Switzerland Scholarships 2010

The Doctoral Program in Biotechnology and Bioengineering (EDBB), Switzerland Scholarships 2010

The Doctoral Program in Biotechnology and Bioengineering (EDBB) aims at providing doctoral students with the education necessary to be leaders in the fast-growing industrial and academic biotechnology and bioengineering sectors, i.e. a depth of knowledge and competence in their specific research area as well as a breadth of knowledge in biology, bioengineering and biotechnology.

The combination of coursework, laboratory based research, in-house seminars, and national and international conferences, etc. will form the basis of this education.

These program themes include:

* genomics and proteomics,
* biomolecular engineering and biomaterials,
* stem cell biotechnology,
* cell and process engineering,
* biochemical engineering,
* orthopaedic engineering,
* biomechanics, mechanobiology,
* cell biophysics,
* computational biology,
* biomedical imaging, as well as
* molecular, cell and tissue engineering.

Besides the research groups of the Institute of Bioengineering, sitting at the interface between the Life Sciences and Life Technologies, and bridging two EPFL Schools: the School of Life Sciences (FSV) and the School of Engineering (STI), the researchers of the Global Health Institute (EPFL School of Life Sciences) also joined our PhD program offering some exciting PhD positions to talented young researchers.

Further Scholarship Information will follow towards March/April 2010 : http://phd.epfl.ch/edbb-openings

Who is eligible

Eligible candidates must have a Masters Degree or equivalent with at least 6 months of research experience. In exceptional cases, candidates with only a Bachelors Degree may be considered (depending on the undergraduate institution and performance there); these students will be required to pass an entrance exam depending on their background.
All candidates will be evaluated by the Committee of the Doctoral School in Bioengineering and Biotechnology for acceptance. In addition to having an outstanding academic record, candidates must be accepted into a particular laboratory within the Biotechnology and Bioengineering Doctoral Program. Thus, it is important that the application include names of laboratories in which the candidate is interested to work and where a PhD position is offered at the current application deadline; therefore, the candidate is encouraged to explore the websites of relevant laboratories, identify potential PhD advisors, and initiate direct correspondence with them

We strongly recommend to the EDBB candidates to provide us with the results of their GRE test (EPFL GRE code is 3253) – The TOEFL is highly recommended for students who have not followed more than three years of study in English.

Timeline for Doctoral Candidate

Following enrollment to the PhD program

1. Within 1 month
Submission of course list for first years’ four credits (ECTS)

2. Within 12 months – EDBB Candidacy Exam
– thesis proposal has been prepared,
– candidacy exam (and entrance exam, if required) has been passed, and
– four credits have been completed

3. After the second and the third years
Presentation of a progress report (I & II) to your thesis director; approved by the PhD program director and handed over to the EDBB administrator (Office SV 3513)

4. Thesis work
Within four years your thesis defense should take place – Have a glance at an important information about the doctoral study fees (no fees, but a one-shot tax to be paid before the thesis oral exam !)

Please contact the EDBB administration to define who will chair your oral exam (min. 2 months before the date), once you have this information, go on finding the other members of the jury (one internal member, two external members)
8 weeks before the date, the thesis jury proposal should be finalized and brought to the EDBB administration (signed by the PhD student and by your thesis director) – The special form is available on the EPFL PhD website or upon request

For more info visit : http://phd.epfl.ch/page69785.html