Committee meetings

The PhD committee is responsible for the thematic and methodical monitoring of the thesis, for the formulation and supervision of the complementary course work and for the decision to continue or discontinue the thesis. The PhD committee must be submitted as a milestone to the MNF Student Admin System (UZH students) or DissGo(ETHZ students).

At least 3 members are needed

Within 6 months of the start of the PhD, the thesis supervisor appoints a PhD committee that includes at least 3 members:

*For ETHZ PhDs, the ordinance on doctoral studies ETHZ and the respective department regulations apply.

Direct supervisor has no right to confer PhDs at the Faculty of Science or ETHZ

If the direct supervisor does not have the right to confer a PhD at the Faculty of Science or ETHZ, an official supervisor from within the PhD program in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and with the right to confer a PhD at the Faculty of Science or ETHZ is necessary as committee head.

EBPhD members with right to confer PhDs at MNF or ETHZ (Promotionsrecht)

Within 6 months of the beginning of the PhD a doctoral agreement (DOCX, 43 KB) should be completed together with the PhD committee. The doctoral agreement must be submitted to the MNF Student Admin System (UZH students) or DissGo (ETHZ students). Any changes or modifications to the agreement are to be reported.

The doctoral agreement should address the following points:

• Title or working title of the dissertation
• A short description of the research project
• Milestones and intermediate goals, including time plan
• Curricular portion of the doctoral studies
• Teaching duties

The first committee meeting has to be organised after 12 months. Subsequent meetings need to be organised 12 months after the previous one. The defense must take place within 18 months after the last committee meeting. The PhD student is responsible for the organisation of the committee meetings.

After each committee meeting, the committee meeting form, signed by all committee members as well as the student, and the meeting report need to be submitted to the MNF Student Admin System (UZH students) or DissGo (ETHZ students). Further instructions can be found here (PDF, 120 KB).

 First committee meeting: Research plan

The student submits, presents and defends a research plan, including key milestones, planned publications, planned teaching activities, planned courses and a time plan. The thesis committee chaired by the supervisor writes a protocol of the meeting, which is then signed by all involved parties. If the committee has specific recommendations, they have to be summarized and supplemented in an Appendix. All documents need to be submitted to the MNF Student Admin System (UZH students) or DissGo (ETHZ students).

Second committee meeting / pre-doctoral exam: Progress

Student submits and presents a progress report, including new results and major changes to the protocol, the publication status, an update on teaching activities and courses as well as an updated time plan. If the PhD received additional requirements at the start of the PhD, their completion needs to be verified. The purpose of the second meeting is to verify that the student has the skills and the ability to carry out the planned research (pre-doctoral exam). If needed, an additional committee meeting can be planned, which will act as pre-doctoral exam. The PhD committee writes a protocol of the meeting, which is signed by all involved parties. In case of failure the exam can be repeated once within 3 months, repeated failure leads to exclusion of the program. All documents need to be submitted to the MNF Student Admin System (UZH students) or DissGo (ETHZ students).

Subsequent committee meetings

Subsequent meetings can be organized as needed.