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Doctoral students are obliged to obtain all information necessary for their doctorate themselves. This includes checking their UZH e-mail account at least once a week. Information that can be retrieved from the UZH e-mailbox is deemed to have been delivered (§§ 6 - 8 Verordnung über die Zulassung zum Studium an der Universität Zürich (VZS)).
Matriculation in a doctoral programme at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is a prerequisite for the doctorate. Matriculation is mandatory, irrespective of any employment in a qualification position. Without matriculation, no curricular achievements can be booked, and the degree cannot be applied for.
If you have already started your qualification position before the actual matriculation in the doctoral degree programme of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, you must matriculate retroactively to the actual starting semester. Please send a short e-mail to graduiertenschule@phil.uzh.ch so that we can issue you with the necessary form.
The legal basis of the doctorate is provided by the "Ordinance on Obtaining a Doctoral Degree at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the University of Zurich" (PromVO 2019). The associated "Doctoral Program Regulation" elaborates the provisions of the PromVO 2019. Both documents can be found here.
The maximum duration of the doctorate at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is six years. This also applies if the doctorate is completed part-time. The period begins with the admission to the doctorate and ends with the award of the doctoral degree. This means that the dissertation must be published on ZORA within the maximum time limit.
In order to successfully complete the doctorate within the maximum time limit, the Graduate School recommends planning for four years as a rule. This leaves a time buffer for unforeseen delays. As a guide, a timetable for the main milestones of the dissertation is set out in the doctoral agreement (see section on the doctoral agreement below).
At the beginning of the sixth year, the Graduate School informs the doctoral candidate and the members of the Supervisory Committee that the end of the regular doctoral period is approaching and that additional issues need to be clarified for the course of the final year. There are three possibilities:
In the event of disagreement as to whether an extension should be requested, the Vice-Dean responsible for the Graduate School must be consulted.
If the doctorate cannot be completed within the maximum period of six years, the doctoral candidate and the principal supervisor may request an extension of two semesters. The request must be justified and accompanied by appropriate supporting documents (e.g. medical certificate).
Important reasons for an extension include:
Cumulative prerequisites for an application for an extension are that
A request for an extension can be submitted at the earliest at the beginning of the sixth year of the doctorate. Requests can be submitted several times. For each additional request, the principal supervisor, together with the doctoral candidate, must state the important reasons why the project could not be completed within the extended duration.
Doctoral students can apply for leave of absence for the coming semester in the student portal. Information on the possible reasons and deadlines can be found here.
In the case of a leave of absence, the counting of semesters is stopped despite continued matriculation.
Note for doctoral students with a job outside the university: If the external job requires it, it is possible to apply for a maximum of two semesters' leave. To do so, select the reason "non-mandatory internship" in the student portal. You must also be able to present an employment contract.
Each doctoral student discusses the individual supervision situation and research conditions (for doctoral students in qualification positions also the employment situation), the progress of the dissertation project and the qualification goals and steps already achieved and planned in annual career discussions with the principal supervisor. It is also useful to involve the co-supervisors.
The Doctoral Agreement (DA) serves as a record of the career discussion. It is concluded for a maximum of six years and is updated each year as part of the career discussion; the timetable for completing the doctorate within the maximum six-year period must also be adjusted each time. In the DA, the framework conditions and milestones for the doctorate are jointly defined and the curricular coursework is determined. The career discussion and the preparation of the DA help to plan the doctorate in such a way that it can be successfully completed within the maximum duration of six years.
The Doctoral Agreement also serves as the basis for a justified termination of the doctorate if it cannot be successfully completed.
The first career discussion, at which the first DA is drawn up, is due 16 weeks after the Provisional Confirmation of Supervision has been approved. Thereafter, the DA will be updated annually as part of the career discussions. The Graduate School will send a reminder one month before the deadline for submission of the Doctoral Agreement. Once the doctoral candidate, the principal supervisor and all co-supervisors have completed and approved the DA online, it is automatically sent to the Graduate School for review.
The DA is created in the Online Services PhD. The submitted DA will be reviewed by the Graduate School. You can view or download the approved versions in Online Services PhD.
You can request a change of co-supervisor in the Doctoral Agreement. You can create a new Doctoral Agreement at any time.
The Doctoral Agreement of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has been redesigned as part of the employment conditions for assistants and doctoral students, which have been reformed for 2024, and contains the university guidelines and recommendations for all doctoral agreements at UZH.
For doctoral candidates who are employed in a qualification position, the career discussion and the preparation of the doctoral agreement replace the performance appraisals. Doctoral candidates with a qualification position submit the doctoral agreement approved by the Graduate School to the Human Resources Department as an attachment to their “Individual Outline of Rights and Responsibilities” via the responsible office at their institute or department (usually the person responsible for Human Resources).
Doctoral candidates who are employed in a qualification position can find further information and documents on the career discussion, Individual Outline of Rights and Responsibilities”, etc. on the website www.graduates.uzh.ch. If you have any questions about employment, please contact your supervisor or the human resources officer at your institute or department.
The conditions of employment of doctoral students in qualification positions that apply to the entire university are governed by the Regulations for the General Outline of Rights and Responsibilities of the Faculties for Teaching and Research Assistants and Doctoral Candidatesand additionally in the the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences' Regulations of Rights and Responsibilites for Teaching / Research Assistants and Doctoral Candidates
In addition to writing your thesis, you must complete curricular coursework worth 12 ECTS credits. Please consult the subject-specific annex to the doctoral program regulation to find out whether there are special rules for your subject regarding the breakdown of these 12 ECTS credits into coursework relating specifically to your subject or to transferable skills. The curricular coursework you have to complete is agreed with your principal supervisor and set down in your doctoral agreement.
In the Course Catalog you will find the courses at doctoral level. You can book interdisciplinary courses of all PhF doctoral subjects, please see the information sheet on module bookin below. Transferable skills courses are offered by the Graduate Campus, the overview can be found under "Further offers" also in the Course Catalog.
The curricular achievements can also be fulfilled with UZH-external achievements, e.g. for summer schools, courses or workshops. This coursework may be credited provided that the course entails a learning and education outcome, and a workload is specified; in other words, that effort is required from and put in by you as the PhD candidate, and performance is assessed and concrete feedback is thus given to you (§ 19 paras 1–3 of the doctoral program regulation).
No ECTS credits can be awarded for the research part of the doctorate and any achievements in administration and teaching, in particular for dissertations, essays, conference attendance, collaboration or assistance with conference organization or supervision of theses.
Completed external achievements can be indicated in the doctoral agreement. For this purpose, a PDF with the following information must be uploaded:
Please note: Only curricular coursework (UZH-internal and external) that is recorded in a doctoral agreement can be credited to your degree.
You can book curricular courses at UZH via module booking within the booking and cancellation deadlines and after paying the semester fees. Only booked and assessed courses can be credited to the degree. The details can be found in the information sheet Notes on module booking in the doctorate (PDF, 85 KB).
