salary after phd in zurich

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phd candidate salaries in Switzerland

• Doctoral students in Switzerland receive, as a guideline, between CHF 3,920 and CHF 6,690 gross per month, based on a 100% employment rate.
• The median salary (50% earn more and 50% earn less) is CHF 53,000 gross per year and CHF 4,417 per month.
• Depending on the institution and field of research and depending on how the PhD is funded (SNF-scholarship, assistanceship etc.), the loan can have a wide range. PhD candidates in exact sciences (computer science, mathematics, physics, ...) and medecine are usually better paid than PhD candidates in life sciences, chemistry, arts and humanities. However, the salary and the working conditions depend on the exact contract you have.
• Please consider, that PhD candidates often have only a 50% employment.

Salary comparison

In comparison to a doctoral candidates, a masters graduate who is employed outside the university, earns significantly more:

• The annual gross salary (median) for master graduates at university level (all economic sectors, all positions, all regions), 1 year after graduation in 2020 is: 78’400 CHF
• The annual gross salary (median) for master graduates from universities of applied sciences 1 year after graduation in 2020 is: 84’000 CHF

But a graduated PhD then starts with a higher salary:

• The annual gross salary (median) for PhDs 1 year after graduation in 2020 is: 93’100 CHF

Source: FOS / ETHZ / lohnanalyse.ch

• Usual working time in Switzerland: 42 hours per week.
• Holidays: Legally 4 weeks per year. Some companies give 5 weeks.
• For further information, see our sections PhD in Switzerland , postdoc in Switzerland and professor in Switzerland .
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Doctoral Student Salaries

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• 1 – Preface and Introduction
• 2 – Finding a Doctoral Position
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Timeline of salary discussions:

Announcement that there will be inflation adjustments for everyone except doctoral students. Julia Dannath, ETH vice-president meets with us and promises to create working group with profs and departments representatives to solve this. 

AVETH creates a dedicated internal taskforce with representatives from all departments to achieve 3 goals: – Immediate significant relief for students at rates 1 and 2. – Regular salary adjustments matching those of other ETH employees. – Equitable and sustainable strategy to reduce the wage disparity

D-BIOL and D-GESS departments with all PhD students at standard level give out bonus 1000 CHF payment to their doctoral students 

SNF 2.5% adjustment for all doctoral salaries

Jan – Oct 2023

Working group with AVETH, VPPL and departments discusses options for doctoral salary system. AVETH argues our case, prepares and distributes info posters (e.g. the one on the right), collects testimonies. Working group reaches agreement to help doctoral students at the lowest salary level.

Schulleitung finances centrally 5% adjustment for standard level for January 2024 and decoupling doctoral salaries from SNSF and coupling them to other ETH staff salaries ! Thank you !

We will continue to ensure that doctoral students’ voices are heard., To stay up to date on the developments of the working group, please fill in this form . For comments, questions or thoughts, please feel free to email us .

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Graduate Campus

Quicklinks und sprachwechsel, main navigation, guide: how to phd, this section provides those interested in pursuing a doctorate with an overview:.

Food for thought for beginning PhD candidates

• Collection of links to relevant topics for PhD candidates
• Preparation and procedure at UZH (following)

Table of contents

Find a supervisor, admission to doctoral studies, requirements for admission and procedures, content and requirements, individual phd and phd programs, procedures at uzh faculties, employment and funding, for international students and scholars.

First of all, get in contact with a UZH professor who is willing and able to supervise your doctoral project. If you are interested in participating in a PhD program, you should first of all carefully read through the application procedures for the program in question. Doctoral programs at UZH

The doctorate is comprised of a PhD thesis as well as coursework. It serves as a qualification for an academic career or other demanding professions.

As a general rule, a Master's degree or an equivalent degree from an accredited university is the prerequisite for admission to the doctorate. Certain criteria regarding content as well as formal conditions (e.g. grade-point average, qualification phases) are also considered when processing applications.

Admission to Doctoral Studies

The requirements for admission and the admission procedures are set out in the ordinance for obtaining a doctoral degree at the faculty in question. Some faculties also offer a  fast-track  doctoral program, a program for particularly talented students in which the Master's degree and PhD are integrated in a single program of study. The individual programs define their PhD programs' admission procedures – which, as a rule, are highly competitive.

