To join us

GEDT PhDs

1. As an assistant with a contract of up to 60 months, financed by the Département de l'instruction publique (DIP), that includes significant teaching responsibilities. These positions are advertised on the University's web site.

2. As a "candidat au doctorat (CanDoc)" on a research project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation or other. These are usually 3-4 year contracts and do typically do not involve teaching responsibilities. Availability of such positions depends on the fundraising activities of professors; positions are sometimes advertised.

3. As an assistant on research projects funded by sources other than the SNSF. The duration of the contract is normally limited to the duration of the project.

4. As a recipient of a fellowship, the most important one being the Excellence Scholarships financed by the Swiss government. Information about these can be found here. You first need to secure a letter of support from a professor who agrees to supervise you.

5. As an independent researcher who does not have a contract or scholarship as outlined in 1.-4. (and as a result does not benefit from a salary or an office space) but is registered as a University of Geneva student. Faculty supervisors are generally not very keen on this option, as the benefit to the university community is minimal, while the supervisory work load can be substantial.

Any PhD goes through one of these tracks, so there is no blanket application for a PhD as such. In other words, there is no such thing as an "Environment and Sustainability Program" - it's just one of several specializations one can choose when advancing to PhD candidacy at the Geneva School of Social Sciences. All this is described in detail on the G3S website. If you have specific questions, please contact the relevant student advisor.

Contact: Mrs Nicole Efrancey Dao, study advisor for the two mentions of the SdS doctorate under the responsibility of the GEDT Institute.