eth doctoral thesis

• Download vertical_align_bottom Fact Sheet Aptitude Colloquium  (PDF, 126 KB)
• Download vertical_align_bottom Notification form aptitude committee  (PDF, 122 KB)
• Download vertical_align_bottom Request for extension of the deadline  (PDF, 149 KB)
• Download vertical_align_bottom IAC Regulations  (PDF, 173 KB)
• Download vertical_align_bottom IAS Regulations  (PDF, 94 KB)
• Download vertical_align_bottom IBZ Regulations  (PDF, 191 KB)
• Download vertical_align_bottom ITES Regulations  (PDF, 166 KB)

Progress report

Doctoral students who have been definitively admitted write an annual progress report on the status and planned progress of their research project, as well as on any significant deviations from the research project described in the doctoral plan.

Annual status conversation

The first annual status conversation must take place no later than 12 months after passing the aptitude colloquium. The date of the most recent interview must be recorded by the doctoral student on myStudies.

The annual status conversation consists of two separate parts:

• Academic progress (basis: progress report)
• Assessment, career and personal development

The first part deals with the doctorate and the research work. The previously written progress report forms the basis for this conversation where all points recorded in the doctoral plan, the next steps and, if necessary, significant changes to the research project are discussed. It is recommended to involve the second advisor in the first part. Other persons may also participate. The second part is a development discussion that includes mutual feedback and the further development of competences. This part is conducted confidentially between the supervisor of the doctoral thesis and the doctoral candidate.

In any case both parts - the progress report and the result of the annual status converstaion - are sent to the second advisor for information.

Please note, it is the responsibility of the conversation participants to keep this document until the completion of the doctorate. The documents do not have to be submitted to the doctoral administration.

• chevron_right Template Progress Report
• chevron_right Template Annual status conversation

Doctoral students who were admitted definitively before 1 January 2022 will pursue regular doctoral studies according to the previous regulations . Doctoral students who were admitted provisionally – but not yet definitively – before 1 January 2022 can choose whether they will pursue regular doctoral studies according to the new regulations or according to the previous regulations.

Doctoral students are not only employees, but students as well. They have both the right and the duty to continue their education and attend courses in their research field, but also in related research areas and interdisciplinary areas.

At least 12 credit points are required for doctoral studies, of which at least one third has to be acquired outside the field of research. A credit point corresponds to a study performance of 25 to 30 working hours. Credit points are only awarded if your own performance can be demonstrated.

For ETH courses, the following regulations apply:

• Only credits visible on the transcript of records on myStudies are accepted
• The compliance with the performance assessment as per the course catalogue is mandatory

Courses which cannot be enrolled under myStudies will be confirmed on the form Download confirmation of course attendance for doctoral students (PDF, 25 KB) vertical_align_bottom .

The confirmation by the Doctoral Administration of D-USYS, should be obtained as soon as the 12 credits are acquired. The following documents are required:

• Transcript of records from myStudies, signed by the supervisor
• Download Confirmation of course attendance (PDF, 25 KB) vertical_align_bottom for credits outside of myStudies, signed by the supervisor
• Download Registration for doctoral examination (PDF, 886 KB) vertical_align_bottom

Please mark the credits which have been acquired outside of your research field.

Doctoral students who were admitted after 1 January 2022 will pursue regular doctoral studies according to the new regulations. Doctoral students who were admitted provisionally – but not yet definitively – before 1 January 2022 can choose whether they will pursue regular doctoral studies according to the new regulations or according to the previous regulations.

To obtain the minimum 12 ECTS credits required in regular doctoral studies, the doctoral student must either pass a performance assessment or demonstrate an active, verifiable contribution. One ECTS credit generally corresponds to a workload of 25–30 hours. Credits must be earned in each of the following three categories:

• Consolidation of knowledge in the research area of the doctoral thesis and the extension of knowledge beyond the original discipline, e.g., through attendance of courses designed especially for doctoral students, regular Master’s degree courses or courses from the third year of Bachelor’s degree studies.
• Acquisition of transferable skills, e.g., by attending soft-skills courses or participating in ETH Zurich bodies or committees. 
• Integration into the scientific community, e.g., by attending international conferences.

Doctoral students must acquire at least 1 ECTS credit by attending a course on the topic of ethics and good scientific practice. This academic achievement falls under category b (transferable skills) .

The following achievements/activities are excluded from counting towards the 12 ECTS credits for regular doctoral studies:

• Achievements before entering the doctorate;
• Achievements in the framework of multiple matriculations at another level of studies, except for credits earned in the context of teacher training / Teaching Certificate courses;
• Participation in seminars/courses of the individual professorship, such as group meetings, retreats etc.;
• Participation in teaching;
• Attendance of courses with no verification of personal performance.

As soon as you have earned the 12 credit points, you can request for completion of your doctoral studies in myStudies. Check your transcript of records and edit it if necessary using the "Assign category" function.

The composition of the entire examination committee must be submitted to the D-USYS Doctoral Administration no later than three months before the examination .

At least one co-examiner must come from outside ETH Zurich. Eligible are active professors from other universities or persons who are proven experts in the area of the doctoral thesis and are equivalent to professors in this. This does not include persons from universities of applied sciences or private industry with the corresponding expertise, they may, however, be appointed as further members of the examination committee (b inding for doctoral examinations conducted on or after 1 January 2024).

It is mandatory that an independent person is part of the examination committee (for example: not part of the same professorship, no cooperation in the context of the doctoral thesis). This can be the external co-examiner. In case of a dependency relationship between the supervisor and/or the doctoral student with the external co-examiner, another independent co-examiner is necessary .

