Our goals are to support PhD students and postdocs at EPFL by assisting with mediation, de-escalation, conflict resolution and providing coaching/mentoring. The three pillars of the Peer2Peer Counselling center are: Confidentiality, Personal Well-Being and De-Escalation.
We will provide you confidential advice and guidelines on academic, administrative or personal issues. We encourage you to reach out to us if you would like to discuss the improvement your situation within your research or as an EPFL employee. Our counsellors are volunteers and all our service are free.
If you have a question or need help, you can contact us by e-mail:
[email protected]
Our volunteer peer to peer counsellors are chosen so they are neutral and can provide you with impartial support.
Your identity is fully confidential and no personal information on you or your situation will be stored or shared with any third party unless you give explicit permission. Only the coordinator and handling counsellor will be aware of your identity and any communication with you.
To ensure full independence our email account and data storage is independent of EPFL.
The Peer2Peer Counselling center’s Advisory board supports its activities and assists in tackling systematic issues. It consists of representatives of different stakeholders:
- MSc & BSc Rep (Marijn Van Der Meer – Polyquity)
- PolyDoc (Sandry Siby – PhD Reps)
- PostDoc Representatives (Eftychia Kyriacou – EPDA)
- EPFL Board (Ambrogio Fasoli and Lucia Baldi)
- AVETH Counselling Team (Anne Jomard)
We aim to support you through:
- Confidentiality: we will NEVER share your identity or any case-related information unless we have your consent in doing so.
- Personal Well-Being: we will help you assess and find tools to optimise your mental and physical health based on your day-to-day life conditions.
- De-Escalation: we will help by providing options and guidance in achieving conflict resolution in the least damaging way.
Our coordinator will match your case with the available counsellor with the most experience for your topic.
You will meet your counsellor who will listen to you. The counsellor will provide you with options and information on your issue, and if necessary assist in mediation or conflict resolution. Our aim it so find the best solution for you. We will support you through the process through coaching and mentoring.
We will help you navigate the EPFL bureaucracy by making you aware of the various support resources, be it institutional, legal, or otherwise. For particular topics going beyond our experience or expertise, we will refer you to other associations or to professional assistance.
Our volunteers are not medical professionals nor trained psychologists. The services provided are on the basis of best intent.
Our Counseling team consists of volunters, fellow PhD students and postdocs, with different life experiences and skills and are passionate about helping people. If you want to join a Peer to Peer counselling team please contact us, we are always looking for new volunteers on the team.
Our junior counsellors go through a interview process and are then shadowed for the first few cases. We use an internal standard operating procedure.
Our team undergoes trainings by in-house and external trainers.
Other services we advise you to contact
We are compiling a list of all services available at EPFL. Coming soon…