master thesis in switzerland

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Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Master's thesis in earth sciences.

The Master's programme in Earth Sciences is concluded with the Master's thesis. The subject of the thesis is in the major study area and represents either an applied or fundamental research project.

In most cases, the project will be integrated into one of the research groups at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences . Students may contact the lecturers directly for a project or choose from the list of Master's thesis projects at the department .

If geological mapping or sampling are required, early planning of the project is essential to provide flexibility in scheduling time in the field.

Guidelines Master's thesis in Earth Sciences

Before starting the Master's thesis, students must:

Have obtained their Bachelor's degree .
Have fulfilled all additional requirements (if any).
Have successful completed the MSc Project Proposal (651-4060-00).

The project is supervised by:

Main supervisor (mandatory)
Additional supervisor (optional)
Examiner (if necessary)

Supervisors are involved in the Master's thesis. If the supervisor(s) belong to the same group an examiner belonging to another research group is necessary . The examiner will evaluate but not necessarily supervise the thesis.

At least one supervisor or examiner must be a professor/PD of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science or one of the department's authorised senior researchers . Exceptions must be approved by the Director of Studies.

Registration for “651-4062-00 Master’s Thesis” in myStudies "projects/papers/theses"

Students starting their Master’s thesis between August and January register for Autumn Semester. Students starting between February and July register for Spring Semester.
Please do not register twice if the start and the end of the Master’s thesis are not in the same semester, but choose the option “leave of absence” (Urlaubsemester) on myStudies for the subsequent semester.
myStudies calculates the individual deadline automatically at the time of registration (plus six months).

The students present their Master’s thesis in a group seminar. At least one member of the supervising committee must be present. The time of the presentation can be selected individually in consultation with the supervisors/examiner.

The presentation counts towards the final grade.

Besides the individual deadline (calculated automatically at the time of registration) there is an annual deadline for each cohort, which is defined each year by the department depending on the date of the graduation ceremony.

Both, individual and annual deadline follow the ETH Zurich Ordinance on Performance Assessments Art. 11 . Late submission will result in a fail grade. Requests for extensions must be submitted early and will only be considered for valid reasons, such as illness or accidents.

Individual deadline

The individual deadline is calculated automatically in myStudies based on the start date (plus six months) of the Master's Thesis. This deadline is binding and the student must submit the Master's thesis no later than this date (by midnight). Students whose individual deadline is set before the annual deadline will be officially invited to the graduation ceremony.

Annual deadline

The annual deadline or cohort deadline depends on the date of the graduation ceremony and is defined each year by the department. Only students who submit their Master’s thesis by the following deadline , will officially be invited to the graduation ceremony.

Submission of Master's thesis: 26 August 2024
Grading in eDoz: 13 September 2024
Request for diploma: 16 September 2024
Submission of Master's thesis The student hands in the Master’s thesis (physical copy or PDF) to the main supervisor (incl. the Download signed declaration of originality (PDF, 183 KB) ) no later than midnight of the individual deadline. The main supervisor confirms the submission in eDoz.
Grading in eDoz The main supervisor enters the final grade in eDoz based on the protected page Master’s Thesis - Assessment and Grading Form . A missed deadline results in a fail.
Request for diploma The student must submit the request for diploma (Diplomantrag). He/she can only do so after the grade for his/her Master’s thesis is validated (verfügt) by the study administration.

If the Master's thesis is handed in after the annual deadline, the grades cannot be validated in time for the graduation ceremony. Thus the students will only be invited the following year.

The grades from all supervisors and examiner have equal weight for the final mark.

The main supervisor calculates the final grade ( protected page see assessment and grading form ) and enters the final grade in eDoz no later than four weeks after submission of the Master's thesis. A shorter submission of the grade applies to theses submitted by the annual deadline (see annual deadlines above) .

An excellent Master’s thesis (grade 6.0) can be suggested for the Silver Medal of ETH Zurich. The main supervisor must state reasons for the outstanding and excellent thesis by submitting a report.

The department encourages the publication of excellent Master's theses in the ETH Research Collection . Publcation of the Master's theses requires a letter of recommendation from the respective supervisor and a declaration of consent from the student.

The graduation ceremony takes place in late autumn (end of November). Only students who submit their Master’s thesis by the annual deadline, will officially be invited to the graduation ceremony.

Please contact the D-EAPS study administration in case of questions.

Location location_on NO D 55
Phone phone +41 44 632 64 83

Dep. Erd- u Planetenwissenschaften Sonneggstrasse 5 8092 Zürich Switzerland

Master in Space Systems

The Specialised Master in Space Systems starts in Autumn Semester 2024 and information about the Master's thesis in Space Systems is currently being prepared.

Master in Atmospheric and Climate Science

For information about the Master's thesis in Atmospheric and Climate Science visit the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Science website.

Master in Applied Geophysics

For information about the Master's thesis in Applied Geophysics visit the external page Joint Master Programme page on the IDEA League website .

Study grants

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Dept. of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

Projects and master's thesis.

Master's students are required to complete one (2018 regulations) or two (2008 regulations) semester projects and one Master's thesis. The projects and the thesis are supervised by a professor of the Department (including adjunct professors ) or by a Download professor associated (PDF, 97 KB) with the Department. Most projects are carried out under the guidance of, and in close contact with, a PhD student of the supervising professor. If two semester projects are carried out, to broaden your horizon, they should be carried out with two different professors.

Semester projects

A semester project should take about half of a student‘s time during one semester, i.e., about 300 to 400 hours has a duration of 14 weeks. It is possible to do a semester project in 7 weeks full-time outside a semester, but it is not recommended. The project includes an oral presentation and a written report, and it is graded. Before starting, the project must be registered in mystudies ("Projects/papers/theses").

Master's thesis

The Master's degree programme concludes with a Master's thesis that lasts six months. The project includes an oral presentation and a written report (the Master's thesis), and it is graded. Before starting the project, the Master's thesis must be registered in mystudies ("Projects/papers/theses"). You will be admitted to the Master's thesis only if both semester projects (2008 regulations) are or one semester project (2018 regulations) is successfully completed.

Once the Master's thesis is successfully finished and all credits are obtained, students may request their diploma .

Information: Publication of Master Thesis in the Research Collection

Students have the possibility of publishing their master theses in the Research Collection . To publish master theses in the Research Collection, a letter of recommendation from the respective supervisor is needed. You can find further information on the webpage .

Semester project, Bachelor's and Master's theses offers at D-ITET:

If projects are taken, sometimes related projects may be available. Often, labs are willing to customize a project to match the students' interests. Many labs welcome students' own ideas for projects.

Below an overview of labs offering semester project and Master's thesis by specialisation: