Credit Points
Doctoral students at D-BSSE have to acquire at least 12 ECTS credits during their doctoral studies, with one credit corresponding to 25-30 hours of study. The scope and details of the doctoral studies must be discussed and determined with the supervisor. If you are uncertain about the creditability and assessment of the course unit you wish to take, please consult the D-BSSE Doctoral Administration. This should be done before registering the course unit.
Please note, you are not allowed to re-use courses that you have taken during your MSc or to take the same courses again that you already took in your master's programme. The collection of ECTS credits for your doctorate starts with your immatriculation as a doctoral student.
12 Credit Points are required in total and performance must be delivered in each of the following three areas:
- Consolidation of knowledge in the research area of the doctoral thesis and the extension of knowledge beyond the discipline.
All courses with performance assessment offered in the course catalogues of ETH Zurich, the University of Zürich, and the University of Basel are available for selection. The ECTS credits are awarded according to the information in the course catalogue.
Requirement for this section: at least 6 credit points
- Acquisition of transferable skills.
Transferable skills can be acquired by attending «soft skills» courses or by participating in committees or commissions of ETH Zurich. At the D-BSSE, 1 credit point per year can be earned for active participation in the Verein des Mittelbaus (VMB). For this at least 25 hours of relevant working time must be completed. A maximum of 2 ECTS credits can be acquired.
Requirement for this section: at least 1 credit point by attending a course on ethics and good scientific practice
- Integration into the scientific community.
This is done e.g. by attending international summer schools and conferences. Participation in such events will only be credited if doctoral students provide evidence that they have presented a poster, given a lecture or taken part in an exercise:
events ≤ 3 days = 1 credit point
events > 3 days = 2 credit points
Doctoral students under the new doctoral ordinance can complete a request to record study achievements in their transcript from other institutions outside ETH and UZH or for the participation in summer schools, conferences and/or seminars. The request is submitted directly in myStudies, after which it is transferred to the doctoral administration. After approval by the doctoral administration, the study achievements are listed in the doctoral student’s transcript and will appear in their myStudies account.
Request to transfer approved study achievements from other institutions
12 Credit Points are required in total and performance must be delivered as follows:
- Courses /other educational activities outside of the doctoral candidates’ research field
Requirement for this section: at least 4 credit points (= 1/3 of 12 credit points)
- Any courses from the regular catalogues from the ETH Zürich, University of Zürich, or University of Basel with a performance control.
For a course unit with exam, as many credit points as ECTS points noted in the course catalogue are awarded.
For a course unit with another proof of performance than an exam: 1 credit point per hour/week of the lecture and exercises is awarded.
Requirement for this section: at least 6 credit points
- Summer schools and conferences
Candidates may participate in summer schools, conferences, symposia series, or other annual meetings.
Only summer schools/conferences at which the candidate presented a poster, held a presentation, or participated in exercises count towards credit points as follows:
events ≤ 3 days = 1 credit point
events > 3 days = 2 credit points
The 12 ECTS credits have to be confirmed before you register for the doctoral examination. We recommend to do that at least six months before your doctoral examination takes place.
To have your ECTS credits confirmed, please send an email to the D-BSSE Doctoral Administration by
- listing all your courses, conferences, summer schools etc. that you would like to take into account
- adding the corresponding proof of performance
- attaching the filled Downloadform (PDF, 886 KB) for official confirmation (at this time only the section "1st Step" is relevant)
About conferences, summer schools:
Please note, the proof of performance has to state e.g. your poster presentation or talk at a conference. It is not sufficient to send a confirmation that only states that you “attended”. If the confirmation does not give information about your performance, please also send additionally the programme or poster etc.
In general, please only send the documents once you have acquired the 12 ECTS credits. However, if you are unsure about your intended course selection, please feel free to contact the D-BSSE Doctoral Administration any time during your doctoral studies.
It is possible to attend courses at the University of Basel. For that you have to register by submitting a completed and signed course registration sheet, along with a scan of your student ID that has to be valid for the corresponding semester. This can be done via email and has to be done no more than four weeks after the lecture period begins.
Please consult the external pageUniversity of Basel website for more detailed information and the registration form.