The doctoral examination must be taken no later than 6 years after the temporary admission. Doctoral examinations are usually open to the public. If doctoral students wish to have a non-public examination, they must submit a request to the D-USYS Doctoral Administration. The examination includes a presentation (duration 20 minutes), followed by a defense, including questioning by the members of the examination committee. The doctoral examination lasts at least 1 hour and 20 minutes, Questions from the audience are allowed after the questioning by examiners is completed (questions from the audience do not count towards the minimum duration of the doctoral examination).

The doctoral student organises the date and room for the doctoral examination together with the supervisor and the co-examiners.

There are still three options on how to carry out doctoral exams:

• Doctoral exams can be held with the doctoral student, the members of the examination committee and the chair physically present.
• Doctoral exams can be held as hybrid with some of the participants present.
• Doctoral exams can be held entirely via Zoom.

The doctoral exam is chaired by a professors of D-USYS.

Available dates until 30 June 2024

Available dates from 01 July 2024

If one or more members of the Examination Committee are attending the Doctoral Examination via videoconference, we recommend that you book the room via the videoconference service .

As soon as the date is fixed, and/or, at the latest, 8 weeks before the doctoral examination, please send an e-mail to the Doctoral Administration of D-USYS.

• chevron_right Student portal: Doctoral thesis
• chevron_right Student portal: Doctoral examination

The examination copy of the doctoral thesis must be submitted in electronic form by the doctoral student to the examination committee and the D-USYS Doctoral Administration at least 20 working days before the examination.

The reports must be submitted in electronic form to the D-USYS Doctoral Administration at least 5 working days before the examination by the examination committee.  

Registration for the doctoral examination may only proceed with the consent of the doctoral thesis supervisor and in consultation with the co-examiners.

The doctoral examination is open to the public; it is announced on the department's website .

The following steps have to be taken before you receive your doctor’s title:

• Approval of the thesis by the Department Conference
• Submission of the deposit copies of the thesis maximum 3 months from the date of the Department Conference

The title «Doctor of Science ETH Zurich» may only be given if the copies and the electronic version have been handed over.

• chevron_right Student portal: "Final Steps"
• chevron_right Dates of the Department Conferences
• chevron_right Doctoral graduation dates
• Download vertical_align_bottom Form to submit the doctoral thesis deposit copies  (PDF, 886 KB)

If you wish to change the supervisor for your thesis project, you need the agreement of the new supervisor. Please submit the form Download Change of supervisor (PDF, 285 KB) vertical_align_bottom to the Doctoral Administration Office, signed by the new and if possible the former supervisor.

If it becomes apparent that you will not be able to finish your doctorate within the maximum period of 6 years, a well-founded Download request for extension of deadline for doctoral studies (PDF, 2.6 MB) vertical_align_bottom is to be handed in to the Doctoral Administration D-USYS.

If you withdraw from your doctorate prematurely, it is not enough simply not to enroll for any more semesters. Your withdrawal must be reported to the Doctoral Administration Office using the form Download Withdrawal declaration for doctoral students (PDF, 889 KB) vertical_align_bottom . It is only when you have submitted the form, together with your ETH card, that you will officially be dematriculated.

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Future Cities Laboratory

Doctoral theses.

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Department of Architecture

Current doctoral theses.

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Biomedical Data Science Lab

First doctoral thesis in our lab.

👨🏾‍💻 Bowen F., a doctoral student from our BMDS lab, successfully graduated. He is the first doctoral student to graduate from our lab. We celebrated his achievement with thoughtful gifts along with smiles, hugs, an aperitif, friends, crossfit, and fun.

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⬇ His Ph.D. defense took place in the new building of the ETH-Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) on the Schällemätteli campus in Basel.

📚 Bowen's main contributions were the article on 1) “Prediction of recovery from multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in pediatric sepsis patients” external page Bowen F., et al. 2022 call_made and 2) the manuscript in preparation about Modelling PCR bias in DNA sequence. He also contributed to other papers seen in the comments.

🧒🏾 Children with sepsis often experience rapid progression or recovery within days of admission, and the persistence of Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome (MODS) in the 1st week is linked to high mortality and morbidity. A machine learning-based model was developed to forecast MODS recovery to zero or single organ dysfunction a week in advance in the Swiss Pediatric Sepsis Study (SPSS) cohort. Notably, cardiovascular and respiratory systems played critical roles in early recovery prediction, with top-ranking variables associated with these systems. This underscores the need for tailored care for MODS patients with cardiovascular or respiratory failure. This pioneering study, validated across continents from 🇨🇭 to 🇺🇸 , highlights the potential of integrating the model into electronic health records for enhanced patient assessment and triage in pediatric sepsis.

⛓ In biotech research, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) bias - or DNA amplification - is a big problem because it causes differences in how well DNA is amplified. Given the exponential nature of PCR, even small variations in efficiency during PCR can lead to big differences in the results. To tackle this issue, Bowen and colleagues suggested a new computational pipeline. This method uses DNA sequencing data to study PCR bias in detail. It starts with a statistical model that looks at every step of the sequencing process to estimate how well PCR is working for each DNA sequence. Then, a special deep learning model is used to predict PCR efficiency based on the structure of the DNA sequence. Finally, a complex method is used to find patterns - or so called motifs - in the data that are linked to lower PCR efficiency. These findings could make PCR more reliable, which would be helpful for many applications like studying gene expression, profiling microbial communities, DNA storage, and more.

🏅 We congratulate Bowen once again and wish him the best as he completes his 2nd contribution and extend our best wishes for his future career endeavors. We are confident that his datas cience and fitness dedication combined with his talent will lead to continued success in his professional and life journey. 恭喜 😊

Visit our external page LinkedIn BMDS call_made  for more news.