the option “Mobility within Switzerland – Incoming.” Students admitted under this scheme generally do not pay application or semester fees for mobility.
It is important to verify whether the course of interest fits their doctoral study plan and that the credits can be recognized by their doctoral program or department. Students should consult the UZH application portal for the current deadlines. Applications must be submitted before the relevant application deadline, and late applications are not accepted. In practice, mobility applications for the following academic year are typically open from November to mid-January, with occasional additional rounds for remaining places later in the year.

COURSES FROM UNIBAS

Students who are enrolled at ETHZ are allowed to attend individual courses at UNIBAS and can earn credit points (courses up to a total of 20 credit points per semester). They do not pay any tuition or auditing fees. The completed and signed registration sheet must be submitted, along with a scan of a student ID or a confirmation of matriculation from the home university valid for the corresponding semester. Registration is done using an online form.  Please send the documents as soon as possible in order to get access to the Online Services by the beginning of the lecture period. The deadline for submission is the first day of the lecture period each semester.
Further information is available here.

Doctoral students are responsible for ensuring that all completed coursework is properly recorded in myStudies (for departmental ETHZ administration) and in Student Admin (for PhD Program documentation).

UPLOADING PSC CERTIFICATES INTO myStudies

For courses that are listed in the ETHZ course catalogue and registered directly through myStudies, ECTS credits are transferred automatically. Once the course has been successfully completed and the results are recorded by the course organizer, the corresponding ECTS credits will appear automatically in myStudies under the student’s study achievements.

For courses that are not registered through myStudies—for example some courses organized by the PhD Program in Plant Sciences, courses from partner doctoral programs, workshops, or conference participation—students must upload proof of participation manually. This is done in myStudies via:

Welcome → Study Programme → Transfer of Study Achievements

Students should select “Add study achievement” and upload a PDF certificate of attendance or completion. In the following step, additional information about the activity must be provided (e.g., course title, organizer, dates, and number of ECTS credits) before submitting the request. After submission, the request is forwarded to the departmental doctoral administration, which will review and evaluate the achievement before confirming the credit transfer.

UPLOADING PSC CERTIFICATES INTO Student Admin

In addition to uploading certificates in myStudies, students enrolled in the PhD Program in Plant Sciences should also upload their certificates in the program monitoring system Student Admin. Certificates should be uploaded under the milestone “Course Work.” Students should ensure that all certificates have been uploaded before submitting the whole milestone “Course Work”.

EXTERNAL CREDITS MUST BE APPROVED BY THE PHD PROGRAM

ECTS acquired outside ETHZ, UZH, UNIBAS, or associated LSZGS PhD Programs require formal accreditation by the PSC office prior to recognition.

Accreditation requires submission of:

1. a certificate of attendance or completion,
2. the course or event programme clearly indicating the topic, duration, and workload (including contact hours, preparatory work, assignments, or presentation preparation, where applicable),
3. documentation of active involvement where relevant (e.g. conference abstract book or programme),
4. pdf of a poster or presentation, and
5. a completed PSC External Activity Recognition Form (PDF, 135 KB) signed by the PhD supervisor.

Recognition is subject to confirmation by the PSC PhD Program Coordination office. Documents should be sent to psc_phdprogram@ethz.ch.

You can upload all your course certificates under the milestone "Coursework" in Student Admin. Please do not submit this whole milestone until ALL your credits have been uploaded!

Successful graduation from the PhD program in Plant Sciences will be attested by a joint Diploma Supplement from the three participant institutions (ETHZ, UZH and UNIBAS). The certificate will be presented once all the program’s requirements have been fulfilled and the responsible university has awarded a doctorate.
The following requirements must be fulfilled to graduate from the doctoral program Plant Sciences:

1. completion of all the requirements set by the university / department where the student is matriculated for graduation,
2. a successful defense of your dissertation containing original research,
3. earning 12 ECTS credits that fulfill the curricular requirements of the program,
4. obtained doctoral degree from ETHZ.

To receive the PSC PhD Program certification (Diploma Supplement) please send the following documents to the PhD Program in Plant Sciences coordination via e-mail:

1. a pdf of your doctoral degree certificate along with
2. a list of all training activities and corresponding certificates (merged into one pdf file) to claim your ECTS.
3. a postal address to which the Diploma Supplement should be sent.