Curriculum

Doctoral students have to acquire knowledge and practical skills during the doctoral program. Additionally students have to write and present a research proposal. Doctoral students in the "fast-track" program can write and present a research proposal instead of a master thesis. The end of the doctoral studies is the writing of a doctoral thesis, which has to be defended in an oral examination.

According to the current rules, doctoral candidates have to obtain 30 ECTS points before handing in the doctoral thesis. These 30 ECTS break down into six different categories to gather both disciplinary and transferable skills during the doctoral education.

Doctoral students in the "fast-track" program have to obtain 10 ECTS already on the master's level (Categry 1: 3 ECTS, Category 2: 3 ECTS, Category 3, 1 ECTS, Category 4: 3 ECTS). For those students the number of ECTS in the categories are reduced by the numbers already completed. So, doctoral students in the fast track program have to obtain only 20 ECTS on the doctoral level.

It is highly recommended to attend these courses early during the doctoral studies, as they can serve as a tool for the doctoral work.

In the PhD program it is possible to get external courses credited but certain restrictions apply:

• In general, relevant courses offered by other University on PhD level can be credited.
• Courses from other academic institutions, external organizations, universities of applied sciences, etc. may only be accepted in exceptional cases.
• It is strongly recommended to get the approval of the head of the PhD program that the course can be credited to the PhD program before taking an external course. Please send the request to the PhD program coordinator, Karin Sigg.
• 0.5 ECTS per course day (~ 7 hours of lecture)
• Final decision discretionary to the doctoral committee.
• For examples courses, click on the categories below.

For the accountance of courses the form "Achievement Report" signed by the supervisor and a course confirmation is necessary.

Doctoral courses, doctoral seminars and summer schools are events or lectures, which are in terms of content closely related to the field or subject of the doctoral work. These can e.g. be:

• Doctoral courses or summer schools in the discipline of the PhD student either internally or externally. 
• Doctoral seminars, i.e. internal seminars organized by the research groups.
• In some cases doctoral symposia with a content close to the subject of the doctoral research.

The following courses/seminars have been approved in the past to obtain ECTS in this category (nonexhaustive list, all numbers are indicative only):

For the accountance of courses the form "Achievement Report" signed by the supervisor and a course confirmation is necessary unless it is a course offered by the IfI.

Courses in research methodology offer a tool to conduct the doctoral research. This can be a tool for executing data-analysis or software implemention or it can even deal with the acquisition of research grants. Importantly, these courses are clearly detached in content of the core subject of the doctoral work. In particular, courses in Transferable Skills offered by the Graduate Campus could be of particular interest.

The following courses/seminars have been approved in the past to obtain ECTS in this category (nonexhaustive list, all numbers are indicative only):

For the accountance of courses the form "Achievement Report" signed by the supervisor and a course confirmation is necessary unless it is a course offered by the IfI.

• No registration needed beforehand
• sign the attendance list
• You will receive 0.17 ECTS for every colloquium talk that you attend;
  resulting in a total of 18 colloquium talks to earn the total
  of 3.0 ECTS in this category.
• Once the 3.0 ECTS are fulfilled they will be automatically booked. No achievement report is needed.
• Program of the upcoming talks

Courses in didactics and research communication offer a tool to teach and communicate the own research. These courses are detached in content of the core subject of the doctoral work. In particular, course offered by the following centers could be of particular interest.

• Continuing Education in University Training and Learning
• Graduate Campus (Transferable Skills)

The following courses/seminars have been approved in the past to obtain ECTS in this category (nonexhaustive list, all numbers are indicative only):

For the accountance of courses the form "Achievement Report" signed by the supervisor and a course confirmation is necessary unless it is a course offered by the IfI.

• According to the workload: 1.0 ECTS ≈ 30 h of work
• Teaching activity/assistance in lectures / seminars: 0.5 - 3.0 ECTS according to the workload
• Assistance in a typical lecture: 2.0 ECTS
• Supervision of master / bachelor thesis and master projects: 0.5 ECTS per semester
• No ECTS for supervision or correction of exams, tests, ...
• Discretionary to the supervisor

For the accountance of teaching practice the form "Achievement Report" signed by the supervisor is necessary.

• 8.0 / 4.0 / 2.0 ECTS per publication A / B / C. The rating A / B / C is field specific
• Downgrading in case of co-authorship is possible and discretionary to the supervisor
• Research proposals: 1.0 - 2.0 ECTS according to workload
• Reviewing: max. 0.5 ECTS per semester
• No ECTS for administrative reports (e.g. annual reports for SNF or EU reports)
• Discretionary to the advisor

Research practice means mainly paper writing. However, the writing of research proposals (not your own PhD proposal) and reviewing will also be taken into account.

For the accountance of research practice the form "Achievement Report" signed by the supervisor is necessary.