Switzerland is becoming a popular destination for masters student seeking jobs or research opportunities or universities at which to do their PhD thesis.

The doctoral degree — Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated to PhD, Ph.D. or D.Phil — is an advanced academic degree awarded by most of top-tier universities. In general, across Europe and North America the PhD or equivalent has become a frequent career requirement in science, technology, or even finance. Of course it had always been a requirement for acceding to a professorship at a university. In Switzerland, doctoral programs vary at the 12 top Swiss universities.

Recognized PhD titles are only awarded by these 12 official universities. Universities of applied sciences do not award doctorates. Usually the prospective doctoral student must have his research work accepted by a professor at one of the 12 universities.

PhD work is started immediately after the master theses (students are usually 25 – 28 years of age). On average, PhD candidates finish at 31. Unlike elsewhere in Europe, Swiss PhD candidates are supposed to start on their research project right away; classes are usually dispensed with. In this manner, Swiss PhD programs resemble more an autonomous work environment than they do an educational institution.

As is largely the case with the rest of the EU, you cannot enroll in a PhD program without a recognized Masters degree. Further, each university has its own admission requirements. The duration of doctoral studes/projects is nonstandard and can vary from between 2 – 6 years depending on the chosen field of research. While PhDs in sciences can often be accomplished in 4 years, PhDs in the arts and humanities can often take 4 to 6 years or longer.

Candidates for a PhD typically sign on as research assistants/PhD-candidate at a university; occasionally some students manage to obtain a research position with an international company and attach their project to a University. Salaries vary significantly with some slots paying as little as CHF 2000 and other paying more than CHF 6000.

It depends on the source of the funding. Further, working conditions will vary from institution to institution. Doctoral candidates are usually employed part-time and sometimes the remaining time can be used for research; other times the PhD candidate is required to give lectures or to supervise students. The contract will specify this.

If you are employed less than 100%, you are legally free to do use the remaining ime as you please, for example by taking on a second job, a common occurrence with candidates from the arts and humanities.

The top Swiss universities are:
1 ) EPFL, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne www.epfl.ch
2 ) ETHZ, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich www.epfz.ch
3 ) University of Basel www.unibas.ch
4 ) University of Bern www.unibe.ch
5 ) University of Fribourg www.unifr.ch
6 ) University of Geneva www.unige.ch
7 ) University of Lausanne www.unil.ch
8 ) University of Lucerne www.unilu.ch
9 ) University of Neuchâtel www.unine.ch

Despite the morose economy and rising unemployment there remain several hundred apprenticeships in diverse sectors available for September in the Romandy area, according to Grégoire Evequoz of the Office for Orientation and Professional Training and Continuing Education.

Notably in such domains as ‘Employé(e) de Commerce,’ there remain more than a hundred slots still open. Also in the construction sector there are still many openings. The economy what it is, this probably says more about the desirability of these sectors among today’s youth. In the sector of health and social services there remain nearly a hundred slots for dental assistants, pharmacy assistants or health workers.

In the technical area, slots for apprenticeships remain in auto mechanics and industrial mechanics. There are also openings in the hotel and restaurant fields, as well as in applied arts and environment.

Applicant for apprenticeships in the Romandy area must send their dossiers by 15 July to the OFPC. (Documents to fill out are available at http://www.ge.ch/ofpc/actualite/default.asp?art=136.

Other info is available by pestering the bureaucrats at the OFPC, Service de la Formation Professionnelle, Rue Prevost-Martin 6, 1205 Geneva, Tel: 022 388 4400, Email: ofpc@etat.ge.ch

Drawing inspiration from American universities like Harvard and MIT which have put hundreds of their courses online, the University of Lausanne has launched an online curriculum in Criminology, complete with modules in police forensics and criminal jurisprudence. Internet surfers squandering their afternoons on Facebook can instead study how traces of saliva, sperm or blood leave a detectable DNA fingerprint.

The School of Criminal Sciences in Lausanne, which celebrated its 100th birthday last month, is dispensing an online course, in English, entitled ‘Statistics and Evaluation of Forensic Evidence.’

Christophe Champod, professor at the Institute for Police Science says that the certificate studies lead to a diploma and the program largely destined for practitioners in the domain who are seeking to update their skill sets.

The E-learning platform lends itself to a paced approach and permits a radical lowering of teaching costs, as well as creating a network of specialists, geographically dispersed, who interact together on difficult questions.

The CAS is an 18 month program and will be 4 hours of coursework per week. Participants can attend the online courses at the moment most convenient for them (“even Sunday if they want,” adds Mr. Champod), however they are expected to follow the curriculum in the prescribed order. Once per month there is an online meeting with the course instructor to verify that they have reached the objectives. There are various exercises and participatory online discussions, as well as group critiques.

The CAS program is mainly oriented toward practitioners working in forensic laboratories, though lawyers and judges are potential candidates as well. The course designers note that often jurists uncritically accept declarations made at trial by scientists which can be misinformed. The certification, say its creators, should permit the students to reach an advanced understanding of forensic techniques.

