Timeline

In summary, you need to:

Scheduling your private defense

Once you have a jury you and your advisor are happy with, find a date they’re all available. Your external examiners can be remote: you will need to discuss with them whether they want to come in person or not.

Keep in mind that:

Scheduling your public defense

You need to do all of the following:

For tasks that require your advisor’s approval, it’s best to ask in person. The Registrar’s Office should send you forms and approve requests within 3-5 working days, if you do not get any news or if you need to expedite the process, call them.

Other concerns

If you have special requests, such as if you want your public defense earlier than 4 weeks after the private defense, email the Registrar’s Office at sac-doctorants at epfl dot ch to confirm they’re okay with your choice of date.

For non-EU people, it may make sense to look for a job before your public defense, to avoid worries about your permit expiring.

How long your contract will last after you graduate is up to your supervisor. In most cases, your contract can be extended a month or more beyond your graduation. You can use that time to help younger PhD students and search for a job comfortably. However, EPFL only requires that you are paid until your private defense, so you should confirm extensions beyond that with your supervisor.

After your public defense, you will have access to your EPFL email for another six months, but not to employee services such as the SESAME portal.

Make sure you get back the CAMIPRO balance on your card (there’s an online form to request a bank transfer).