Registration

For registration into the PhD program it is necessary to fill in the  registration form, obtain approval from your supervisor (signature) and sent it to the PhD Program Coordination Office via e-mail. 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 Science and Policy has to offer.

registration form (PDF, 278 KB)

The PhD Program in Science and Policy is open to doctoral candidates officially enrolled at the University of Zurich (UZH), ETH Zurich (ETHZ), or the University of Basel (UNIBAS). To be eligible for enrollment, prospective doctoral candidates must fulfill one of the following two options:

• Option 1: Secure a PhD position directly within a research team at one of the three partner universities (UZH, ETHZ, or UNIBAS) under the supervision of a local professor.

• Option 2: Secure a PhD position within a research team at a Swiss research institution (such as Agroscope, Eawag, WSL, Empa, PSI, etc.) that is formally affiliated with and allows for enrollment at one of the three partner universities.

Required qualifications

• Propective doctoral candidates must hold a university Master's degree (or equivalent) before starting one of the PSC PhD Programs. Please note that we do not accept degrees from Universities of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschulen).
• Prospective doctoral candidates must have good knowledge of English.

The candidate can be conditionally accepted into the PhD Program after the requirements are fulfilled. However, the final acceptance depends on the formal admission requirements of the host university (UZH, ETHZ or UNIBAS). There are two tracks to become a PhD - Track I and Track II.

Track I refers to the doctoral candidate recruitment via the Life Science Zurich Graduate School (LSZGS). Doctoral candidates may submit their applications twice a year: November 1 and May 1 in a form of online application on theLSZGS Website.

Final acceptance for a PhD position depends on:

1. Successfully completing the admission interview.
2. Finding a PhD position in one of the participating research groups.
3. Fulfilling the formal admission requirements of the ETHZ, UZH or UNIBAS.

The details about the selection and admission procedure can be found in the relevant LSZGS regulations andLSZGS FAQ page. After passing the selection procedure, and in agreement with a research group leader (with the right to supervise and direct the dissertation at the respective university), the doctoral candidates from Track I may apply to be admitted to the PhD program.

For registration into the PhD program it is necessary to fill in theregistration form (PDF, 278 KB), obtain approval from your supervisor (signature) and sent it to thePhD program coordination office  via e-mail. 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 Science and Policy has to offer.  

Track II concerns direct applications to the Principle Investigator (PI). Doctoral candidates may apply directly to a research group, have a formal interview with a research group leader at the respective university or research institute and in the presence of at least one other group leader or faculty member. Theinterview protocol (PDF, 64 KB) should be recorded, signed by all interviewers and submitted to the PhD program office along with theregistration form (PDF, 278 KB) to thePhD program coordination office via e-mal. 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 Science and Policy has to offer.  

Note: UNIBAS doctoral candidates do not need this interview protocol. Simply submit the PSC registration form to join the PhD program in Science and Policy.