Each institution sets its own semester fee, the same for EU and non-EU students – e.g. CHF 500 at the University of Lausanne and CHF 2,190 for international students at ETH Zurich. Switzerland has 10 cantonal universities, 2 federal institutes of technology and universities of applied sciences, with more than 4,000 programmes in total. Find out when to apply, how to plan your budget and how many hours you may work.
How long: generally 3–5 years. Universities award doctorates; universities of applied sciences take part only as partners in cooperative programmes.
Your status: many doctoral candidates are employed as assistants at a university institute or in a research project, funded by the university, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) or other third parties.
How to get in: normally a master's degree; universities decide on the basis of your file.
Where to look: doctoral positions and calls are published on the websites of universities and their doctoral schools and on EURAXESS. Programmes in Switzerland in our database: Switzerland – 423 doctoral programmes (as of September 2026) »
Sources: Eurydice – national description of third-cycle (PhD) programmes (updated 27 November 2023). As of October 2026.
Sources: European Commission – Study in Europe (education.ec.europa.eu/study-in-europe), Eurostat, official national study and residence portals and authorities, Eurodesk, enic-naric.net, studentnews.eu. As of September 2026.
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