Admission to doctoral or post-doctoral studies with a foreign Master's degree or Doctorate

  • Conditions of admission

    Diplomas enabling an admission to doctoral studies:

    Generally, Bachelor’s degree (usually 180 ECTS) + Master’s degree (usually 90 ECTS) or equivalent academic diplomas delivered by a recognized University

    Diplomas enabling an admission to post-doctoral studies:

    Doctorate delivered by a recognized or accredited University

    Additional specific information:

  • Application periods

    An application for admission to doctoral or post-doctoral studies can be submitted at any time. You can be registered for the current or for the following semester. When choosing a semester, please take into consideration that an admission procedure lasts several weeks; we therefore recommend that you take all the necessary steps as soon as possible, especially if you are required to obtain visa or wish to apply for a study grant.

    Population and Migration Services

  • Application fees

    Swiss Master’s Degree/Doctorate

    Candidates holding a diploma from Switzerland or Liechtenstein which enables studies at the Unifr (eg. Swiss Master’s degree for an admission to doctoral studies or a Swiss Doctorate for an admission to post-doctoral studies)

    Application fees: CHF 50.-

    Foreign Master’s Degree/Doctorate

    Candidates holding a foreign diploma which enables studies at the Unifr (eg. foreign Master’s degree for an admission to doctoral studies or a foreign Doctorate for an admission to post-doctoral studies)

    Application fees: CHF 100.-

     The application fee cannot be reimbursed nor carried over to another semester, even in the case of an inaccurate, withdrawn or refused application for admission.

     All banking and exchange fee costs must be borne by the customer.

    Information on the semester fees

  • Semesters and lecture periods
    Academic year 2022 – 2024:

    Autumn semester 2022

    • Official dates:
      01.08.2023 – 31.01.2024

    • Lecture period:
      18.09.2023 – 22.12.2023

    Spring semester 2023

    • Official dates:
      01.02.2024 – 31.07.2024

    • Lecture periods:
      19.02.2024 – 31.05.2024

    Academic calendar

  • Application procedure

     Online applications through Inscruni are aimed exclusively at people who are not currently registered at the Unifr. If you are currently registered at the Unifr and have an active MyUnifr account, you must on no account apply through Inscruni. Any request from a student registered at the Unifr (e.g. change of degree programme, early start to master studies ("master anticipé"), master studies following a bachelor’s degree, etc.) must be submitted on the MyUnifr portal.

    1. Choice of the thesis supervisor 

    If you wish to undertake doctoral or post-doctoral studies, you must choose a professor who agrees to supervise your thesis.

    2. Online application

    Online application on Inscruni

     You can apply online even if you have not yet finished your studies and/or obtained your diploma.

     We recommend applying as early as possible as the processing of an application for admission takes several weeks.

    3. Payment of the application fee

    The application fee can be payed directly by credit card or with an invoice that can be downloaded after validating the online application.

    Only applications for which the application fee has been paid will be processed.

     The application fee cannot be reimbursed nor carried over to another semester, even in the case of an inaccurate, withdrawn or refused application for admission.

     All banking and exchange fee costs must be borne by the customer.

    4. Doctoral research authorisation form

    The doctoral research authorisation form is an essential document for your application.  Please ask your future Faculty for this document, fill it in and add it to your application for admission.

    5. Upload of documents

    Once the online application validated, a personalised list of the documents to be submitted will be available on your Inscruni account. All the documents listed are essential to the processing of your application for admission and must be uploaded on Inscruni within the given deadline. Please do not send us any documents by post at this stage.

    Indicative list of documents to be sent together with your application for admission

     Certified translations must fulfil specific requirements.

    We can request officially certified copies and/or original documents at any time for the further processing of your application.

     Please note that the application for admission you will submit must be thoroughly prepared. If your application is incomplete or if it includes documents of poor quality or that do not respect the given instructions, it will not be processed.

    6. Processing of the application for admission and decision

    Once we have received the required documents, your application will be processed in two stages:

    • Formal analysis of the application by the Office for Admissions and Registration, who decide whether you are eligible for doctoral/post-doctoral studies.
    • Academic study analysis by the Faculty, who decides if the application meets the Faculty’s requirements.

     The faculty’s analysis can last several weeks; please note that applications for the Faculty of Science and Medicine are managed by the Commission for Requests, who meet on fixed dates.

    • Once the formal and study linked analyses completed, a written decision will be sent to you by the Office for Admissions and Registration.

     No information regarding the status of your application for admission will be given by e-mail or by phone.

    7. Visa request

    If you are a citizen of a country subject to a visa requirement, you will need a visa before travelling to Switzerland. The visa application must be submitted to the competent Swiss representation located in your country of residence.

    Additional information: Service of the population and migrants.

    8. Providing the original document

    Providing the original document of your Master's degree/Doctorate is compulsory. 

    There are two possibilities to hand in your original diploma:

    • Send it by post
    • Hand it in at our office during our opening hours.

     The Master’s degree/Doctorate must be approved without any reservation or condition.

    9. Final decision of admission

    Once you have met all the admission requirements and provided the original of your Master’s degree/Doctorate, the final decision will be sent to you. 

    10. After the admission

  Online registration  

 If you are currently registered as a student at the Unifr, have an active MyUnifr account and wish to change your study programme for the next semester, you mustn’t submit your application on Inscruni. You have to submit your request on the MyUnifr portal.