Doctoral examination
The doctoral examination takes place within six years from the provisional admission to the doctoral studies.
Key steps of doctoral examinations and related deadlines
Step 1
No later than 10 weeks before the doctoral examination the doctoral students notify the D-PHYS doctoral administration of the co-examiner/s (family name, first name, title, university with department and email address).
At least one co-examiner must come from outside ETH Zurich.
Step 2
No later than 10 weeks before the doctoral examination the doctoral students must get the confirmation from the D-PHYS doctoral administration that they have obtained the required credit points. Detailed information can be found in our FAQ's.
Step 3
No later than 4 weeks before the doctoral examination the doctoral students inform the D-PHYS doctoral administration about the Chair, date, time and mode (virtual, hybrid or fully in presence) of the doctoral examination. We will book the room and send the invitation for the doctoral examination. If someone from the Doctoral Examination Committee needs to attend online, we will arrange a hybrid meeting.
Step 4
No later than 4 weeks before the doctoral examination an examination copy of the doctoral thesis has to be submitted to the examination committee including the Chair of the defense. The doctoral students must clearly declare their own achievements according to article 13 of the .
A compressed thesis of a maximum size of 50MB is preferred.
Set up for Doctoral Examination
The date/time of the examination should be established with the chair, in consultation with the supervisor and the co-examiners. Please contact one of the Chairs below (alphabetical order):
Chair: Prof. Eugene Demler
Tel.: 3 06 99; e-mail:
Chair: Prof. Jonathan Home
Tel.: 3 31 66; e-mail:
Chair: Prof. Michele Vallisneri
Tel.: 3 38 28; e-mail:
Chair: Prof. Andrey Zheludev
Tel.: 3 37 34 (Sec.); e-mail:
If all four chairs are not available, please contact the D-PHYS doctoral administation office:
Please inform the D-PHYS doctoral administration at the latest four weeks before your doctoral examination about the date, time, chair and mode (hybrid, virtual or fully in presence) of your defense.
Please note that we will only arrange a hybrid doctoral examination supported by ID MMS if someone from the Doctoral Examination Committee needs to attend online.
If some family members or friends wish to attend online, we recommend that you rent a video conferencing set (e.g. Meeting Owl) free of charge from the ID MMS Shop.
Online guests as well as attendees in presence are not allowed to record your defense!
At the latest 10 working days before the examination, the D-PHYS doctoral administration sends out the official invitation to the examination committee with the request that the reports must be submitted. The reports with signature must be submitted at the latest one week before the examination by email to the D-PHYS doctoral administration.
The entire examination lasts at least 1.5 hour. The 30-minute presentation at the beginning of the doctoral examination is open to the public. The minimum 60-minute examination part after the presentation is NOT open to the public. Online guests as well as attendees in presence are not allowed to record your defense! Further information see Download detailed stipulations (PDF, 179 KB), Art. 17.
If the doctoral examination takes place less than two weeks before the next Department Conference, the approval of the thesis will be postponed until the next Department Conference.
You can find the information regarding the deposite copies, graduation & doctoral degree certificate here.