Supervision

In agreement with the doctoral candidate, the doctoral thesis supervisor designates an academically qualified person with proven expertise who, as a second advisor, provides the doctoral candidate with additional specialist support. This person must be appointed at the latest when submitting the doctoral plan.

The second advisor is normally a professor or a permanent scientific staff member from a different research group at D-MATL or within the ETH domain. In case the doctoral thesis is carried out at Empa or PSI and the thesis supervisor is located at ETH Zurich, the direct supervisor at Empa or PSI (usually a group leader) takes over the role of second advisor. The doctoral committee may grant exceptions for second advisors who do not meet these criteria.

The doctoral administration must be notified of the second advisor before the aptitude colloquium with the Downloadcorresponding formvertical_align_bottom.

Responsibilities

The doctoral thesis supervisor has the responsibility for the professional supervision and personnel management of the doctoral student. The closer supervision is taken over by the doctoral thesis supervisor or other members from within the research group, for example senior scientists. The second advisor is independent from the doctoral thesis supervisor but has the necessary specialist knowledge to regularly advise on the project and support the doctoral student if problems arise. The contact with the second advisor is expected to be much less close than with the doctoral thesis supervisor.