Dear members of the EPFL community,
 

We’re delighted to announce that we’ll be introducing a week-long break during the fall semester starting with the 2024–2025 school year. The break will be introduced after the first six weeks of class, during the week of October 21-25, 2024. To maintain a 14-week-long semester, this implies that the fall semester will start a week earlier, on Monday, September 9th, 2024. 
 

This decision has been made to address the concern that the fall semester, unlike the spring semester, currently has no week-long break. This time of the year comprises an extended period of intense work with the fall semester leading directly into the January exam session - a particular challenge for students in their first year. 
 

A survey carried out by the Teaching Support Center found that 88% of Bachelor’s and Master’s students, 87% of PhD students and 80% of faculty members are in favor of a week of vacation in the fall.
 

We’re delighted to be able to schedule this fall break for our community – a change made possible thanks to our ongoing dialogue with AGEPoly and the support of EPFL’s Direction. The week off aims to provide a much-needed period of rest and relaxation. For many EPFL’s community members, it will also improve the work-family balance, as it coincides with the school vacation in most French-speaking Cantons.
 

That said, we’re aware that starting the fall semester a week earlier will require significant changes to existing procedures and we would like to thank all of you who will be involved in implementing these changes. If you have any questions, please send us an email at: avp.e@epfl.ch.
 

Enjoy the rest of your spring semester.
 

Kind regards,