EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, is one of the most dynamic university campuses in Europe and ranks among the top 20 universities worldwide. The EPFL employs more than 6,500 people supporting the three main missions of the institutions: education, research and innovation. The EPFL campus offers an exceptional working environment at the heart of a community of more than 18,500 people, including over 14,000 students and 4,000 researchers from more than 120 different countries.

PhD

Mission

INSTRUCTIONS TO RECRUIT A DOCTORAL CANDIDATE:
Hiring a PhD student is a two-steps process involving multiple entities, which may be confusing for the applicants. To clarify the process for the applicants, please do NOT remove the following sentence at the end of the advertisement:
“The selection process involves multiple stages, and short-listed candidates will be requested to apply to a specific EPFL Doctoral Program to qualify for a PhD at EPFL, i.e. [XXX doctoral program name and acronym].
Please check this page for additional information on admission.”

Please note that reference letters cannot be uploaded by the candidates in this tool. Letters from referees must be requested by the hiring manager or progessor.


Once you selected the shortlisted candidates:
1.    Please inform the candidates that they must apply to the doctoral program before the next application deadline. Please send them all the information about how to do it.

2.    Inform the program’s administrator about the shortlisted candidates

3.    After the evaluation by the program’ committee, the program’s administrator will inform you if your shortlisted candidates are admissible to the program

Once the program has informed you that the candidate(s) are admissible, you can select one of them in this recruitment tool and launch the “Proposition d’engagement”.
Please inform the program about your final choice.

Please delete these instructions before sending the job requisition to your HR Assistant for publication.

 

We are offering a challenging position as a full-time (100%) PhD Student at [college / Institute] at EPFL, [Lausanne, Geneva, Neuchatel, Fribourg, Sion]. Our [institute/ Lab / Group] is focused on [please describe in one or two sentences]. You will be working on the [XXX-funded] project [Name of project] whose goal is to [goal of the project.]

Main duties and responsibilities

As a PhD Student, you will be expected to:

  • Have full responsibility for your own dissertation
  • Research in close collaboration with industry partners
  • Experiment design and execution
  • Analyze and interpret experimental results
  • Write scientific articles for publication in peer-reviewed journals
  • Present at international conferences
  • Participate in education and supervise student projects

 

More specifically, within this project, you will:

  • [XXX]
  • [XXX]
  • [XXX]

Profile

  • A MSc degree in the fields of [XXX]
  • [Any other background / interest necessary for the role]
  • Good communication skills and willingness to work as part of a team
  • Enthusiasm, scientific curiosity, eager to learn, good organizational skills, rigor in experimental work
  • High level of motivation for academic research work
  • Fluency in English is essential [French / German / Italian would be an asset]

We offer

  • A MSc degree in the fields of [XXX]
  • [Any other background / interest necessary for the role]
  • Good communication skills and willingness to work as part of a team
  • Enthusiasm, scientific curiosity, eager to learn, good organizational skills, rigor in experimental work
  • High level of motivation for academic research work
  • Fluency in English is essential [French / German / Italian would be an asset]

Informations

 

The selection process involves multiple stages, and short-listed candidates will be requested to apply to a specific EPFL Doctoral Program to qualify for a PhD at EPFL, i.e. [XXX doctoral program name and acronym].
Please check this page for additional information on admission.

Please note that this is a separate application process necessary to be eligible to complete your PhD at EPFL.

Your application should contain:

  • A motivation Letter
  • Your detailed CV
  • Contact information
  • The names and contact information of 3 references willing to write a recommendation letter
  • [XXX]

 

Application deadline: [DD/MM/YYYY]

Contract Start Date: 01/01/2027

Activity Rate Min: 100.00

Activity Rate Max: 100.00

Contract Type: PhD Student

Duration: 1 year (candidacy examination) + up to 5 years after

Reference: 2409

 

For more information, please contact: [XXX]@epfl.ch