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P-1 PhD Programmes (2017-2020)

Contents: Promoting young talent by strengthening PhD education at all types of higher education institutions.

Target group: The programme addresses higher education institutions and not individual doctoral candidates.

Duration: The programme is part of the federal project contributions 2017–2020. Due to the Covid-related situation, the Swiss Hochschulkonferenz decided on 26 November 2020 to extend the programme up to 31 December 2021.

Call for tenders: Universities, UASAs and UTEs were invited to submit applications for funding in 2016 and 2017. For the time-period 2021–2024, TP1 Doctoral Programmes of the Universities will not be continued, but new calls for proposals take place in 2020 and 2021 for TP2 Cooperation between Swiss UASAs/UTEs and Swiss universities and TP3 Cooperation between Swiss UASAs/UTEs and foreign universities.

The promotion of academic and scientific talent is one of the core missions of Swiss higher education institutions. Within the framework of the "P-1 PhD programmes and development of third-cycle education (2017–2020)" programme they are working to further develop doctoral level and third cycle education. In doing so, higher education institutions set the following objectives:

  • strengthen the quality and attractiveness of PhD education
  • create good career prospects for doctoral candidates
  • diversify education in line with demand
  • consolidate and promote research

Through innovative networks and forms of collaboration spanning the various types of higher education institutions, these institutions want to leverage the full potential of swissuniversities while at the same time promoting the specific profiles of universities, universities of applied sciences and arts (UASAs) and universities of teacher education (UTEs).

The programme incorporates three sub-projects with one shared goal. It promotes:

  • TP1: Doctoral programmes at universities
  • TP2: Cooperation between Swiss UASAs/UTEs and Swiss universities
  • TP3: Cooperation between Swiss UASAs/UTEs and foreign universities, with the aim of supporting third-cycle education in fields that are not established at Swiss universities.