red square   Associate Vice Presidency for Doctoral and Lifelong Education, Doctoral School
 
 

                                                                              #20

November 2025

                                                                                                                                 

 
 
 
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PhD Capsule

News and events of the Doctoral School

 

 
 
La Doctorale 2025 EPFL | © Lundi13
 
 
 

Events | La Doctorale 2025

On Monday, 27th October 2025, EPFL proudly celebrated the achievements of 442 new PhD Graduates at La Doctorale and presented the Research Awards. With around 500 participants the event was a joyful celebration, where the graduates could reunite with former colleagues, peers, faculty, mentors, and members of the EPFL staff, sharing this special moment together.

More info | Video recording


Events | PhD Welcome Day

On Thursday, 6 November 2025, the Doctoral School welcomed EPFL’s newest PhD candidates, with around 220 of them attending the event. After a short plenary session, the attendees enjoyed an apéritif, mingling with fellow doctoral candidates and discovering the many EPFL services that support their journey. The atmosphere was lively and welcoming and many hopefully left with a few new friends to share their PhD adventure with.

 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

PhD Excellence Program | 2026 Call for application

For PhD candidates aiming to build a career beyond academia - whether in industry, science policy, or entrepreneurship - this program offers a unique opportunity to develop transversal skills and stand out to future employers and investors.

The call is open to EPFL doctoral candidates in any of the 22 programs who will have passed their candidacy exam by May 2026.

Deadline for application submission: February 6th, 2026 at 17:00 Swiss local time 

Information session: Tuesday, November 18th, 2025 from 17:00-18:00 online

Registration to the info sessionMore info about the program | Application


Transversal Skills Workshop | PhD Journey

Starting your PhD at EPFL? Join this new interactive workshop designed especially for first year PhD candidates to discover more about your doctoral journey at EPFL and how to make the most of your experience!

Date: December 2nd 2025 – 13:00 to 15:00 | EPFL Lausanne campus – Room ELD 120 | max. 30 participants

More info | Registration | Contact


 

 
 

Transversal Skills Courses | Enroll now! 

 
 
 
ENG-646 Being a Leader and the Effective Exercise of Leadership

Jeannet Pierre-YvesDecember 1-2-4-5-9-10, 2025

The sole objective of this highly interactive, challenging and stimulating course is to leave you being a leader and exercising leadership effectively as your natural self-expression.

Registration: To enroll, send a few sentences about yourself and your motivation to beingaleaderepfl@proton.me by November 14, 2025.

More info


ENG-642 Creating & capturing value from innovative tech

Tal Itzkovitch Sharon November 17-21, 2025

In this hands-on course, you will learn how to identify and evaluate business opportunities stemming from an innovative technology, and how to set the ground for a successful entrepreneurial endeavour.

Registration: via IS-Academia | More info


MGT-642(b) | Innosuisse Business Concept (Spring 2026) 

Do you have a business idea or are motivated to join a startup team? This is your chance to dive into the Swiss startup ecosystem! Apply now for the Business Concept, a semester course delivered in collaboration with Venturelab, one of the leading startup support institutions in Switzerland.

Led by experienced entrepreneurs, the course takes place over weekly evening sessions from March to May and will guide you towards the creation of a concrete startup project. You’ll learn how to turn a startup idea into reality – whether you want to develop your own project or join a team. 25 participants will be selected per course (complementary backgrounds in science and business) and is open to researchers, students and alumni interested in entrepreneurship.

Application deadline: February 1, 2026

More info | Contact | Application


Doctoral Program Directors | Appointments

Prof. Roland Logé has been appointed Director of the doctoral program in Advanced manufacturing (EDAM) starting November 1st, 2025. 

We thank you for your commitment and wish you and your colleagues every success in running your program.


 

 
 

💡

Did you know?

The EPFL PhD Guide has been fully updated and is now available online!

Developed by the Doctoral School with input from doctoral programs, student representatives, and EPFL services, the PhD Guide provides a clear overview of doctoral training at EPFL  - from the PhD curriculum and employment aspects to good practices, references to relevant EPFL LEX policies, and ideas to enhance your PhD experience. 

Designed as a living, evolving document, the guide welcomes feedback from the community to keep improving the EPFL doctoral journey.

👉 Explore the updated PhD Guide 2025 on the website!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Stay informed

by visiting our website or subscribe to the Doctoral School's News channel and Memento.

Contact: edoc.news@epfl.ch