Procedures for the doctorate (PhD)

The Faculty of Science and Medicine awards PhD titles in its fields of competence. The PhD title attests that its holder has the knowledge, competence, and capacity required to perform high-quality scientific research.

The doctoral studies at the Faculty of Science and Medicine are regulated by the doctorate regulation of 16 December 2024.

For doctoral students who began their doctoral studies before 1 April 2025 and have not applied to switch to the new regulations, please consult the page on procedures under the old regulations.

Regulation (FR/DE)

Regulation EN translation(No legal validity)

Contact at the Dean's office:
doctorate-scimed@unifr.ch

The doctorates office is closed on Fridays.

Start your thesis
To begin doctoral studies, the doctoral candidate, thesis supervisor and any co-supervisors or deputy supervisors must fill out and sign the Doctoral Studies Registration Form. The original signed document must be submitted to the Dean's Office.

Article 11 of the regulations describes who can be a thesis supervisor. In certain cases, a deputy supervisor must be designated. It is also possible to have a co-supervisor on a voluntary basis (Article 12).

If they are not yet registered at the University, the candidate registers with the admissions service. If the candidate is already registered at the University, registration to the PhD is done by the team in charge of doctorates at the Dean's office as soon as all the admission conditions are met.

The procedure can take a few weeks.

In case of a joined supervision with a supervisor from a partner University, financial support is possible. The request must be made by the 31st of March (see Cotutelles de thèse).
Registration form for doctoral studies

Admission and registration service

Detailed procedure:

Marche à suivre pour le doctorat

(english version available soon)

PhD Regulations
During your thesis
Accompanying jury

During the first 12 months of the thesis, an accompanying jury must be designated by mutual agreement between the thesis supervisor and the PhD candidate and communicated to the Dean's Office.

This jury is composed of the supervisor, any co-supervisor and one or two experts, one of whom should ideally be from external to the university.

Intermediate evaluation (18 months)

The doctoral candidate prepares a thesis proposal (Art. 18) and submits it to the accompanying jury no later than 15 working days before the intermediate evaluation.

During the intermediate evaluation, the doctoral candidate presents their project orally to the members of the accompanying jury.

The jury decides whether the evaluation is passed or failed. It informs the doctoral candidate and the Dean's Office of its decision. It writes a brief report for the doctoral candidate and the Dean's Office with any recommendations for improvement.

A failed evaluation may be repeated once, no later than six months after the first attempt. If the evaluation is failed twice, the thesis may not be continued.

Progress report (3rd year)

The progress report is presented during a meeting with the accompanying jury. The doctoral candidate gives a presentation on their project. This is followed by a discussion on progress and any shortcomings.

The main points and any recommendations are recorded in minutes signed by all participants, a copy of which is sent to the Dean's Office. The thesis supervisor keeps the minutes until the end of the doctoral studies.
Form for intermediary evaluation

Detailed procedure:

Marche à suivre pour le doctorat

(english version available soon)

PhD Regulations
Finishing your thesis
Jury selection

In order to finish their thesis, the candidate and their thesis supervisor agree on a jury. The jury is made up of at least: the thesis supervisor, two experts of which at least one is external to the UniFR, a president (usually the president of the department).

At least one of the experts must be independant from the candidate.

The supervisor submits the composition of the jury to the Dean's office. The composition must be validated by the Faculty Council (3 meetings per semester).

Submission

The candidate writes a thesis containing the elements described in the marche à suivre. The thesis must use the title page provided.

The candidate sends their thesis to the members of the jury (except the president) who read it and return an evaluation report to the Dean's Office. It is recommended that the members of the jury be given one month to submit their reports.

A template for the title pages of the thesis is available.

The candidate generates the invoice for registration for the doctoral examination in their MyUnifr account (section ‘Exams’) and pays it (section ‘My faculty invoices’). The fee for the doctoral examination is CHF 400. This examination fee covers the remuneration of the experts and the organisation of the graduation ceremony.

Candidates submit an electronic copy of their thesis in their MyUnifr account (under ‘Exams’) and a printed copy directly to the Dean's Office. This version of the thesis must be accompanied by a CV and a declaration of honour (written personally and signed). It may be bound with simple plastic rings.

Circulation

After receiving all the reports from the jury members, the Dean's Office circulates the thesis together with the reports for at least two weeks in the department where the candidate completed their thesis. Members of the department may express reservations about the thesis.

If, on the basis of the reports or the circulation, the thesis is rejected, it may be submitted a second time. A thesis that is rejected twice leads to the failure of the doctorate.

Defence

If the thesis is accepted on the basis of the reports and circulation, the Dean's Office will contact the candidate to confirm the date of the defence, which must take place at least one month after receipt of the reports.

The defence lasts at least one hour and consists of a presentation followed by an oral assessment. At the end of the defence, the jury decides whether it has been passed.

If the candidate fails the defence, they may repeat it once at least three months later. Failure to pass the defence twice leads to failure of the PhD.

Presentation

After a successful defence, the candidate gives a presentation of their thesis, which is open to the public. This takes place no later than one month after the defence, unless special permission is granted by the Dean.

Final submission

No later than six months after the date of the defence, the candidate must submit the final version of their thesis. This version must take into account any comments and suggestions made by the members of the jury.

An unbound copy must be submitted to the Dean for approval. Once approved, the candidate must print four bound copies and submit them to the Dean's Office.

Along with the final submission, the candidate must email a summary of their thesis to the Dean's Office.
Title page

Examiner's report form

Detailed procedure:

Marche à suivre pour le doctorat

(english version available soon)

PhD Regulations

The month of August does not count towards the submission process. For example, if you plan on having your PhD defense during the month of August, all necessary documents must arrive at the Dean's office before the end of June.