FAQ Bachelor's and Master's program
ETH offers lectures, tutorials and the StudyCenter all in person and expects all students to take advantage of these opportunities. ETH does not offer distance learning.
In principle, it is possible to have external study achievements recognized. Please refer to the following ETH website for information on the conditions and the exact procedure.
Please understand that we cannot carry out an individual examination before receiving your application for credit transfer.
You can fill out and sign the external page form deferral of the military service and send it to the Student Administration. If there is a valid reason for postponement, we will confirm the request with our signature and send it back to you. You must then submit the deferral form to the military authorities in your canton of residence at least 14 weeks before the start of your service.
Alternatively, you can also submit your request for deferral of your military service online via the external page Service Manager.
Please make sure to explain in the e-mail or in the comment section, why you want to reschedule your military service and why you can't take vacation days or do a part-time service.
Only courses that are published in the course catalog under the corresponding semester in the category “Electives” can be credited as such. There are no exceptions.
To find a topic for your Bachelor's thesis, we recommend you look on the external page SiROP platform.
It is not possible to write a Bachelor's thesis outside ETH Zurich.
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The Bachelor's thesis must be registered via myStudies at the earliest one month before and at the latest one month after the start of the thesis. The deadline for submission must also be agreed with the supervising professor. This information is binding.
An extension of the submission deadline for the Bachelor's thesis is only possible with the consent of the supervisor. Please submit the completed application for an extension of the Bachelor's thesis to the D-MAVT Student Administration.
We recommend that you clarify with your supervisor at an early stage how you will submit your Bachelor's thesis. The department does not require a copy of the thesis.
As soon as you have achieved at least 145CP in the Bachelor's program, you can enroll in the Master's program and remain enrolled in the Bachelor's program at the same time. However, we do not recommend enrolling in the Master's program this early, as the Master's study period begins in the moment of the enrollment.
Passed courses that meet the requirements for the Master's program (e.g. courses at Master's level, recognition as a core course, etc.) and were not credited in the Bachelor's program can be recognized in the Master's program. To do this, the subject must be withdrawn from any category before the Bachelor's diploma request. After enrolling in the Master's program, you can carry out the transfer yourself on MyStudies by opening the transcript of records for the Master's program and then clicking on “Assign to category” and “Other ETH study achievements”.
You request the diploma via myStudies. This is possible as soon as all results are visible in the system, and the courses are allocated into the correct category.
You can have a maximum of 190 credits in categories. Other courses you save without a category. Those will be listed (together with failed courses) in the addendum of your diploma.
Please note that the student administration processes the diploma requests that were sent during the month at the end of each month (at noon on the last working day). This also causes the de-registration from ETH.
After processing, your diploma will be issued and sent per registered postal mail to the address you provide in myStudies.
Students select the training company themselves. To help students in their search, companies that may offer internship positions are listed in the internship application under “Company directory”. Further positions are published on the ETH students’ portal and external page IAESTE Switzerland or on the notice board of D-MAVT. Students may involve their tutor in their choice.
The internship in the Mechanical Engineering and Process Engineering programs should be completed before the start of the Master's program or during the program but before the student starts the Master's thesis. The former option is recommended. Students in the Robotics, Systems and Control program can start their industrial internship after the Master's thesis. Students who started their industrial internship during their Bachelor’s studies at ETH can have it recognized when it was started after the achievement of min. 145CP in their Bachelor’s studies.
The D-MAVT Student Administration can issue a confirmation that the industrial internship is a compulsory part of your studies. The internship company must apply for a work permit from the Department of Economic Affairs (AWI) with the above-mentioned confirmation.
If a student shows valid reasons for an internship with a workload below 80%, they must send a written request for acceptance to the student administration before the start of the internship and provide basic information about the desired internship as well as reasons for the reduced workload. The duration of a part-time internship prolongs to an equivalent of 100% = 12 weeks.
The internship does not need a registration beforehand. For the recognition of the completed Industrial Internship, a confirmation from the company must be uploaded to the internship application. This confirmation letter must contain:
- name of the company
- exact period of the internship
- workload
- activities and tasks performed during the internship
- signature of the company’s responsible person
External attainments are not recognized.
