Mobility for UNIL doctoral students

The Blended Intensives Programmes (BIPs) are a new mobility format available to all doctoral students enrolled at UNIL.

Each BIP combines online teaching with a short period of physical mobility lasting five days (which is a summer or winter school) at another CIVIS university with students from all over the Alliance.

The CIVIS BIPs are linked to one of the following Alliance themes:

• Hub 1: Climate, environment and energy
• Hub 2: Société, culture and heritage
• Hub 3: Health
• Hub 4: Cities, spaces and mobility
• Hub 5: Digital and technological transformation

The CIVIS BIPs are published on the CIVIS portal.

• Agreement of the thesis director

1. If you are interested in a BIP, contact your thesis director at UNIL to check the feasibility of the project in relation to your research project. A learning agreement will need to be signed with the director of thesis. 
2. Apply online via the CIVIS BIPs registration platform on the Alliance website. The selection of doctoral students is carried out in two stages:
   1. from the Social Affairs and Student Mobility (SASME) service to check the eligibility for the mobility grant
   2. from CIVIS, by the BIP organising team according to the motivation and background of the candidates/candidates. In principle, the results are sent no later than one month after the deadline for submission of applications for the BIPs.
3. If selected, the doctoral student contacts the SASME to establish a fellowship contract. This must be signed by the doctoral student and the SASME. The grant will be paid as soon as possible after receipt of all the documents (grant contract, learning agreement, BIP programme, travel tickets). The scholarship is dependent on the learning agreement.
4. The doctoral student can now take part in the online programme and the 5-day trip to the university guest of physical mobility to the sides of professors and doctoral students from across the Alliance. The duration and format of the e-learning sessions and the assessment of the knowledge acquired depend on each CIVIS BIP.
5. For doctoral students required to earn ECTS credits as part of their doctoral programme, a transcript of record is delivered by the BIP coordinating institution upon successful completion of the course. The credits (3 and 6 ECTS depending on the BIP) may be counted according to what has been agreed in the learning agreement.

For physical mobility during the BIP, the doctoral student is financially supported as follows (travel, meals and accommodation):

• A lump sum of CHF 80 per day of the programme in advance (max: 5 days);
• A lump sum of CHF 80.- for one day's outward travel and CHF 80.- for one day's return travel;
• A lump-sum contribution to the journey in accordance with the Movetia kilometre scale below:

• If a sustainable mode of transport (bus or train) is chosen, the doctoral student can count up to two days of outward travel and two days of return travel if justified; and receive an additional flat rate of CHF 100.- upon presentation of supporting travel documents.

Mme Katarina Chollet
Social Affairs and Student Mobility (SASME)
UNIL-Centre district
Unicentre
CH-1015 Lausanne

bipcivis.@unil.ch
Tel. +41 21 692 21 15

The CIVIS Alliance encourages the mobility of doctoral students for short research stays, from 5 to 30 days, at CIVIS member universities.

• Accordance of the thesis director;
• Relevance of the mobility to the doctoral programme;
• Quality of the project and objectives.

• Research activities;
• Courses offered by partner institutions;
• Seminars and other educational programmes;
• The participant must always act as a learner (and not as a teacher, instructor, trainer).

Please note: this scheme does not fund participation at congress/conferences.

• If you are interested in a short stay, get in touch with your thesis director at UNIL in order to check the feasibility of the project in relation to your research project and obtain his/her agreement for the mobility stay.
• Find a thesis director in one of the CIVIS universities ready to welcome you.
• Prepare a programme of activities to submit with the mobility project to Léa Moreau.
• If selected, the doctoral student contacts the SRI to establish a scholarship contract. This must be signed by the doctoral student and the CIVIS Unit. The scholarship will be paid out as soon as possible after all the documents have been received (letter of agreement signed by the doctoral student's supervisor, letter of invitation from the host university, programme of activities for the day, scholarship contract).

The doctoral student is financially supported as follows (travel, meals and accommodation):

• From 5 to 14 days: a lump-sum of CHF 80 per day of mobility
• From the 15th day: a lump-sum of CHF 60 per day of mobility

Max: 30 days (incl. 1-2 travel days)

• Covering other research contexts
• Realise a research field
• Training in the use of research infrastructures
• Enlarge your own European network for the development of research projects

Mrs Léa Moreau
CIVIS unit
UNIL-Centre district
Unicentre
CH-1015 Lausanne

Tel +41 21 692 65 26

The MITACS program enables UNIL PhD students to complete a research stay of 3 to 6 months at the University of Montreal (UofM). All fields of research are eligible. A stay in an institution affiliated to the University of Montreal (e.g. HEC Montreal, Polytechnic School of Montreal) is not possible.

