It is the responsibility of the researcher to collect the documents allowing to establish a situation of blockage beyond his/her control in the progress of his/her research, in particular an impossibility of access or strongly hindered access to infrastructures, resources, fields, research data, participants or subjects essential to his/her work (in Switzerland or abroad).
The documents collected may be official (e.g., a letter to the researcher denying access to an organization or institution) or informal. Some examples of documents that may be produced are press articles reporting a general strike, a major landslide in a mountainous area, a natural disaster (flood, earthquake), abnormally persistent summer snow in high altitudes, a recommendation from the DFA in relation to political unstability or health risks (epidemic, epizootic), a decree from a foreign government, for example, in relation to a pandemic, a screenshot from an Internet site announcing the prolonged closure of an archive, etc. It will be necessary to follow up on the collection of documents to attest to the duration of the blocking event. It is strongly recommended that the researcher document things at the time of the event rather than at the time of submission (8 months before the end of the last contract, which could be several months or even years later).
Another source of impediment to the advancement of personal research for Ph.D. students is the impossibility of carrying out the qualifying or formal steps necessary for the advancement or finalization of their Ph.D.. , These conditions may be required in the Ph.D. regulations of the concerned faculty. An example is the cancellation of courses or training workshops (e.g. CUSO) required by a doctoral school / graduate school / Ph.D.programme and/or absolutely necessary for the progress of the Ph.D. (e.g. mastering a new technique).
In this case, an official certificate of cancellation issued by the organizers of the event must be produced, as well as confirmation of the need to have followed this activity from the doctoral school or the supervisor if the researcher is not attached to a Graduate school / Ph.D. program.