Passed courses that meet the requirements for the Master's degree program (e.g. courses at Master's level, recognition as a core course, etc.) and were not credited in the Bachelor's degree program can be credited in the Master's program. To do this, the subject must be withdrawn from any category before the Bachelor's degree request. After enrolling in the Master's program, you can carry out the transfer yourself on MyStudies by opening the transcript of records for the Master's program and then clicking on “Assign to category” and “Other ETH study achievements”.
When applying for a Master’s program you have to indicate three tutors with whom you would like to define your study plan. The list of available tutors is published in the web pages of the Master’s programs: https://www.mavt.ethz.ch/studies/master.html We recommend to choose professors whose research field matches your interests the most. Please do not contact the chosen professors during the application process. Your tutor will be assigned by the evaluation committee and cannot influence the decision regarding admission.
ETH Bachelor’s students applying for a consecutive Master’s program can directly choose their favored tutor. We recommend to start contacting the professor of your choice two weeks before the beginning of the Master’s studies by shortly stating why you wish him/her to be your tutor and what courses you plan to attend as core courses.
The Learning Agreement is the defined individual study plan that needs to be confirmed by your tutor. In the Mechanical Engineering program and in the Process Engineering program you include only the core courses. In the Robotics, Systems and Control program you include core courses and multidisciplinary courses. No other subjects are listed in the Learning Agreement (no semester project, no ‘Science in Perspective’ courses, etc.). Before you choose the courses, please read through your program’s study guide. Then check the course catalog for the courses that align with your study focus and goals. Check also last semester’s course options to get an idea of what courses might be available in the next semesters. While planning, please also keep in mind that your degree can only have a maximum of 10 extra credits in total.
At the student’s request, the Director of Studies may approve a change of tutor if justified reasons are given. Changes are only possible at the beginning of a semester. A change does not result in an extension of the maximum allowable study duration.
The Master's thesis must be registered in a regular semester, in the semester in which the majority of the thesis is completed. If the remaining time of the Master's thesis falls in another semester in which no other credit units are registered, a leave of absence can be applied for.
A leave of absence can also be applied for during the industrial internship if no course units are registered.
Courses from other universities are only allowed in the multidisciplinary courses. For further information please check your study guide. Once you have decided on taking the external course, you’ll need to contact the other university and make sure that you follow their procedure to register for their courses. Please contact the D-MAVT Student Administration beforehand.
To find a research topic for a Master’s thesis, you can check the offers of the different D-MAVT institutes, platforms like external page SiROP, the notice board and you can directly contact professors within the field of your interest to check for options. Projects from other engineering departments are also possible.
The Department does not support external theses/projects. It is the responsibility of the tutor and the supervising ETH professor to decide if he/she will supervise Master’s theses/semester projects outside of ETH. We recommend to contact the tutor before looking for an external thesis/project. Please note that the tutor and supervisor are not obligated to approve an external Master's thesis/semester project.
To register a Master’s thesis or semester project, it must be registered via myStudies at the earliest one month before and at the latest one month after the start of work. In the case of the semester project, the submission deadline must also be agreed with the supervising professor. For Master's theses, the submission deadline is calculated automatically by the system. This information is binding.
An extension of the deadline for the submission of the Master's thesis or semester project is only possible with the consent of your supervisor. Please submit the request to extend project / thesis submission deadline to the D-MAVT Student Administration.
We recommend that you clarify with your supervisor at an early stage how you will submit your Master's thesis or semester project. The department does not require a copy.
Please submit your degree request after you have achieved all the required credits in all the necessary categories and before your study deadline has expired. Check the Study Guide to see if you fulfill all the requirements - especially these points are to be mentioned:
- Are the courses at Master's level?
- Do your SiP courses meet the requirements of the D-GESS: https://gess.ethz.ch/studium/science-in-perspective/SiP-FAQs.html
- Have the maximum of 10 additional credit points been exceeded? You can have a maximum of 100 credits in your diploma. Other courses you save without category. Those will be listed (together with failed courses) in the addendum of your diploma.
- If you have mobility courses: Do you have at least 18 credit points from ETH in your core courses?
- For ME/PE/RSC/MNS: Please check your Learning Agreement again - it must match the relevant categories in the transcript of records:
ME & PE: Core courses
RSC/MNS: Core courses and multidisciplinary courses
You submit the degree request via myStudies: Functions – Degree request.
Please note that the student administration processes the diploma requests that were sent during the month at the end of each month (at noon on the last working day). This also causes the de-registration from ETH.
After processing, your diploma will be issued and sent per registered postal mail to the address you provide in myStudies.