EPFL's Doctoral School celebrates 15 years of awarding PhDs

Anyone who wishes to do a PhD at EPFL must enroll in the Doctoral School. EPFL is the only university in Switzerland with this system, which has improved the recruitment process and enhanced the level of support provided to students. EPFL's Doctoral School turns 15 this year, marking a decade and a half of courses and research programs designed specifically for PhD students. The school - modelled after PhD programs in the US - offers young engineers a comprehensive range of educational and support services. We spoke with Pierre Vandergheynst, Vice President for Education, and Andreas Mortensen, Vice President for Research and the professor who spearheaded the school's creation, about how they set up the only doctoral school of its kind in Switzerland. Why did you decide to create a doctoral schoolα Andreas Mortensen (A.M.): The school was a long time in the coming. Patrick Aebischer initially put forward the idea soon after he became EPFL president. Before, each EPFL lab recruited its own PhD students - sometimes just by posting an ad on the wall! And there were huge disparities in the qualifications required by each lab. So we wanted to improve the recruitment process, but also provide better support to PhD students. We especially wanted to give them an opportunity to develop skills in ways beyond just their thesis projects, as is done at US graduate schools. For the first few years that the Doctoral School was open, professors could choose whether or not to follow the new system; I'm proud to say that most of them did. Our system is the result of a decision and a collective effort, and it has stood the test of time. How do you select which students to admitα