Doctoral agreement

The doctoral student and supervisors draw up a doctoral agreement during the first term at the start of the doctorate.

Content

With a view to offering the best possible support to doctoral students, the Doctoral Agreement defines the framework conditions of the doctorate (form and duration of the doctorate, educational, research and supervision goals) as well as the aspired academic accomplishments (written contributions and conference contributions).

Annual adjustments

The educational and research objectives of the doctoral student shall be specified one year at a time, reviewed annually and readjusted. For doctoral students employed at the University, the Doctoral Agreement is integrated in the employee appraisal form. For all other doctoral students, the Doctoral Agreement is available as a separate form.

Supervision

The work done to promote the individual student by way of supporting and accompanying them through the various stages of their studies can play a decisive part in ensuring a doctorate is completed successfully. Doctoral students at the University of Bern are supervised by two (main supervisor and secondary supervisor) or more people (thesis committee). Furthermore, the doctoral student is entitled to regular meetings with the academic supervisor/s in the course of which the progress of the doctoral thesis and any problems shall be discussed.