Target Thesis
Many factors can influence the conditions in which your doctorate will unfold. A good relationship with your supervisor, clear and realistic goals, time management and work discipline are among the most important factors.
Getting off to a good start
The Graduate Campus offer a workshop "Getting your thesis off to a good start" covering all these topics. You can also find useful information and tips in our guide of the same name, available as a PDF below.
More useful information and tips can be found in the following brochure from ACIDUL, the Association of Mid-level staff and PhD Students of UNIL.
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The Code of Practice for the Doctorate (209KB, .pdf)
The Code of Practice for the Doctorate was drawn up by the Junior Academic Staff Committee and approved by the Executive Board in November 2013. This document highlights the active roles and shared responsibilities of doctoral students and their supervisors in doctoral supervision in order to create a working climate conducive to the successful completion of the thesis. If you have any questions or would like to receive a paper version of the charter, please do not hesitate to contact: Dr Mélanie Bosson and Dr Pauline Fritsch, graduatecampus@unil.ch
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Getting your thesis off to a good start (2,239KB, .pdf)
Available as a paperback (just email us to request your copy)
Resources during your thesis
Throughout your thesis, do not hesitate to contact the Graduate Campus to request an appointment to discuss the supervision of your thesis.
In any kind of situation of distress, crisis, or conflict, the first action is to talk to someone. Whether with a colleague, a friend, or a UNIL office, talk about what you are going through with someone who will either help you directly or direct you to other relevant people.
At UNIL, you can contact any of the following services or persons for free:
Graduate Campus
graduatecampus@unil.ch
tel: +41 021 692 21 29
ACIDUL
UNIL Association of PhD candidates and intermediate staff (postdoc) or one of the faculty associations (see below).
Psychological Support (first consultation for free ; available in English, Italian or French)
Consultation at the Health Permanence
accueilsante@unil.ch
Tél. +41 021 692 25 77
No Stress webpage
Human Resources
Representative person of your faculty
Equal Opportunities Office (Bureau de l’égalité)
egalite@unil.ch
Tél. +41 021 692 20 59
Persons of Trust
Tél. +41 0800 800 303
Work and Study Climate Protection Officer
In situations of conflict, harassment or discrimination
The professor is in , by Karen L. Kelsky, PhD.
Alan Percy, "Studying a PhD: don't suffer in silence" , The Guardian. Higher Education Blog, 25 March 2014.
James Hayton PhD : blog. Articles on Writing, Academic Literature and Lit Reviews, Happiness and Mental Health.
Cathy Sorbara, PhD, "7 Ways PhD Students And Academics Can Deal With Stress, Anxiety And Depression" , Cheeky Scientist. Remember Your Value As A PhD.
David Gooblar, PhD, "4 Ideas for Avoiding Faculty Burnout" , The Chronicle of Higher Education, Pedagogy Unbound, 3 April 2018.
Extension of contracts in cases of force majeure
This memorandum proposes to clarify the terms and conditions for extending the contracts of certain intermediate staff, so as to confirm the situations of force majeure justifying a contractual extension within the meaning of Article 24 RA-UL.
It should be emphasised that this proposal is not limited to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, but is intended to ensure that additional grounds are taken into account in the application of the provisions of the RA-UL, in particular art. 24, in circumstances with similar effects (pandemics, armed conflicts, natural disasters, etc.).
Relevant situations
The following situations may justify a contractual extension, in the sense of force majeure, in application of art. 24. RA-UL :
- Situations in which access is impossible or severely hampered to infrastructures, resources, research data or persons essential to the advancement of personal research, whether in Switzerland or abroad;
- Situations in which the person concerned is unable to complete the qualifying or formal stages necessary for the progress or completion of his/her doctoral work, it being understood that these are conditions required by the doctoral regulations of the faculty concerned.
In accordance with established usage of the concept of force majeure, these impossibilities must be due to an event that is unforeseen, insurmountable, resulting from external conditions and beyond the control of the researcher.
