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Professorship for Learning Sciences and Higher Education

Eth zurich - epfl joint doctoral program in the learning sciences.

Learning Sciences  is an emerging, interdisciplinary research area that focuses on developing a multi-faceted understanding of learning as it happens in the real world, as well as designing, implementing and improving learning environments.

The ETH Zurich - EPFL Joint Doctoral Program in the Learning Sciences (JDPLS) educates a new generation of dual-discipline scientists, who will bring together knowledge and methods from multiple disciplines such as psychology, education, computer science and data science to answer questions of how people learn and hence how to teach in the digital age. This doctoral program is directed towards students from any field of science or engineering who are highly motivated towards addressing the challenges in education that arise from the digitization of society. Research in the JDPLS emphasizes bridging the gap between fundamental and translational research. Our doctoral students are trained to lead the transformation in all parts of our education systems including schools, universities, workplace and informal learning spaces.  

Program Directors

Prof. Dr. Manu Kapur  (ETH Zurich)

external page Prof. Dr. Pierre Dillenbourg  (EPFL)

Founding Chair 

Prof. Dr. Manu Kapur (ETH Zurich)

Executive Director

external page Dr. Victoria Abou Khalil (EPFL)

Program Managers

Sara May  (ETH Zurich)

external page Emma Sorrentino  (EPFL)

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Dept. of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

Students in the first year of their doctorate at ETH Zurich are warmly invited to participate in the Introductory programme for new doctoral students , which consists of several events, workshops and seminars distributed between September and November 2022.

The introductory programme offers a great opportunity to get useful information and build up a network of contacts within ETH Zurich!

More information on the new 2022 doctoral ordinance will follow, please refer to ETH's corporate website on the doctorate at ETH Zurich .

Doctoral studies mean catching up with the forefront of research and pushing it further. Doctoral (PhD) students at D-ITET are individually supervised by a professor. Doctoral studies should take about 4 years (beyond the master degree) and must result in a thesis with a definite scientific contribution to research on an international level. A small number of graduate courses (12 ECTS credits) is also mandatory. A doctoral plan (approved by the supervising professor) must be submitted no later than 12 months after the beginning of the doctoral studies.

Research and teaching

Doctoral students at D-ITET generally hold paid positions with one of the research laboratories of the department. In addition to working on their own research project, most doctoral students are also teaching assistants and supervise student projects in the bachelor and master programs.

Further details on the doctorate at D-ITET can be found in the Download presentation of the welcome event for new doctoral students (PDF, 3.3 MB) .

How to apply

Applications for a PhD position should be sent directly to the individual professors . Applicants must have a master degree from a well reputed university. Admission may be conditional on passing one or two courses at ETH.

General information about the doctorate at ETH Zurich.

Information about professors , laboratories and research areas .

• Phone phone +41 44 632 33 36
• contacts vCard Download

Dep. Inf.techno.u.Elektrotechnik ETZ H 87 Gloriastrasse 35 8092 Zurich Switzerland

Legal basis

• chevron_right Legal collection
• chevron_right Directives collection
• chevron_right Ordinance on Doctoral Studies at ETH Zurich
• chevron_right Rector's Implementation Provisions
• Download vertical_align_bottom Detail Regulations for Doctoral Studies at D-ITET (2021)  (PDF, 171 KB)

Links & Downloads

• chevron_right Upcoming meetings of the doctoral committee
• chevron_right Code of Conduct
• chevron_right Respect campaign
• chevron_right Academic Calendar ETH
• external page call_made Career Center
• chevron_right Course catalogue
• chevron_right Doctoral administration office
• chevron_right Doctoral studies at ETH
• chevron_right myStudies
• chevron_right Welcome Center

Associations

• chevron_right AVETH
• chevron_right LIMES - Ladies in Mechanical & Electrical Engineering
• chevron_right VMITET

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Department of Physics

Doctoral studies.

Doctoral programmes are carried out in individual research groups, and they combine original research projects with specialised doctoral courses and teaching activities.

ETH Zurich offers outstanding conditions for a doctorate: an innovation-oriented atmosphere, state-of-the-art equipment and laboratories, and an environment that inspires the scientific talents of tomorrow.

The emphasis of your work will be to perform independent research, usually as part of a project assigned to a team. The details of the project will depend on your chosen field. It is expected that you publish your results in international scientific journals and that you write a doctoral thesis, which will also be published. All of this work will be carried out under the supervision of your thesis advisor. Upon successful completion, you will be awarded the title of Doctor of Sciences (Dr. sc. ETH Zurich).

• chevron_right D-PHYS Association of non-faculty scientific staff (AMP)
• chevron_right Doctorate – Student portal

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Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences

Doctoral studies.

The doctoral programmes of the D-CHAB attract around 500 highly qualified doctoral students from all over the world that are doing research in over 50 groups that cover a wide range of research areas in chemistry, pharmaceutical and applied sciences. About 50% of all doctoral chemistry students in Switzerland are educated at the D-CHAB.

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Department of Computer Science

Application and admission.

Students holding a Master's degree in computer science or a related field are cordially invited to apply for doctoral studies in Computer Science.

Application and admission are possible at any time; there are no deadlines.

Applicants need a Master's degree with a strong background in computer science or a closely related field. Also, applicants need to be proficient both in written and spoken English. Language tests are not required. However, if you have documental proof, please include it in your application. Typically, personal interviews are conducted with candidates considered for admission. GRE tests are not mandatory. However, if proof of results is available, please include it in your application.  

Applications are always accepted in one of two ways:

Option 1 : You can contact a professor in an area of your interest to find out whether they have openings and may be interested in supervising you as a doctoral student.

List of professors and research groups: Research Groups

Once you have found a supervisor, you must submit your application via eApply. Details and further information you will find here .

Option 2 : You can submit your application online via our central application system . This way, your application will automatically be available to and reviewed by our entire faculty. The application is free of charge.

The online application is exclusively electronic. Please provide the following documents:

• Scans of diplomas of completed degrees
• Scans of grade records for all attended universities
• Statement of objective (text only in English)
• Contact information of three references providing recommendations

Note that all uploaded files should be unprotected PDFs each not exceeding 2 MB in size.

Once your application is submitted, it will remain active for four months. In this period, you may be contacted by any interested faculty member. Otherwise, you will receive a notification at the end of this period.

Doctoral students are employees and students. Therefore, upon admission, they receive an employment contract and a confirmation of provisional admission. Only after having passed the aptitude colloquium, which must take place after twelve months at the latest, doctoral students are admitted definitively.

Enrolment in myStudies at the beginning of every semester is compulsory right up to the decision on conferral of the doctoral degree.

In addition to conducting research, doctoral students are also teaching assistants and supervise student projects from the bachelor's and master's programmes. Open positions for teaching assistants are to be found here .  

Doctoral students generally have an employment contract. At D-INFK, the salary rates for doctoral students are Rate 4 or Rate 5, which enables them to cover their living expenses comfortably in Switzerland.

Additional information on admission costs, tuition and semester fees, and living costs can be found here .