Thematic Doctoral Program in Microbial Sciences

In Switzerland and elsewhere, the past decade has seen a remarkable expansion of Microbial Sciences with a major impact on fundamental and applied life sciences and medicine. The Universities of Western Switzerland represent major poles of research in Microbial Sciences in the disciplines of bacteriology, virology, microbial ecology, and mycology with high-profile research groups. Together with EPFL and the University of Bern, they organise an overreaching program for training at the doctoral level, including scientific and technical training modules in fundamental and applied microbiology: the "Doctoral Program in Microbial Sciences" of the Conférence universitaire de Suisse occidentale (CUSO).

Within the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne, the Institute of Microbiology and the Department of Fundamental Microbiology are active in this process and they invite the PhD and MD-PhD doctoral students of the Faculty to participate in the thematic program Microbial Sciences of the Faculty of Biology and Medicine (FBM).
 

Enrollment and requirements

The UNIL is the authority awarding the PhD (or MD-PhD) degree and the doctoral students must meet the requirements of the FBM Doctorate in Life Sciences. Thus:

• Doctoral students must be enrolled in the thematic programme and matriculated at the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne from the start of their doctoral studies.
• During their first year of doctoral studies, students must obtain at least 4 ECTS credits: 2 from tutorials and 2 from other activities of the programme.
• During the course of their doctoral studies, students must obtain a minimum of 12 ECTS credits.
   

Activities

Out of the required 12 ECTS credits, a minimum of 8.5 ECTS credits must be obtained with activities of the CUSO "Doctoral Program in Microbial Sciences": 1) Workshops and practical courses in specific areas of microbial sciences, 2) Invited seminars with an interactive module for students, 3) An annual retreat in the form of a symposium, 4) Tutorials covering published research illustrating different aspects of microbiology.

Among the 8.5 ECTS credits a minimum of :
1) 4 ECTS credits must be obtained from CUSO workshops and practical courses
2) 3 ECTS credits must be obtained from tutorials of the FBM Doctoral School
Participation in the annual retreat is highly recommended and will add 1 ECTS credit per year.

Apart from these 8.5 ECTS credits, students can choose according to their interests, to meet the minimum of 12 ECTS credits. Activities of the “Programme Transversal” (soft skills) of CUSO are highly recommended. Other activities are subject to "FBM thematic Doctoral Programme in Microbial Sciences" Steering Committee approval.
 

Registrations to the CUSO and FBM Doctoral School events

To register for the CUSO activities, follow the instructions of the CUSO "Doctoral Program in Microbial Sciences"; prior enrollment in the CUSO program is necessary.

To register for the tutorials of the FBM Doctoral School, follow the instructions of the FBM Doctoral Program in Life Sciences.

To register in the program and for further information:
Dr Sylvia Rothenberger
Administrative Manager
Institut de Microbiologie
Rue du Bugnon 48
CH-1011 Lausanne
Sylvia.Rothenberger-Aubert@chuv.ch
Tel: +41 21 314 51 03
 

President of the Steering Committee:
Stefan Kunz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Institute of Microbiology