Doctoral Examination

The doctoral examination committee consists of:

A chairperson
The doctoral thesis supervisor as examiner;
At least one co-examiner and
A further independent expert if there is any relationship of dependence between the supervisor and the co-examiner(s) or the doctoral student and the co-examiner(s). Employment relationships within the last five years are considered dependent relationships.

At least one co-examiner must come from outside ETH Zurich.

As described in detail in Second Advisor and Co-Examiner, all external co-examiners and internal persons, who are not professors, must be confirmed once by the Department Conference (DK).

The doctoral examination includes two parts:

A 30-minute presentation by the doctoral student on the most important results of the thesis.
An oral examination of at least 60 minutes by the examination committee. The questions relate to the subject area and the results of the doctoral thesis and should also place the research work in a broader scientific context. The chairperson of the examination committee conducts the oral examination.

The presentation and oral examination will be conducted in English, unless otherwise agreed between all parties.

The doctoral examination is in principle open to the public.

The examination chairperson decides whether questions from the public are permitted. Answers to questions from the audience are not included in the examination evaluation.

The physical presence of the doctoral examination committee as well as of the doctoral student at the doctoral examination is not mandatory. Alternatively, the participants can be connected via video conference.

If the examination committee wishes to hold a non-public doctoral examination, this must be justified by the doctoral student and his/her doctoral thesis supervisor.

The doctoral student must submit an e-mail (with the supervisor in CC), stating the reason(s) for the non-public defense, to the D-BSSE Doctoral Administration four weeks before the date of the examination is set.

Reasons for holding a non-public doctoral examination may include that the doctoral thesis contains results that are subject of legally pending patent proceedings.