Doctoral exam

The examination committee consists of:

• The chair, which must be a D-INFK full or associated professor. The D-INFK doctoral administration organises the chair.
• The thesis supervisor as an examiner.
• Between 1 and 3 co-examiners proposed by the supervisor. The department conference must approve all co-examiners. The dates of the department conferences can be found here. 
  

Before the examination, the examiner and all co-examiners must approve the thesis. The D-INFK doctoral administration will ask the examiner and the co-examiners for reports on the thesis. At least eight days before the examination, the reports must be submitted to the D-INFK doctoral administration.

Approx. ten weeks before the planned date, your supervisor or you ask the D-INFK doctoral administration for the name of the chair by using this form. You arrange an exam date with the exam committee and the chair and inform the D-INFK doctoral administration using this form.

The doctoral exam can take place in presence, via videoconferencing or Zoom. Doctoral students must inform the D-INFK doctoral administration which option they have chosen. If the exam is in presence, the D-INFK doctoral administration will organise a room. Otherwise, the doctoral students must book a videoconferencing room or a Zoom meeting via ETH Multimedia and send the room number and/or Zoom link to the D-INFK doctoral administration . Microsoft Teams is also allowed, but the supervisor must set up the meeting in that case.

At the latest six weeks before the exam, the doctoral student must send an electronic copy of the thesis to the supervisor, the co-examiners, and the D-INFK doctoral administration . Additionally, they must send a PDF of the abstract in English and a photograph of themselves to the D-INFK doctoral administration .

After submitting the electronic copy of the thesis, the doctoral student must register for the doctoral examination at the Doctoral Administration Office. For detailed information see above.

Upon registration, the Doctoral Administration Office will send you the confirmation along with the doctoral thesis number.

The examination consits of a presentation of the thesis by the doctoral student lasting 30 minutes, followed by a discussion session during which the examiners ask questions. The doctoral exam lasts at least 90 minutes.

It is expected that the supervisor and the co-examiners should be present during the examination either physically or remotely via videoconferencing. Each examiner will be allocated time during the examination to ask questions. These questions may be about specific details of the thesis or general questions about the research area. 

The examination is open to all academic employees and official guests of D-INFK as well as any external collaborators.

The examination committee will meet after the examination to decide the outcome. If the committee decides that the doctoral student has not passed the examination, it may be retaken within six months.

The doctoral thesis will be approved at the following department conference if the doctoral student has successfully passed the doctoral exam. Doctoral students must submit the final version of the thesis at the latest six days before the department conference to the D-INFK doctoral administration. The thesis title and its content cannot be changed once the thesis has been approved.

Once the department conference has approved the doctoral thesis, the Doctoral Administration Office will communicate the following steps. See also the information here.