Doctoral Examination
Preparation
The last 6 months leading to your doctoral examination: chronological order at D-BAUG
In addition to the various chapters hereunder, covering all preparatory steps at D-BAUG plus the actual implementation of your doctoral examination, our colleagues of the Central Dr-Admin (Academic Services, formerly Rectorate) organise 2 events that make your last phase at ETH easier.
An important detail before you even start wrapping-up: the title page of your thesis.
Check out these parameters.
Remark: If you were matriculated under the old Doctoral Ordinance, then the DownloadDetailed Provisions (PDF, 45 KB) are applicable to you, unless you changed to the new system before your research plan got approved, i.e. latest by mid 2022. The relevant chapter can be found under the main entry page for matriculations before 01.01.2022, i.e. where you found all relevant info before entering the exam prep phase.
How to proceed for the confirmation of your credit points?
- Present all original documents pertaining to courses etc. to and
- Have your credit points confirmed on the registration form for your doctoral examination.
- Use this online form to provide all elements surrounding your doctoral examination to the Doctoral Administration D-BAUG.
Please make sure you also register for your doctoral examination. See separate tab, further down.
Careful! New requirements for co-examiners! Affecting all doctoral examinations from 01.01.2024.
Well ahead of time, please study the following table carefully and get your (missing) co-examiners confirmed at a meeting of the Doctoral Committee relatively close to your doctoral examination. Please observe cut-off days for the meetings.
Make sure you'd have enough time to find an alternative expert in case one of your requests should not get confirmed, which very rarely happens if you abide by the rules.
Please use our online form to file your co-examiner request; other formats will not be processed.
Requirements for Co-Examiners: effective from 01.01.2024, for all doctoral examinations
Note: If wished for, your 2nd Advisor may also become a co-examiner. A separate nomination via the online form is necessary.
Legal Sources:
Art. 11: Detailed Stipulations D-BAUG
Art. 40, 3b: ETH Zurich Ordinance on the Doctorate
Art. 11.3, c: Rector’s Implementation Provisions for the ETH Zurich Ordinance on the Doctorate
In case any questions remain, please contact .
- supervisor
- co-examiners
- chairperson
As a 1st priority, the chairperson needs to be the Director of Studies for the field of research of your doctoral thesis.
In general, if the Director of Studies is unavailable, you may then, as a 2nd priority, contact his or her deputy.
How to proceed:
- Email 2 possible exam dates (agreed upon with your entire examination committee) to your Director of Studies.
- Upon her/his response, please confirm final exam date via Outlook invitation.
- 4 months (minimum!) ahead of time fix 2 possible dates with your thesis supervisor and all co-examiners.
- Present these 2 dates to chairperson for her/him to select (Director of Studies)
- Organize a suitable room (big enough, to accommodate audience of semi-public examination).
A video conference must be planned well ahead and in cooperation with the service desk of ID-Multimedia Service (ID MMS) through using their online form.
Once you've collected all your exam details, incl. your Zoom link, please make sure to provide them to the Doctoral Administration D-BAUG the earliest possible by using the online form. And remember to keep me in the loop in case something changes. Thank you!
- Submission of pdf-version of your doctoral thesis = exam version as attachment or via Polybox to Doctoral Administration D-BAUG, exactly eight weeks prior to your doctoral examination date.
- Form DownloadDeclaration of Your Personal Contribution (PDF, 199 KB) attached to email when submitting thesis or as part of a package via the Polybox.
If you have any questions surrounding the form, check out our FAQs.
- To be on the safe side, also list all current email addresses of your committee members. Thanks!
Upon submission of your pdf, the Doctoral Administration D-BAUG sends out a request for all written reports. -- The members of the Examination Committee have 5 weeks to produce their report, i.e. submission is 3 weeks prior to your examination date.
Last but not least, in preparation for the Dept. Conference, where your promotion request will be approved, kindly provide the following two attachments to your submission email or your Polybox link. Thank you so much!
- a ppt slide according to Downloadthis template (PPTX, 593 KB)
- a pdf, comprising the title page of your thesis and your abstract
Further Information Surrounding Your Examination Date
- Your exam date is confirmed once the Doctoral Administration D-BAUG has received all reports on your thesis.
- The invitation to your doctoral examination is sent out to you and all members of the Examination Committee as well as the Department Conference around 10 days prior to the examination date (pending timely submission of all reports).
The Reports:
The following information on written reports for ETH is made available to the Examination Committee:
No hardcopy is needed for the registration of your doctoral examination with Academic Services (Rectorate).
It needs to be done no later than 15 working days before your examination date. Theoretically, you can do it right after the submission of your exam version.
Implementation
Since 1 July 2016, the doctoral examination at D-BAUG is semi-public. All elements surrounding this event are outlined in the Detailed Stipulations D-BAUG, art. 13.
Please note that the German version is legally binding.
Finalization
After your doctoral examination, you will have to go through the following steps until you receive your doctoral certificate.
There are 3 ways to pass your doctoral examination:
- without reservation
- with formal corrections
- with corrections to content
(In very rare cases, it happened that someone did not pass his/her doctoral examination.)
In the event that your examination committee has suggestions for corrections or changes, you’ll be informed accordingly after your doctoral examination.
The extent of this work, if any, is decisive for the date of the Department Conference (DK, 4x/year) at which your promotion request will be approved.
Your supervisor needs to approve the electronic version of your thesis prior to the DK, i.e. he/she needs to confirm to the Doctoral Administration D-BAUG that all corrections, suggestions etc. – if any – stipulated on the examination day have been weaved in.
About 2 weeks before the DK, the Doctoral Administration D-BAUG contacts all the professors in order to find out whether the theses of their doctoral students are ready.
If your thesis is ready, your promotion request can be dealt with at the DK. This, however, means that your thesis supervisor needs to be present in person.
About 2 days after the DK, you'll get dematriculated as a doctoral student by Academic Services and you'll receive a letter by them, stipulating all further steps and the deadline for submitting your deposit copies.
If your thesis is not ready yet, however, it will have to wait until a later DK. However, please note that all corrections have to be weaved in within 6 months after the date of your doctoral examination. (See Rector’s Implementation Provisions on the Ordinance on Doctoral Studies, art. 10 a).
If the date for your DK approval exceeds the 6 months, please make sure your supervisor confirms the fact that your thesis is ready to the .
You must submit your deposit copies at the central Doctoral Administration of Academic Services no later than 3 months after the Department Conference D-BAUG.
You find extensive information on the Deposit Copies and the various submission options on their website.
Please note:
You only receive a transcript of your academic performance during your doctorate provided the following was the case:
If your research plan or doctoral plan was approved
- after 1 January 2022 and
- you communicated to Academic Services that you would prefer
- to collect your 12 credit points according to Art. 36 of the new ETH Ordinance on Doctoral Studies (effective 1 January 2022).
See Art. 65, Transitional provisions regarding regular doctoral studies and the academic record, or, in short, section 10.5 Academic record.
After submitting your deposit copies, you will receive a link to an online form in order to register (or not) for a doctoral award ceremony. Further details such as dates and deadlines are listed on the website Award Ceremony of the Student portal.