To open the diagram including the corresponding links, please follow the link below:
Diagrammatic representation of the GHS structured PhD after the official acceptance
What Must Be Done After Admission to the GHS?
All rules for the doctoral studies within the GHS can be found in the documents «Bylaws for the Graduate School for Health Sciences of the University of Bern» («Organisationsreglement»), «Rules for Conferring a Doctorate at the Graduate School for Health Sciences of the University of Bern» («Promotionsreglement»), and the «Study Rules for the PhD Program of the Graduate School for Health Sciences at the University of Bern» («Studienplan»). These documents are published on the website of the GHS (see Regulations).
See also Requirements of the Doctoral Training here and PhD Program here.
Which Rules Apply to My PhD Program?
All students who were admitted to the GHS after 01.05.2023 will do their PhD under the new regulations.
The most important steps are:
Doctoral Agreement
About 4 weeks after the GHS official admission the GHS requires a document called “Doctoral Agreement”. In this document, the Thesis Committee and the doctoral candidate conclude an agreement, which consists in a long-term a plan of courses, objectives, framework conditions meant as an individual training program for the students during the whole PhD (OLD regulations Studienplan, Art. 3,3 & Art. 4,3 & NEW regulations Promotionsreglement, Art. 10 and NEW regulations Studienplan, Art. 8).
→ Please submit the Doctoral Agreement to the Coordinator of the GHS, Dr. Tullia Padovani Schipper (Tullia Padovani) and the GHS office info.ghs@unibe.ch in cc.
1st Year Examination
After having finished the first year of the PhD and at the beginning of the second year there will be the 1st Year Examination in form of a two-hours written examination on the questions and methodology of the research project (Studienplan old regulations, Art. 5,2 & Studienplan new regulations, Art. 10).
The «1st Year Examination Record (PDF, 211KB)» has to be sent to the Coordinator of the GHS, Dr. Tullia Padovani Schipper (Tullia Padovani) and the GHS office info.ghs@unibe.ch in cc.
2nd Year Examination
About one year after the 1st year Examination there will be the 2nd Year Examination. This exam consists of a 30-minute public, scientific presentation followed by a discussion of the research work completed up to that point in the presence of the Thesis Committee and in the form of a colloquium. The presentation and discussion should include an overview of the subsequent work and finalize objectives. The examiners decide on the mark immediately after the examination. (Studienplan old regulations, Art. 5,3 & Studienplan new regulations, Art. 11).
→ Please send the «2nd Year Examination Record (PDF, 220KB)» to the Coordinator of the GHS, Dr. Tullia Padovani Schipper (Tullia Padovani) and the GHS office info.ghs@unibe.ch in cc.
For additional information look here: exams old regulations and exams new regulations.
Progress Report
Doctoral candidates keep a record of course attendance in which all activities (course lectures, meetings with Co-referee, visits to conferences, publications) are validated individually and research project work is recorded. This document is called Progress Report (old regulations) or Progress Report (new regulations).
Every year the PhD students receive an invitation and a form from the GHS to submit the Progress report. You will find additional information here.
Supervision
You can find the general supervision rules in the old regulations here and the new regulations here. For an overview of the supervision team's tasks, please refer to the table at the bottom.
