phd university of bern

Graduate School for Health Sciences (GHS)

The Graduate School for Health Sciences (GHS) offers research-oriented curricula on psychological and physiological factors that determine the health of individuals and groups in their social contexts and physical environments. The GHS is an interdisciplinary program jointly organized by the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Human Sciences, and the Vetsuisse Faculty and offers research PhD programs, addressing questions rooted in both basic research and applied fields. The extensive pool of academic experts and resources enables the GHS students to develop into highly qualified researchers or professionals ready to use their knowledge and skills in complex subjects in their chosen area. Depending on the field of research, the candidates are assigned to one of the three Expert Committees (FK) with the following fields of expertise:

• Individual Factors, Public Health and Methodologies for Health Sciences Research
• Neurosciences
• Clinical Sciences: clinical career & patient-oriented research (50:50 model)  

More information about the PhD Program can be found here .

More information about the PhD requirements can be found here .

News and events

Solidarity with Ukraine

Support measures for scientists from Ukraine The Graduate School for Health Sciences as part of the University of Bern stands in solidarity with Ukraine and its universities and its scientists. We support the statement by swissuniversities, the appeal of The Guild and statements made by its partner institutions and networks on the solidarity of all democratic states with Ukraine. Please find below useful links regarding funding and research opportunities: General Information from the University: https://www.unibe.ch/ukraine /index_eng.html For researches from the Ukraine and group leaders wanting to offer positions for Ukrainian scientists, possibilities for funding can be found at the Swiss National Science Foundation: 1) https://www.snf.ch/en/WpOfVoVBYdBid6By/ news/support-measures-for-scientists-from-ukraine 2) Scienceforukraine.eu 3) https://www.bfh.ch/en/news/ukraine/ For support, donations and helping a good source is the Swiss Ukrainian Society www.swiss-ukrainian.ch Your GHS Team

Block Course Training for PhD Supervisors

The two-day block course "Training for PhD Supervisors" focuses on the goals, challenges and content of good supervision of doctoral students.

Transferable Skills Program for (Post)Docs

A new program for doctoral candidates and postdocs of every discipline. Check out the details!

Annual Report 2023

Information about the new regulations of the GHS

The GHS is also a member of the Orpheus (Organisation for Education in Biomedicine and Health Sciences in the European System). Orpheus is an association of European biomedical and health science faculties and institutions that is committed to developing and disseminating best practice within PhD training programs.

GHS Brochure

Graduations

Check out the list of all the graduations at the GHS since 2011.

Thesis Defenses

Check out this website for upcoming thesis defenses by PhD candidates: Thesis defenses are announced one week ahead of the defense date.

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Mittelstrasse 43 3012 Bern

Department of Business Administration

Doctoral studies.

Ph.D. studies at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences lead, after a successful completion of a dissertation,  to the title Doctor rerum oeconomicarum, Dr. rer. Oec.

Admission requirements

Admission is governed by the regulation on doctoral studies at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.

Supervision by a lecturer responsible for the student at the relevant faculty is an essential condition for admission to the doctoral program in Business Administration. Admission may be denied if the topic is not expected to lead to a research output, if there are reasonable doubts about the successful completion of the dissertation project, or if the topic does not correspond with the research focus of the lecturer in question.

A necessary prerequisite for admission is a Master's degree (or equivalent degree) from a recognized university. Additionally, the Master’s degree must be no more than ten years old. Furthermore, a minimum overall grade in the Master's program must be achieved. For students at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Bern, this minimum grade is 4.75 (under the Swiss grading system). Moreover, at least 60 ECTS credits must have been obtained in the field of Business Administration.

Graduates with a Master's degree in Business Administration from a university of applied sciences cannot start a doctoral program in Business Administration at the University of Bern directly. In addition to the admission requirements mentioned above, they must first obtain a Master's degree from a university. For further information, please contact the Academic Student Advice.

