FAQ Cyber Security

Current EPFL students are automatically enrolled in the Master’s program in their field of study. They only need to confirm their registration in IS-Academia and do not need to go through the application process to continue their studies in the same field. Since your degree is consecutive to more than one Master’s program, you may request to be enrolled in the Cyber Security Master’s program at the beginning of the first semester, using the FRAC form.

No. If you start your Master’s in Cyber Security at ETH Zürich, you must complete your studies in Zürich, with one semester being carried out at EPFL (the duration of this exchange semester cannot be extended).

When applying for the Master’s in Cyber Security, your application is tied to the institution where you intend to complete the majority of your studies (excluding the mandatory exchange semester):

• If you apply to EPFL and are admitted, you will be enrolled at EPFL and required to complete an exchange semester at ETH Zürich. The remainder of the program must be completed at EPFL.
• If you apply to ETH Zürich and are admitted, you will be enrolled at ETH Zürich and required to complete an exchange semester at EPFL. The rest of your studies must be completed at ETH Zürich.

You may choose to apply to EPFL, ETH Zürich, or both institutions. The admissions processes at both schools are coordinated.

Yes, you must validate this form to remain enrolled in the Master’s program. Even if you are on an exchange at ETH Zürich, you must still log in to your IS-Academia account and validate the form to confirm that you are continuing your studies and verify your personal information. After validating the form, you will need to download and pay your semester invoice under the “Personal details” tab. For more information, please see the following page: Student CMS, Bachelor and Master

Yes, students remain enrolled at EPFL and continue to pay EPFL tuition fees. For more information, please see the following page: Tuition fee and other fees

The first semester must be completed at EPFL. After that, you are free to choose which semester you would like to spend in Zürich for your exchange.

In April (for the Autumn semester) and October (for the Spring semester) the Section contacts via email all students enrolled in the Cyber Security Master’s program who have not yet completed their exchange semester to see if they wish to register for the upcoming semester.

If you plan to do your exchange in the Spring semester, you can benefit from pre-booked housing in Zürich. After registering for the semester in Zürich, you will receive an offer for a furnished room via email from the ETH Zürich International Student Office. Students are responsible for paying rent. 

If you plan to attend ETH Zürich in the Autumn semester, no pre-booked housing is available. We recommend using the following resources to search for housing in Zürich:

• WOKO – Student Housing Cooperative
• ETHZ Student Housing Portal

All Cyber Security Master’s students receive a stipend of 2500.- CHF for their exchange semester at ETH Zürich. The Section will collect your bank details for the transfer when contacting you to complete your course selection at ETH Zürich.

Students receive their accesses in mid-June for the Autumn semester and in mid-December for the Spring semester.

It is recommended to keep your main residence in the canton of Vaud and register a temporary address as a secondary residence in Zürich. Changing your canton of residence for just one semester is often lengthy and complicated. To maintain your main residence in the canton of Vaud, you can:

• Ask your commune of residence if you can have an administrative address in Vaud. Not all communes accept this, but it is worth asking.
• Ask a friend if you can register at their home address. In this case, you must also register at the Residents’ registration office in your friend’s commune. It is important to inform your commune of residence that you have a temporary address elsewhere.

Before your departure, you should contact your health insurance provider to find out if your coverage is valid or not.

No, the exchange is limited to one semester and cannot be extended.

A key requirement of the Cyber Security Master’s program at EPFL is the completion of at least 30 ECTS out of the 72 ECTS (Group 1 + Group 2) in “Depth” security courses, which may be taken at either EPFL or ETH Zürich. This requirement reflects the program’s strong focus on core cyber security principles and ensures that students benefit from the combined expertise of both institutions.

Depth courses may count towards either Group 1 or Group 2 and must be selected from those marked as “Depth” in the EPFL Cyber Security study plan or in the ETHZ course list. (Note: All courses in Group 2 from the ETHZ Cyber Security course list count toward the depth requirement).

The semester at ETH Zürich must be dedicated to courses listed under the “ETHZ Cyber Security courses” list. However, you may also choose Master’s-level courses from the Faculty of Computer Science at ETH Zürich. These will be considered optional courses and will be credited under Group 2 of your study plan at EPFL.

Please note that it is not possible to take EPFL courses during your mandatory semester at ETH Zürich. This exchange semester must be fully dedicated to courses offered in Zürich. Exceptions may only be granted to allow a second attempt at a previously taken course.

Students are encouraged to create a personal study plan at the beginning of their Master’s program to help structure their studies and ensure that all program requirements are fulfilled. You may use the Learning Agreement document to design a balanced plan that meets all obligations, including the Depth requirement, ETH Zürich credits, SHS modules, the Research project, and Group 1 and Group 2 courses at EPFL.

You will be contacted in April and October to register for the exchange in the following semester. Depending on when your exchange at ETH Zürich takes place, the Learning Agreement must be submitted for validation and kept up to date. It should reflect your actual course registration at ETH Zürich and must be finalized by the end of the second week of the semester.

At ETH Zurich, it is recommended to register for more than the minimum 20 ECTS to maximize your chances of successfully completing the semester.

Before the start of the semester at ETH Zürich, your Learning Agreement must be approved by the Section. Modifications can be made during the first two weeks of the semester; however, any changes require approval and must be communicated immediately to Jasmine Locatelli. Without approval, the courses may not be recognized.

No, you must register for courses yourself at the beginning of the semester via ETH Zürich’s “MyStudies” platform. Exam registration is separate and must be completed during the 3rd and 4th week of the semester: Examination Information

Yes, but the deadlines depend on the type of courses (semester performance, end-of-semester examination, session examination). Please refer to the specific Deregistration Deadlines.

Don’t forget to update your Learning Agreement accordingly and send it to Jasmine Locatelli for validation.

If you do not acquire a minimum of 20 ECTS during your exchange semester, you will be required to complete the missing ETH Zürich credits remotely during an additional semester, while holding “Present” status at EPFL.

On this link (course catalogue ETH Zurich) you will find the “Science in Perspective”  courses offered at ETH Zürich.

Search for Courses

• Semester: Select the desired semester
• Level: Master’s Degree Programme
• Department: Computer Science

Structure

• Program: Cyber Security Master
• Section: Science in Perspective

The search will display all available courses under this category. You may choose both “Type A” and “Type B” courses. Please note that language courses are not credited.

Yes, you can take either 3 or 6 ECTS of “Science in Perspective” courses, depending on how many SHS credits you still need to complete at EPFL.

Please refer to the dedicated ETH Zürich page, where you will find all the necessary information. If the research project is carried out at ETH Zürich, there is no registration in IS-Academia.

The duration of a research project carried out at ETH Zürich must be 14 weeks, the same as for a project carried out at EPFL. You should agree on the project dates with your ETH Zürich supervisor at the beginning of the semester.

No, the 12 ECTS mandatory research project must be related to the field of Cyber Security. 

No, if the 12 ECTS mandatory research project is carried out at ETH Zürich, it must be supervised by an ETH Zürich cyber security authorized faculty member.

No, the ETH Zürich Cyber Security course catalogue only offers the mandatory 12 ECTS research project.

Yes, in addition to your exchange semester, you can also carry out your Master’s thesis at ETH Zürich. The duration will be 25 weeks (+ 1 week of holidays). Your Master’s project must be supervised by both an EPFL cyber security-authorized professor and an ETH Zürich-authorized professor. In such cases, students must have completed and validated either a short (8-week summer) or long (6-month semester) internship in industry beforehand.

No, the Master’s project must be related to the field of Cyber Security.