For such a research stay, a scholarship of 6,000 Canadian dollars is available, regardless of the length of the stay. Half of this sum is paid by MITACS, a Canadian not-for-profit organization, which has signed an agreement with the University of Montreal, and the other half by UNIL.

• No admission fee is payable to the University of Montreal
• Stay in one of the leading research universities in the world
• Enlargement of the professional network in a new scientific and cultural environment
• Exchange program student status and access to student services at UofM
• Most of the stay is financed by the scholarship, but additional funds are needed to cover the full cost.

• Be enrolled as a PhD student at UNIL and remain enrolled throughout the research stay at UofM
• Have a research project while wishing to benefit from the expertise of a researcher at UofM
• The curriculum attended at UNIL must allow you to stay at the University of Montreal for 3 to 6 months
• Find a research professor at the University of Montreal who agrees to invite you and supervise your research:
  • contact your PhD supervisor at UNIL to see if he·she can put you in touch with a research professor at the University of Montreal
  • refer to the procedure to be followed to enable you to find a supervisor at the University of Montreal 
• Payment of transport costs and living expenses (accommodation and food) in Montreal; these costs will be largely covered by the scholarship, but additional funds are needed
• In some cases, you will be required to conclude a specific, separate agreement with the UofM concerning the intellectual property rights resulting from the research activities and the publication and development of such activities
• Obligation to take out a group health insurance plan for the duration of the stay and to pay the premiums (specific UofM health insurance plan). You must also have a travel insurance and it is highly recommended to have a civil liability insurance during your stay abroad
• Completion of the application form (see section Application).

• Call for applications launched in April 2024
• Deadline for submitting the application form: 12 February 2025.

An application can be sent to us at any time before the indicated deadline. However, there are two important points to keep in mind:

• At least 16 weeks before the beginning of your planned project/stay at UofM, MITACS must receive the complete application from the international relations office of UNIL. Add at least 2 weeks more, the time needed to review the application submitted to our office
• After the official acceptance of an application by MITACS, you have one year to start your research stay at the UofM.

Please take note of the important information below before downloading the application form: 

• Please read carefully the preliminary information in the guidelines. This "program guide" is part of the “application kit” to be downloaded
• In the form to be filled out, you must describe your project during your research stay at the University of Montreal. Do not describe your thesis in general. It must be consistent with the calendar
• The stay must be entirely devoted to research – this must be reflected in the form
• This is a full-time research stay. Therefore, do not mention courses and seminars that will be taken during the stay at UofM
• The form can be completed either in English or in French (see the respective version of this website)
• A PhD student being already in Canada cannot apply for a MITACS scholarship unless he or she returns to his or her country and then departs again for the research stay at the University of Montreal.

To download the application form, please go on the website of the University of Montreal. Click on « 1. Apply », scroll to « Submitting applications » and click on « Application kit ». The form 1 (research proposal) must be completed (without deleting the comments and advice) and sent electronically to Mr. Matthias Buess. You should not send your research proposal directly to MITACS nor to UofM. The form 2 (co-funding) is not needed for your application.

Our office will send your research proposal to MITACS, which will carry out a pre-assessment. If the proposal complies, MITACS will send you a link to the application portal, and you will be guided through the rest of the procedure. Both supervisors will also need to open an account to approve the project.

Mr. Matthias Buess
International relations office 
University of Lausanne
Phone: 021 692 20 21

SEMP (formerly Erasmus) exchange agreements allow students to spend 1 or 2 semesters abroad for study purposes.

• Agreement of the thesis director
• If assistantship contract: Faculty agreement

1. Consult the database of exchange agreements to find out which agreements are open to doctoral students
2. Contact the mobility advisor at your faculty
3. Ensure that the host institution agrees, in collaboration with the mobility advisor

The financial support offered is indicated on the agreement sheet on the exchange agreement database.

In principle, the amount is CHF 320 per month (the database is authoritative). This amount cannot be paid in addition to an assistant's salary.

Bilateral exchange agreements allow study or research periods of 1 or 2 semesters.

• Agreement of the thesis director
• If assistantship contract: Faculty agreement
• If you are carrying out research activities during your semester, the support of a researcher from the host university.

1. Consult the database of exchange agreements to find out which agreements are open to doctoral students
2. Contact the mobility advisor at your faculty
3. Check that the host institution accepts your application (often on a case-by-case basis at doctoral level)
4. Submit your application on time to your mobility adviser (forms and procedure via the exchange agreement database)

The financial support offered is indicated on the agreement sheet on the exchange agreement database. In principle, the amounts are as follows (the database being authoritative):

• Europe: CHF 3'500 / half year
• Outside Europe: CHF 4'000 / half year

These amounts may not be paid in addition to an assistant's salary.