Students wishing to pursue a doctorate in Business Administration must obtain at least 24 ECTS credits during the doctoral program. As part of this, 4 ECTS credits must be acquired in the “Doctoral Seminar in Business Administration”. In addition, at least 12 ECTS credits must be obtained in courses that, at the discretion of the supervisor in question, fall within one or more of the areas of “Analytical Methods in Business Administration”, “Empirical Quantitative Methods in Business Administration”, and “Empirical Qualitative Methods in Business Administration”. The remaining ECTS credits are to be obtained from courses that are related to the dissertation on a theoretical or methodological level.

Proof of achievement in the Doctoral Seminar in Business Administration is given in form of a public lecture on the dissertation lasting a maximum of 30 minutes as well as a discussion lasting a maximum of 30 minutes. The members of the departmental committee present at the seminar will award individual grades. The grade in the Doctoral Seminar in Business Administration is calculated using the arithmetic mean of these individual grades. If the grade is not sufficient, the Doctoral Seminar in Business Administration can be retake once, at most. The organizational responsibility for conducting the Doctoral Seminar in Business Administration lies with the spokesperson of the Department of Business Administration.

Receiving the doctoral degree

When the admission requirements have been met, the student’s doctoral studies have been completed and the dissertation has been approved, the laureateship of Doctor rerum oeconomicarum is awarded.

Each semester, four dates are offered for the awarding of the doctoral degree. The application for the doctorate must be received by the Dean's Office at least 21 days prior to the date in question. The application form must be accompanied by two printed copies of the dissertation as well as the receipt for the doctoral fees paid (CHF 300.00), a copy of the student’s valid matriculation card and a complete transcript of records. In addition, the dissertation must be sent by email to the Dean's Office (in PDF format). Further information on how to register to receive the doctoral degree and the exact dates can be found on the faculty’s homepage.

Find out more

Doctoral studies.

• Promotionsreglement der Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Bern (PromR WISO 23) vom August 2023 (PDF, 308KB)
• Doctoral regulations_WISO_incl. changes from 24.2.2011 (in German) (PDF, 51KB)
• New regulations for doctorates from fall semester 2011 (in German) (PDF, 1.2 MB)

Graduate School of Climate Sciences

Admission phd climate sciences.

A Master of Science or an equivalent degree is mandatory for the admission to the PhD program. Please refer to the implementation rule for the admission to PhD programs at the Faculty of Natural Sciences ( Admission implementation rule (PDF, 14KB) ) for details. Moreover, the topic of the PhD project must be related to climate sciences. The PhD candidates appoint a supervising committee consisting of a principal supervisor and (a) co-supervisor(s) out of the supervising faculty  of the Graduate School of Climate Sciences.

Admission equivalence is based on a Master of Science degree at a University, with master studies of 90 ECTS equivalent to 3 semesters of full-time studies, a minimum of 30 ECTS lectures and a master thesis of at least 24 ECTS.

Registration / Application

Candidates for a "PhD in Climate Sciences" must have a PhD project at one of the affiliated research units and a general agreement with the PhD supervisor. All candidates must register with the Admissions Office of the University of Bern. Registration is provided online; registration and application fees apply.

Online registration

• Candidates who are currently matriculated as master students at the University of Bern apply for a change of level to doctorate in the online re-registration form available at http://www.selfservice.unibe.ch
• All other candidates apply online at http://www.application.unibe.ch )

Application file

All candidates prepare an application file as follows:

Students with master diploma from a university in Switzerland

• Confirmation of Supervision and documents listed therein (page 3, point 4). Make sure the form is fully completed and signed. English version: Confirmation of supervision with Swiss master's degree (PDF, 83KB) German version: Doktoratsbestätigung mit Schweizer Masterabschluss (PDF, 84KB)
• Title and abstract of the PhD project including the name and email address of the principal supervisor
• Copy of Master diploma Include if available at this point.
• Copy of transcript of courses including all grades and ECTS credit points
• Master thesis preferably in electronic format (PDF); you may provide a link for downloading.