The coursework is built around practical case studies on three levels. The first looks at potential sources of forensic traces. For example, in the case of jewel heist, an analysis of traces of broken glass on the ground (perhaps not from the store window?) The final stage treats the questioning of the relevance of traces recovered on the scene. Did, for example, DNA traces found on the scene come from the perpetrator.

Course participants have one year to complete the three levels. Then, in then the remaining 6 months, the group divides in two, with one group focusing on DNA and the other on other types of trace indices such as fingerprints, footprints, tire prints, broken glass, or body odors. Those who successfully complete the certificate program will receive a diploma, as well as well as complimentary, autographed, DVD edition of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

The first course will kick off in February 2010, and will henceforth recur on an annual basis. At the end of the program, the University of Lausanne will award the certificate of advanced studies (CAS) worth 15 credits ECTS. The final deadline for enrollment in the course is January 2010. The course costs CHF 12,000. A reduction of 35% may be awarded to participants with no prior convictions.
(Reference : www.unil.ch/formcont/page66616.html)

The Leisure Revolution is brewing in Switzerland. A popular initiative has been launched to raise the minimum vacation allotment in Switzerland from 4 weeks to 6 weeks. The required 125,000 signatures have been obtained and the Travail Suisse union is expected to formally register the initiative at the end of June.

Companies are already growling over it, calculating that it represents an insidious salary increase of about 4%, without taking into account the accompanying expenses of implementing the change and insuring continuity and production with a greater turnover of employee presence.

HR Managers have responded that if the measure passes, the result will be a strong brake on salary increases.

The Unions are unfazed by these arguments. They are aware that small companies — PMEs — will have difficulties adapting. But they argue that employees are squeezed more and more and have received little in return.

Except for top managerial salaries, wages have stagnated in Switzerland for more than ten years.

The manager of the Travail Suisse campaign for 6 weeks annual vacation argues that nearly half of employees are overworked and that the cost of work stress in Switzerland is nearly CHF 8 billion per year.

Will voters pass the initiative ? In 1985, voters rejected a proposal to increase the minimum annual leave by one week to five weeks/year. Commentators interpreted that conservative result as proof of the strong commitment to work in Switzerland.

But perhaps times have changed since then and the increased competition and globalization of the workplace in Switzerland, as well as different demographics, may lead to a different result this time around.

The Geneva University Hospital system (HUG) is opening a school for robotic abdominal surgery in a bid to become a center of excellence for new medical and operating table techniques.

Robots are used in micro-invasive surgery, which does not require large sutures. This type of mini surgery means patients are not cut wide open, with their organ(s) exposed, like in Emergency Room.

The Da Vinci robot, built by the private company American Intuitive Surgical, is used in abdominal and urological surgery. The first training courses at the specialized center took place under the direction of Prof. Philippe Morel of the visceral surgery group at the HUG.

The Geneva University Hospital is seeking to train roughly 80 surgeons per year with the new technique. To this end,

they’ve bought another robot and will be teaching the procedure using two cadavers.

Some critics of the university hospital system are saying the cadavers are actually ex-patients from previously unsuccessful operations.

Robotic surgical procedures allow via a doctor to prepare his operation in fine detail using a simulation program in the robot.

From the patient’s perspective, the technique reduces the possibility of errors or complications and reduces the overall cost of the procedure (as well as reducing the number of days spent in hospital), pleasing both the Insurance companies who get lower bills, and patients who have less anxiety over inebriated surgeons.

Geneva has larger ambitions with the program, hoping to become a sort of hi-tech center for robotic surgical techniques. Serge Serro, the president of Federation des Nouvelles Technologies, points out that Romandy has specific competencies in micro technologies and which he believes can be leveraged, along with fruitful associations with other university hospitals.

The HUG has invested several million francs in the new robotic equipment, which has high-resolution 3-dimensional vision and provides highly detailed medical imaging, most of which was financed by gifts from patients to the HUG.

Geneva and Zug are important centers of trading activity in Switzerland for both raw materials and finished goods, providing a large number of jobs to professionals involved with dealing, brokerage and trading.

To meet the demand for experienced traders needed by local companies, the University of Geneva created last Spring a Masters Program in Trading, which will begin accepting students this October. The Masters in Trading will focus on trade finance, international trade, commodities and raw materials trading.

Spokesman for the program in the Economics faculty at the University of Geneva explain that Geneva is essentially a trading city. There are over 150 companies and 6000 professionals working in trading. The large number of companies involved with trading activities is remarkable in view of the current absence local opportunities for professional training.

This lack of study opportunities was remedied this month with the inauguration of the Masters in Trading Program. The faculty at the University of Geneva note that at this time only Paris, London and the East coast American universities offer this type of curriculum.

The program opened this month with 16 students, chosen from 50+ applicants, and will last 3 semesters, alternating between coursework and work experience in local companies.