Examination committee

Co-examiners for a doctoral thesis at D-MAVT must adhere to the following criteria:

1. At least one co-examiner must be from outside ETH Zurich and have proven expertise in the subject of the doctoral thesis (an active professor from another university, or a person who has proven expertise in the subject area of the doctoral thesis is equivalent to a professor, e. g. Max Planck Director, Directeur de Recherche in France, or Reader in the UK). Professors from Universities of Applied Sciences or from the private sector with a corresponding expertise do not count towards this requirement, but they can be admitted as additional co-examiners.
2. If the doctoral thesis supervisor is an adjunct (titular associate professor, Titularprofessor*in), at least one elected ETH professor without a hierarchical relationship to the Titularprofessor*in must be a co-examiner (a hierarchical relationship exists, if the Titularprofessor*in was in a professor’s lab prior to promotion to Titularprofessor*in, or if the Titularprofessor*in belongs to the same lab as a professor).
3. For external doctoral theses: at least one co-examiner must not have been involved in the research and must be an independent professor.
4. If the doctoral thesis supervisor has retired, at least one other professor from ETH Zurich must act as a co-examiner.

The information about the proposed co-examiner(s) has to be listed in the Download "Request of appointment of co-examiner"form (PDF, 31 KB) at least three weeks before the Department Conference, that approves/rejects co-examiners. After the approval the D-MAVT Doctoral Administration informs the Academic Services.

Please read the Download D-MAVT Complementary Regulations on Doctoral Affairs (PDF, 247 KB) for further information.

The examination committee decides:

• if the doctoral thesis is accepted with or without required revision
  
• if the oral doctoral examination is passed or failed.
  

All co-examiners have a vote. The committee takes its decision by majority vote; in the event of a tie, the chairperson has the casting vote. The result is recorded in writing. Immediately after the doctoral examination, the chairperson of the examination informs the doctoral student verbally about the assessment of the doctoral thesis and of the oral doctoral examination, signs the report and submits it to the D-MAVT Doctoral Administration.

If the doctoral examination is failed, the retake must take place within six months after the first attempt. Only one retake is allowed.
If the doctoral thesis has been accepted with revisions, it can be revised once. The committee defines which changes are to be made, the deadline for the changes to be implemented (within six months), and the committee member(s) responsible for verifying that the changes have been made. The D-MAVT Doctoral Administration informs the doctoral student in writing about the following details:

1. Points for revision of the doctoral thesis (if required) and deadline for revision;
2. Information on the deadline for repeating the doctoral examination (if failed);
3. Reference to the possibility of appeal (if the doctoral thesis was rejected or accepted (with conditions) or the doctoral examination was not passed).

To promote award nominations, the examination committee considers the qualifications of each candidate with respect to a potential nomination for an outstanding thesis award (ETH Medal or industrial awards). If the candidate is considered for nomination, the committee documents the reasons for nomination by completing a separate form. The decision of the committee is confidential within the examination committee and later in the award committees. The doctoral thesis supervisor is responsible for deciding about the final nomination and for preparing the nomination documents.