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Getting your thesis off to a good start

Start your thesis with confidence! Discover all the essential information you need to start this crucial stage in your academic career and open the doors to your future career.


 

Register for a doctorate

You are required to submit your complete application to the Admissions Office :

  • Autumn semesters: before 31 July
  • Spring semesters: before 30 November 
Admission to Doctorate

For more information, you can visit the following websites :

Contact :

Admissions Office (Service des immatriculations et inscriptions)

Unicentre

Phone: +41 21 692 21 00

immat.doctorat@unil.ch

The Doctorate Admission Committee of the University of Lausanne decides the admission of candidates who do not meet all the formal admission criteria, that is, the obligation to hold a Master's degree awarded by a Swiss university or by a higher education Swiss institution, or a degree judged by the University of Lausanne Rectorate to be equivalent to a Master's degree awarded by a Swiss university or by a higher education Swiss institution, in other words a degree awarded following a course of study judged to be equivalent. Moreover, the candidate should have already found a professor ready to supervise their doctorate (PhD or MD).

All applications for consideration by the Commission must be submitted by the Dean Office of the Faculty concerned. On the basis of their positive pre-evaluation, the Faculty's Dean Office sends the candidate's complete file to the Vice-Rector for Research and the Graduate Campus two weeks prior to the date of the next Commission meeting.

The Commission meets in general three to four times per semester. Meeting schedule for 2025 will be announced here shortly.

Further information is available in the Commission's regulations (in French only).

Contact

Dr Pauline Fritsch
Graduate Campus
Unicentre, office 341
graduatecampus@unil.ch

Choose a supervisor

Before enrolling for a doctorate, you must have found a professor or MER who is ready to supervise your thesis and who shares your scientific interests.

Here are some useful links:

The choice of the person who will supervise you during your doctorate at UNIL is essential.

We strongly recommend that you read the UNIL Code of practice for the doctorate and discuss it with your future thesis supervisor.

We also recommend our guide Getting your thesis off to a good start 2023 and our workshop of the same name (you can attend the workshop only after the start of your doctorate at UNIL).

For useful advice on doctoral supervision, please see the brochure Conditions for the success of doctoral supervision, Lambert, Niclasse & Charlier, 2020, from the University of Fribourg (CH). The brochure is based on the results of the research which they carried out on the subject.

Budget et finances

Before starting a PhD, it is essential to have sufficient and sustainable financial resources for the entire duration of your thesis. More information on the following page.

Setting up and starting out

General and practical information such as working in Switzerland, immigration and VISA, rent a flat, public transport, health insurance, security, taxes, cost of living :

Living in Switzerland

Human resources
Working contracts, family allocations, work permits, salaries and social charges, ombudsperson, recruitment of new employees, UNIL regulations, payment of salaries, taxes
Château de Dorigny, CH-1015 Lausanne
+41 21 692 45 00

Service des affaires sociales et de la mobilité étudiante (SASME)
Accommodation, student jobs, financial and administrative support, mobility

Bureau de l’égalité des chances
Le Vieux Pressoir, CH-1015 Lausanne
egalite@unil.ch
+41 21 692 20 59

Welcome Centre
Château de Dorigny, CH-1015 Lausanne
welcomecentre@unil.ch
+41 21 692 23 28