Fast Track Doktorat

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The Fast Track Doctoral Studies program offers exceptionally qualified students the possibility of enrolling in a Doctoral Studies program (tentative admission) before having completed the Master 's degree. Students who wish to enroll in the Fast Track program must pass the Fast Track Assessment.

The requirements for admission to the Fast Track program are:

• The candidate must be enrolled in a corresponding Master program
• Proof of at least 30 credit points in the Master track
  
• Proof of excellent grades (≥ 5.5) in selected topics
• Letter of recommendation by his/ her future supervisor
• A project proposal, outlining the area and topic of the proposed research

Candidates fulfilling these requirements may register for the Fast Track Assessment with the delegate for studies of the department.

Admission

Students fulfilling the following requirements may be admitted to the Fast Track Doctoral Studies:

• excellent performance in the Computer Science Master program
  
• exceptional aptitude to obtain conferral for a doctorate
• successfully complete the Fast Track Assessment

Assessment

The conditions for admission to the assessment are:

• Matriculation in the Computer Science Master program of ETH Zurich;

additional requirements, if any, for acceptance to the Master program must be completely fulfilled;

• acquisition of at least 30 credit points in the Master program;
  
• excellent grades in individual courses (at least 5.5);
• written commitment to supervise the doctorate by a person who is allowed to do this according to the regulations of ETH Zurich;
• a project proposal, outlining the area and topic of the proposed research.

Candidates satisfying these conditions will be invited for an oral assessment of at least one hour duration; the outcome of which will be graded "pass" or "fail". Repetition of the assessment is not possible.

• A talk by the candidate on the topic of his or her research project
  
• A question period concerning the contents of the presentation
  
• A question period on the topic of the specialization area that the candidate chose for his/her Master

Admission to the Fast Track

Candidates who successfully pass the assessment must hand in the request for admission to the doctoral study program in writing at the Rector's office within 30 days. This admission is preliminary.

Definitive Admission to the Doctorate Program

The candidate must have sucessfully completed the Master program and have an approved research plan at the latest one year after the provisional admission.

The commission administering the assessment decides in which way the candidate must obtain the credit points still missing for the Master degree. In particular whether or not a Master thesis must be completed or if the corresponding credit points can be obtained with other, scientifically equivalent achievements. During the Master study, a candidate must draft a research plan that is commensurate with the regulations for doctoral studies at ETH Zurich.

Financing

For details regarding financial aspects of the doctoral study please see the following web page: http://www.rektorat.ethz.ch/students/finance/index_EN.

Candidates applying for financial support should clearly state in the “personal statement” of the Master application that they are interested in the “Fast Track” program. They should outline the reasons why they are interested in the “Fast Track” and give a description of their research interests.