Enrolment at UNIBAS 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, faculty 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 UNIBAS regulations relate to participation in the PhD Program.

At UNIBAS, doctoral studies are governed by university-level and faculty-level regulations. The central legal framework for doctoral education within the Faculty of Science is defined by the Promotionsordnung der Philosophisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Basel . This ordinance establishes the general requirements applicable to all doctoral candidates within the UNIBAS Faculty of Science, including provisions related to admission, supervision, doctoral agreements, progress monitoring, and degree completion.

PSC PhD Programs are not officially recognized by other faculties of the UNIBAS. Nevertheless, it is possible for PhD candidates from other faculties to participate in the PSC PhD Programs.

The PhD Program in Plant Sciences is designed to operate downstream of the university and faculty regulations. Its program-specific training regulations provide a transparent framework for coursework and skills development, while ensuring complete compatibility with existing governance structures and avoiding any additional administrative or academic burden for doctoral candidates.

Participation in the PhD Program in Plant Sciences does not replace or override the doctoral governance of the home institution. Rather, it complements the institutional doctoral framework by providing an interdisciplinary, cross-university training environment.

Doctoral studies at UNIBAS are initiated through direct recruitment by a professorship. Prospective doctoral candidates must first secure the agreement of a doctoral thesis supervisor at UNIBAS.  Once thesis supervisor agreed to mentorship, prospective doctoral students may proceed with matriculation at the UNIBAS by using the following link.

Registration in the PhD Program in Plant Sciences is an additional, voluntary step that runs in parallel to UNIBAS enrolment and does not affect the doctoral status at the home institution. All doctoral students should register for the PhD Program with the signed registration form (PDF, 278 KB). 

To announce to the Faculty of Science that they registered into a PhD Program, doctoral candidates should select Plant Sciences from a drop down menu under Doctoral Program in their doctoral agreement.

For more information, please consult PhD regulations and documents of your host faculty (the Faculty of Science or Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences). 

Participation in the PhD Program does not influence the admission decision at UNIBAS and does not modify the formal doctoral requirements defined in the UNIBAS Ordinance. 

Doctoral candidates should distinguish clearly between: the doctoral thesis process, which is governed and administered by UNIBAS and the respective faculty; 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 UNIBAS.
The table below helps you identify the appropriate contact point depending on your request.

Registered doctoral students are requested to use centralized student data management UnibasServices. In these databases, you will upload documents certifying the progress of your studies (create Learning Contracts for courses and activities taking place outside of the official course catalogue of the UNIBAS , etc.).

At the Faculty of Science, for academic achievements during doctoral studies at another university, a learning contract is not necessary, but a confirmation (in the original) of successful completion must be submitted to the Dean's Office. In order to recognize these credit points for the doctoral degree, the confirmation must be signed by the First Supervisor before submission to the Dean's Office.

Thesis committee meeting protocols at the Faculty of Science remain with the Doctoral Candidate (with copy to First Supervisor) and must be submitted in original to the Dean's Office at the initiation of the Doctoral Degree Procedure

All documents relevant to doctoral progress mileastones can be found here. 

Faculty of Science

The doctoral thesis committee consists of a First and Second Supervisor. The thesis committee composition must be communicated to the Dean’s Office by submitting the Doctoral Agreement during the first semester of their doctoral studies.

The second supervisor has to be appointed within 12 months of the start of doctoral studies by updating the Doctoral Agreement.

The first Thesis Committee Meeting should be held 6 – 12 months after the beginning of doctoral studies. Subsequent meetings take place at least once a year. You can find the templates for the protocol (as part of the Doctoral Agreement) here. This document should not be sent to the Dean's Office (as stated in the document).
At the Department of Environmental Sciences, PhD Office (phd-duw@unibas.ch) has to be notified of the date when each Thesis Committee Meeting took place with the first supervisor in cc.
The signed thesis committee meeting protocols must be kept for the entire duration of the doctorate. The duty of safekeeping is incumbent on the persons involved (doctoral students, dissertation supervisors)! For further details, please refer to guidelines of the Faculty of Science at UNIBAS.

Exam Registration and Doctoral Examination: The final degree is conferred by your home institution. Please consult the Documents for Doctoral Degree Procedure provided by the Faculty of Science.

Doctoral candidates whose host institution is the UNIBAS must fulfil the curriculum requirements of the PhD Program in Plant Sciences in alignment with UNIBAS doctoral regulations. In accordance with UNIBAS requirements, doctoral candidates must obtain a total of 18 ECTS to complete the PhD Program.

The curriculum structure concerning PhD candidates enrolled at UNIBAS is illustrated in the table below and it is composed of compulsory activities, core elective activities and other elective activities.

Compulsory Activities
UNIBAS doctoral candidates enrolled in the PhD Program in Plant Sciences must complete the compulsory activities - participation in the PSC colloquium on "Challenges in Plant Sciences" (2 ECTS) and the course on Research Integrity.

Completion of training in Research Integrity and Good Scientific Practice is mandatory. UNIBAS students have an option to:

1. complete an online self-study Research Integrity course and present the certificate to the PSC office when requesting the PSC PhD Program certificate, or
2. complete the “Introductory Lecture to Good Scientific Practice and Scientific Integrity ” (2 hours, no ECTS) offered by UZH, or
3. take a course on “Research Integrity” at ETHZ (1 ECTS). The PSC offer is linked to “Ethics and Scientific Integrity for Doctoral Students (D-USYS, 701-5001-00L)”. To attend this course, please register as a special student at ETH (see below)

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

Doctoral candidates whose host institution is the UNIBAS may attend selected courses offered by ETHZ and the UZH. To ensure access to these courses and enable ECTS transfer where applicable, early registration through the designated guest or mobility frameworks is strongly recommended.

COURSES FROM UZH 

For courses offered at the UZH, UNIBAS doctoral candidates are required to register via Module Mobility at UZH. This registration enables access to the UZH course catalogue and facilitates recognition of completed coursework.

COURSES FROM ETHZ

For courses offered within the ETHZ course catalogue, doctoral candidates from the University of Basel may register as Special Students “University of Basel (UBa)”. In accordance with an official agreement within the PhD Program in Plant Sciences, doctoral candidates from UNIBAS may register under the designation Special Student “UBa – PSC”, allowing participation in ETHZ courses free of charge. This registration must be completed each semester and is a prerequisite for course enrolment via ETHZ’s course administration system. If no courses are booked at the beginning of a semester, the special student account may be deactivated for that semester. Registration for courses offered by ETHZ Course Catalogue, please go to: ETHZ myStudies.

RECOGNISING ECTS OUTSIDE OF UNIBAS COURSE CATALOGUE

At the Faculty of Science, for the ECTS acquired outside of UNIBAS course catalogue (including PSC courses) to be recognzied by UNIBAS and included in the official PhD degree, it is necessary to:

1. send the course certificate signed by the first supervisor to the Dean’s Office for a course at another university
2. create a Learning Contract in Unibas Services for all other courses and activities

For further details please consult the PhD Guidelines of the Faculty of Science.

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.

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 / faculty 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 UNIBAS.

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.