Informatics

(Doctoral Program)

Degree program: Doctorate Informatics (PVO08)

General description

The doctorate is the third level of a three-level university education. Doctoral students expand the knowledge acquired during their Bachelor's and Master's studies and acquire the skills required for the pursuit of scholarly work in informatics and its applications. The program qualifies students for academic professions in the field of teaching and research or for demanding employment in business and industry. The doctorate consists of a doctoral program with at least 30 ECTS credits and a written dissertation. In the doctoral program, the minimum ECTS credits required in each category are: 6 ECTS credits in doctoral courses, doctoral seminars, summer schools or doctoral symposia; 3 ECTS credits in research methodology; 3 ECTS credits in research colloquia; 3 ECTS credits in teaching and scientific communication; 6 ECTS credits in teaching practice, 9 ECTS credits in research practice.

Admission requirements

The conditions for admission to the Doctoral program in Informatics are published at: http://www.oec.uzh.ch/studies/general/admission/phd_en.html

Educational goals

The Doctoral program of the Department of Informatics at the University of Zurich focuses on three fields - Information Systems, Software Systems, and Multimodal and Cognitive Systems. Application areas range from business information systems to social sciences, linguistics, natural sciences, and medicine. The department creates joint research ventures and integrates their results in the teaching of students. In addition, internationally renowned visiting professors regularly give courses on special topics. During the doctoral education and work, students deepen their skills and knowledge acquired at the Bachelor's and Master's levels with respect to scientific work and its application.

ECTS credits

20 ECTS Credits

Degree

Doctor of Science, PhD

Program structure

This program consists of core courses on research methodology as well as research-specific courses depending on the focus of the Doctoral program.
Students are encouraged to attend inhouse and off-site summer schools to deepen their research skills. At the latest at the end of the sixth semester, students write their thesis proposals and start working on their dissertation research under the supervision of a faculty member. The doctorate is usually completed in three to five years. Please refer to the Doctoral program regulations for more details: www.oec.uzh.ch/regulations_en. For a detailed description of the courses offered at the department as well as for a general overview of the program's structure, consult the website of the Department of Informatics: http://www.ifi.uzh.ch/teaching/studiengaenge/phd/programs.

Language of instruction

English