Please submit your dossier to the studies directorate:

University of Bern Graduate School of Climate Sciences Hochschulstrasse 4 CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland [email protected]

Students with a master diploma from an international university

• Confirmation of Supervision and documents listed therein (page 3, point 4). Make sure the form is fully completed and signed. English version: Confirmation of supervision with international master's degree (PDF, 91KB) German version: Doktoratsbestätigung mit internationalem Masterabschluss (PDF, 93KB) .
• Copy of Bachelor diploma
• Certified copy of transcript of courses including all grades and ECTS credit points from your master's degree
• Master thesis preferrably in electronic format (PDF); you may provide a link for downloading.
• Abstract of master thesis in German, French, Italian or English if thesis is not written in one of these languages

Please send all documents by email or by letter mail to the Admissions Office, see address below. You will be asked to present the master diploma at their desk upon arrival in Bern. If provided by email, documents that need a signature should be printed, signed and scanned again in good quality.

University of Bern Admissions Office Hochschulstrasse 4 CH-3012 Bern Switzerland [email protected]

A PhD can be started any time and takes 3 to 4 years full time work.

Tuition and fees, living expenses

The tuition and semester fee for PhD students at the University of Bern amounts to 200 CHF. Living costs in Bern are estimated to about 1600 CHF per month (room rentals 500 – 500 CHF, food costs approximately 500 CHF). Typically, PhD students have a part-time employment in the research group of the thesis supervisor. Detailed information for incoming students is provided on the website of the  Welcome Centre  of the University of Bern.

Fellowships

In case you have your own independent funding, personal grant or fellowship, you may contact directly the supervisor of your personal choice ( faculty ). In Switzerland, PhD fellowships are usually not personal grants but grants related to a research project with predefined objectives. Open PhD positions are advertised internationally ( http://www.eth-gethired.ch/ ),

• Admission implementation rule (PDF, 14KB)
• Confirmation of supervision with international master's degree (PDF, 91KB)
• Confirmation of supervision with Swiss master's degree (PDF, 83KB)
• Doktoratsbestätigung mit internationalem Masterabschluss (PDF, 93KB)
• Doktoratsbestätigung mit Schweizer Masterabschluss (PDF, 84KB)

Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB)

Open phd positions.

Degree Programs & Courses Doctorate

Admission requirements.

For admission at doctoral level, you must

• hold a master's degree or a licentiate from a Swiss university or Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, or an equivalent university degree and

you must also fulfill any other requirements set out by the relevant faculty or graduate school (e.g. specific average grades or a specific result in your master's degree, licentiate, diploma or state exams).

Admission to doctoral studies with continuing education qualifications (Master of Advanced Studies, Executive Master or similar) is not possible.

Information

Admission with a master's degree from a swiss university of applied sciences or a school of education, applying for doctoral studies.

• Consult the specific requirements for your desired doctorate.
• Search for a supervisor at the University of Bern for your desired doctorate. If necessary, seek support from the administrators in the institute/department.
• Apply for the doctorate online through the Admissions Office. Please note the application deadlines.
• Fill in the confirmation of supervision that applies to your doctorate.

Please make sure to hand in all the necessary documents on time. Applicants who do not hold an MA from a Swiss university or university of applied science must have been formally admitted by the ZIB and the admission requirements must have been checked by the faculty/graduate school by October 15 for entry in the autumn term or March 31 for entry in the spring term. Please note that the admission process may take 3 to 5 weeks.

You can find information on the next application steps, including a list of documents to be submitted, on the relevant confirmation of supervision.

Confirmation of supervision

with information on the further procedure and a list of documents that have to be submitted in hard copies

• Faculties & Institutes

find out more

Legal basis.

• Article 31 of the Verordnung über die Universität (UniV) vom 12.09.2012

Important information

• Conditions relevant to entering and residing in Switzerland
• Accommodation - living
• Student financing
• Health insurance