Completion of the Doctorate / Publication of the Doctoral Thesis / PhD Conferral

The doctoral degree process consists of the following steps, which are described in detail below:

1. Register for doctoral degree: Submit doctoral application
2. Approval of the doctoral thesis: The doctoral thesis is approved by the Faculty Assembly.
3. Publication of the doctoral thesis: The doctoral thesis must be published within two years.  
4. Deposit copies: Production and delivery of the deposit copies
5. Conferral of the doctoral degree: The doctoral title may only be used once the doctoral certificate has been issued.

You must be enrolled for the duration of doctoral study. After successfully meeting all conditions stipulated in the ordinance on obtaining a doctoral degree (Promotionsverordnung), you can petition for conferral of a doctoral degree.

Please submit the following documents electronically to doktorat@ius.uzh.ch:

• Application form
• Doctoral agreement § 22 PVO
• Request for the appointment of a second reviewer
• Declaration on publication of the doctoral thesis
• Completed doctoral thesis as a PDF (incl. title page with surname and first name of the doctoral student, title of the doctoral thesis and names of both reviewers)
• If required, proof that any open conditions have been met

All forms can be found in the Forms page.

The Faculty Council names the second reviewer on recommendation of the doctoral candidate and the main supervisor; the second reviewer is named from within the ranks of the Faculty. In certain cases, the second reviewer may be from outside the Faculty. In such cases, the Faculty Council must name the grounds for this decision. If there are multiple supervisors, the additional supervisors must be taken into consideration when naming the second reviewer.

The application for the appointment of a second supervisor or reviewer needs to be submitted to the Faculty Council for its approval before the second supervisor resp. reviewer commences writing the expert opinion.

The Faculty Assembly is responsible for approving the doctoral thesis; the decision is made on the basis of the opinions of the main supervisor and the second reviewer.

It is not possible to re-submit a rejected doctoral thesis.

Doctoral theses are awarded one of the following designations: summa cum laude, magna cum laude, cum laude or rite.

In order to be granted the doctroal title the doctoral candidates need to publish and submit the required deposit copies of the doctoral thesis within two years of the approval.

An agreement has been reached with the usual publishers that the publisher's copies, if possible, correspond to the specifications of the deposit copies so that additional copies do not have to be printed.

After approval of the doctoral thesis by the faculty, doctoral students receive, among other things, a sample for labelling the cover and inside title as well as further information on the publication of the doctoral thesis and must obtain approval for printing from the Dean of Studies Office (doktorat@ius.uzh.ch) before publication or printing.

The title and text of the deposit copies must be identical to the version approved by the Faculty of Law. Subsequent changes or additions must be submitted to the main supervisor for approval and their consent must be forwarded to the Dean of Studies Office.

Number of deposit copies

The Zentralbibliothek Zürich must be given 5 deposit copies for a print dissertation and 3 deposit copies for an e-dissertation, a declaration of consent, and the dissertation in PDF format on a stick or via email for uploading to ZORA. In addition, 30 deposit copies must be submitted to the UB Law in the case of a print dissertation and 1 deposit copy in the case of an e-dissertation. Doctoral students are responsible for sending 1 deposit copy to the second supervisor.

Delivery of the deposit copies

The deposit copies are delivered to the Zentralbibliothek and the UB Law by the doctoral students or the publisher. The deposit copies submitted to the Zentralbibliothek are forwarded by the Zentralbibliothek to an archive and to the UZH Diploma Office. The Diploma Office sends a deposit copy to the main supervisor for signature. The main supervisor returns the signed deposit copy to the Diploma Office. The Diploma Office sends this copy to the Dean of Studies Office, which finally approves the doctoral thesis and generates the final documents. This process can take up to 3 weeks, as several departments are involved.

Zentralbibliothek

Hochschulschriften
Zähringerplatz 6
CH-8001 Zürich
+41 44 268 31 00

Deposit copies can be handed in at the information desk or sent by regular mail.

PhD theses

Declaration of Consent upon Submission of an E-PhD Thesis to the Zentralbibliothek Zürich

UB Law

Rämistrasse 74/27
8001 Zürich
+41 44 634 3099
recht@ub.uzh.ch

The doctoral certificate and diploma (doctoral diploma, diploma supplement and academic record) will only be issued and sent by regular mail once the deposit copy signed by the main supervisor has been received by the Dean of Studies Office. Doctoral students must be enrolled in the relevant semester for both documents to be issued. It is not permitted to use the doctoral title before the doctoral certificate has been issued.