Medical Doctorate (MD)

The medical doctoral studies at the Faculty of science and medicine are regulated by the Medical doctorate regulation.

• Start an MD thesis
  • Condition: the candidate must have a Master's degree in Medicine and a federal medical diploma, or equivalent titles.

  • To start their thesis, the candidate submits the Registration for medical doctoral research form, signed by their supervisor. The signed original document must be submitted to the Dean's office. Note that special regulations apply if the supervisor is not a member of the professorship (if they are not a full professor).

  • The candidate registers at the University through the admissions and registration service, if they are not yet registered at the University. If the candidate is already registered at the University, registration to the PhD is done by the person in charge of doctorates at the Dean's office as soon as all the admission conditions are met, and does not go through MyUniFR. 

  Registration for medical doctoral research

  Admission to the doctorate and registration

• During the MD thesis
  • At the latest 6 months after the beginning of the medical doctoral studies, the supervisor decides whether the thesis should be interrupted or continued. They send a signed report to the Dean's office.

  Six month report form

• Finishing an MD thesis

  Jury selection

  • In order to finish their thesis, the candidate and their thesis supervisor suggest a jury. The jury is made up of the thesis supervisor, an internal expert, an external expert.
  • The supervisor and the MD commission submit the composition of the jury to the Faculty Council for validation.

  Initial submission

  • The candidate sends their thesis to the members of the jury, who read it and send the completed examiner's report form to the Dean's office. It is advisable to give the jury members one month to submit their report.

  • The candidate generates the invoice for the doctoral examination fee in their MyUnifr account (section " Exams ") and pays it (section " My faculty invoices "). The fee for the submission of the doctorate is CHF 400. This fee covers the compensation of the experts and the organisation of the graduation ceremony.

  • The candidate submits an electronic copy of their thesis and their declaration of honour (written personally) in their MyUnifr account (section "Exams"), as well as a printed copy directly to the Deans' Office. This version of the thesis is accompanied by a CV and the declaration of honour. It can be bound with simple rings. 

  Consultation

  • As soon as the Dean's office receives the jury reports, the thesis and the reports are available for consultation by members of the professorship at the Dean's office for at least two weeks.

  Decision

  • The jury decides to accept or refuse the thesis. If it is refused, it can be reworked and presented a second time.

  • The MD commission makes the final decision, based on the jury's appreciation.

  Final submission

  • At the latest 6 months after the date of the defense, the candidate must submit the final version of their thesis. A first unbound version is submitted for validation by the Dean. Once it is validated, the candidate prints four bound copies and hands them into the Dean's office. A checklist for the final submission is available.

  • With the final submission, the candidate submits a summary of their thesis.

  Title page

  Jury report form

  Directives for final submission

   

  Detailed procedure in the doctoral regulation:

  Regulations