Withdrawal from supervision / termination of the doctorate
If, over a longer period of time, the doctoral candidate fails to achieve the agreed goals or does not meet basic expectations, you may consider withdrawing from the supervision.
Such a step must be well-founded, carefully considered and, if possible, only taken after all constructive attempts at finding a solution have been exhausted. Nevertheless, it is clear that if a trusting and productive working relationship is no longer possible, withdrawing from supervision may be in the interests of all parties involved.
The point at which you withdraw, before or after final admission (aptitude colloquium), has no influence on the subsequent process. We generally recommend that you communicate clearly at an early stage before unfulfilled expectations and frustration destroy the mutual basis for collaboration.
Employment contract and salary payment upon withdrawal
After withdrawing from the supervision, doctoral candidates remain enrolled at ETH Zurich for a further six months so that they can find a new supervisor for their doctorate.
If resignation occurs after the extension of an employment contract, you are obliged to continue salary payments until
- the doctoral candidate has found a new position and thus leaves the group or ETH, or no longer wishes to continue the doctoral programme. In this case, the contract shall be terminated by mutual agreement.
- the contract expires, or
- the doctoral candidate is unable to find a new supervisor after the expiry of the six months (the date of the letter from the doctoral administration is relevant here) and is subsequently exmatriculated.
The event that occurs first is decisive.
Agreement on results already achieved, research data and authorship
You have to enter into an agreement with the doctoral candidate governing the use of data and results already obtained, as well as the rights to authorship.
The agreement must be concluded in the spirit of good scientific practice in accordance with the relevant guidelines issued by the Executive Board. Research Integrity Advisors (RIA) in the departments can provide advice when drawing up the agreement; in the event of disagreement, they must be consulted.
The agreement must be sent to the doctoral committee and the central doctoral administration office for information.
Termination at the decision of the doctoral candidate
If a doctoral student wishes to withdraw from their doctorate, this must be discussed immediately with you as their doctoral thesis supervisor.
Together, you will decide on the withdrawal date and record this in writing in an informal declaration of mutual agreement to terminate the doctorate. The statement must be uploaded to ETHIS when applying for termination of the contract.
At the same time, doctoral students must complete the Download declaration of withdrawal (PDF, 889 KB) and send it to the doctoral administration (Academic Services).
If you have any questions regarding termination of the contract, please contact your HR partner.
Change of supervisor at the request of the doctoral student
If doctoral students wish to change their doctoral thesis supervisor and have already found a new supervisor at ETH Zurich, they must apply to the Doctoral Administration Office using the appropriate Download form (PDF, 549 KB).
Doctoral students must inform their previous supervisor of the change in good time.
In any case, a written agreement must be made regarding the achieved results, research data and authorships.