EDMS How to apply? ‒ EDMS ‐ EPFL

Your application form and all requested documents must be duly filled in, uploaded and validated online before April 15 or November 1, respectively, at the latest
Do not confuse these deadlines with the variable dates of interviews in Lausanne during our “Hiring Days” in June and January (see below).
Explanations on how to get to SV building

To be evaluated and to be considered for interviews during our hiring days, your application must be submitted directly to the EDMS doctoral program using the online application procedure.
Applicants can also contact group leaders of interest in advance to discuss mutual interests and available projects. However, this is not mandatory, and some group leaders may be unable to answer every request individually.

Labs with open positions and their currently available projects are listed here (until the application deadlines, this page is continually updated whenever a position becomes available).
Additional information is sometimes posted on the individual lab webpages. However, the final matching with a specific host laboratory of your interest is part of the interview process during the hiring days, except if a group leader promises a student in advance to not consider anyone else.

Typically, the prerequisite is a Master’s degree (M.Sc.) in the relevant discipline.
Candidates with a 4- or 5-year B.S. (Bachelor’s) degree may also apply if their curriculum included sufficient math and physics courses: Please explain these specifics of your education in your Statement of Objectives of your application letter.
If you are currently enrolled in a M.Sc. degree program, your application can be considered for admission before you obtain your Master’s degree; however, you must have your degree at the time you begin your doctoral studies at EPFL.
You must be proficient in English: We recommend that applicants whose first language is not English provide us with the results of the TOEFL and/or GRE test. Our joint program uses the EPFL institution code, which is 3253; there is no department code needed.
According to the Ordinance on the doctorate at EPFL, art.5 §4, any applicant who has already completed a thesis on a subject related to the one envisaged at EPFL is not admitted.
Applicants who already unsuccessfully defended, or failed to complete a thesis on a related subject to the one envisaged at EPFL can only be admitted upon special authorization by the Vice-President for Academic Affairs (Art. 17).

All PhD and MD-PhD candidates must apply online and will have to pass the Hiring Days selection procedure. Only if they are accepted by EDMS and hired by a thesis director, they will be enrolled in the program.
Exceptions to this rule are limited to students enrolled in NCCR or other EPFL PhD programs, or who joined EPFL together with their group leader; these candidates will apply online without going through the whole Hiring Days procedure.

Applications are ranked by the EDMS doctoral program committee within a month following the deadline.
Short-listed candidates are invited to Lausanne for a 3-day interviews session 6-8 weeks after the deadline. Accommodation and travel expenses related to the interviews are reimbursed.

The final selection takes place during a 3-day interview session in Lausanne 6-8 weeks after the application deadline (for the date of the upcoming session, click here)
At the interviews, invited candidates give a 10 minute slide presentation of their recent work before a panel of all the group leaders offering a position.
The detailed program of the 3-day interview session is sent by e-mail 10 days in advance. Results of the final selection are announced at the end of the interviews.
Students who are offered a position should reply within 5 days whether they accept the offer.
The thesis project must then begin no later than 6 months after the interviews.

Before applying, please review all the general information provided under the link for the Online Application Form.

For any further questions: [email protected]