Doctoral examination

The doctoral examination takes place within six years from the provisional admission to the doctoral studies.

Key steps of doctoral examinations and related deadlines

No later than 10 weeks before the doctoral examination the doctoral students notify the D-PHYS doctoral administration of the co-examiner/s (family name, first name, title, university with department and email address).
From 1.1.2024, at least one co-​examiner must come from outside ETH Zurich.

No later than 10 weeks before the doctoral examination the doctoral students must get the confirmation from the D-​PHYS doctoral administration that they have obtained the required credit points. Detailed information can be found in our FAQ's.

No later than 4 weeks before the doctoral examination the doctoral students inform the D-PHYS doctoral administration about the Chair, date, time and mode (virtual, hybrid or fully in presence) of the doctoral examination. We will only arrange a hybrid meeting if someone from the Doctoral Examination Committee needs to attend online.

No later than 4 weeks before the doctoral examination an examination copy of the doctoral thesis has to be submitted to the examination committee including the Chair of the defense. The doctoral students must clearly declare their own achievements according to article 13 of the .

Set up for Doctoral Examination 

Please contact one of the Chairs below (alphabetical order):

Chair: Prof. Leonardo Degiorgi
Tel.: 3 37 96; e-​mail:

Chair: Prof. Eugene Demler
Tel.: 3 06 99; e-​mail:

Chair: Prof. Alexandre Refregier
Tel.: 3 36 32, e-​mail:

Chair: Prof. Andrey Zheludev
Tel.: 3 37 34 (Sec.), e-​mail:

If all four chairs are not available, please contact the D-PHYS doctoral administation office:

Please inform the D-PHYS doctoral administration at the latest four weeks before your doctoral examination about the date, time, chair and mode (hybrid, virtual or fully in presence) of your defense.

The date/time of the examination should be established with the chair, in consultation with the supervisor and the co-​examiners. Reservations for the examination room and organisation of the hybrid support by ID MMS are made by the D-​PHYS doctoral administration. We will only arrange a hybrid meeting if someone from the Doctoral Examination Committee needs to attend online. If some family members or friends wish to attend online, we recommend that you rent a video conferencing set (e.g. Meeting Owl) free of charge from the ID MMS Shop.
Please note that online guests are only allowed to watch the presentation of your dissertation. It is not allowed to record your defense!


If the doctoral examination takes place less than two weeks before the next Department Conference, the approval of the thesis will be postponed until the next Department Conference.

At the latest 10 working days before the examination, the D-​PHYS doctoral administration sends out the official invitation to the examination committee with the request that the reports must be submitted. The reports with signature must be submitted at the latest one week before the examination by email to the D-PHYS doctoral administration.

  • The entire examination lasts at least 1.5 hour.
  • The 30-minute presentation at the beginning of the doctoral examination is open to the public.
  • The min. 60-minute examination part after the presentation is NOT open to the public.
  • Further information see Download detailed stipulations (PDF, 179 KB), Art. 17.

You can find the information regarding the deposite copies, graduation & doctoral degree certificate here.

Please note that if your doctoral examination took place less than two weeks before the department conference, your thesis approval will be postponed to the next department conference.

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