Please note that PhD candidates must be matriculated at the University for the duration of their doctorate, i.e. until they have been conferred the final degree. 

Application and admission Application period

Writing a PhD thesis – independent and original academic work – forms the core part of the doctorate. The thesis can take the form of a monograph or consist of several publications on a single subject which have been published in scientific journals (a cumulative PhD thesis). You can find more information about the formal requirements in the doctoral program regulations for your subject area. As a general rule, however, the thesis should be of such scope and content that it can be completed within three years.

The required coursework serves to enhance subject-specific skills, but also goes toward developing transferable skills. All coursework will be recorded in your final transcript of records and Academic Record. Coursework requirements can be fulfilled by attending courses in your subject area, by visiting classes from the main pool of courses in transferable skills (transferable skills and university-level teaching), or, in some cases by attending courses at another institution. Alongside the required coursework (including transferable skills), it is highly recommended that PhD candidates develop their teaching skills. Transferable skills courses University-level teaching  

In many disciplines at UZH there are two types of doctoral programs offered: the individual doctorate and the structured doctoral programs . Moreover there are also interdisciplinary and inter-university schools or programs, partly financed by third-party funds. Doctoral Programs

Because the various faculties at UZH are thematically and structurally so diverse, each faculty is in charge of designing its own PhD program.

Be sure to read about the specific requirements at the faculty in question.

Various types of academic employment opportunities at UZH are open to junior scholars. During doctoral study, you can find employment as a «PhD candidate» or an «academic assistant»; postdocs receive positions as «postdocs» or «senior research and teaching assistants». These junior academic positions are an integral part of the procedure when pursuing an academic career. Junior academic positions are by nature temporary and are funded either by the university department in question or by a third party. Junior academic positions give young scholars the opportunity to achieve their next professional goal and to further qualify themselves for a career in academia. The main requirement for earning the necessary academic qualifications is performing individual research, but junior researchers are also given the opportunity to qualify themselves for teaching roles. In 2003 the guidelines for specifications at UZH faculties for employees holding junior academic positions were issued to define the rights and duties of UZH employees in junior academic positions. These were revised in fall 2023 and a new employment model was defined, which will come into effect on January 1, 2024. Employees with the status of a junior academic receive individual specifications which refer explicitly to their job description.

This UZH platform provides neccesary information from visits & exchange at the UZH to Visa, entry and residece permit. UZH for International Students and Scholars FAQ for International Students and Scholars

Weiterführende Informationen

Successful phd.

Food for thought for beginning PhD candidates

Collection of links to relevant topics

Mobility, Continuing education and courses, Career & Networking, Scientific integrity and Counseling

Best Practice for Doctoral Education

The guideline shows ways and possibilities to strengthen the quality, attractivity and internationalization of the doctorate at UZH.

Doctorate (PhD) Degree

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Years of Experience

Gender breakdown for doctorate (phd).

Phd average salary in Switzerland, 2024

Find out what the average phd salary is.

Phd: salaries per region

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PhD students in Switzerland are hired by universities and research centers for the duration of their studies, like their counterparts in other western countries. In this post, we inform you about the salary of PhD students in Switzerland. In addition to the salary information, we will also cover essential information about tax and deductions of salary in Switzerland.

Increasing PhD Stipend 2023-2024 in UK

Like other Western countries, Universities and research centers in Switzerland hire PhD students for the duration of their studies. Note that it is common in many countries such as  Denmark , Germany , Sweden ,  Finland , Austria , Netherlands , Ireland ,  Norway , and the  UK . As it concerns this post, we should note that living expenses are among the highest in Switzerland. The nominal wealth per adult is the highest in the world, and the GDP of the country is among the top ten globally. Because of that, the salary of PhD students is also high in comparison to many other countries. 

Gross salary of PhD students in Switzerland

According to the ETHZ website , the salary rates for doctoral students are as follows (rates in CHF):

As can be seen in the table above, there are big differences between different rates. You might ask yourself how can I be qualified for rate 5 instead of the standard rate. In the following, we try to explain what are the requirements for each rate.

According to the Ordinance governing scientific employees of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich , the rate depends directly on the workload of the doctoral students besides his/her research. It reads:

If doctoral students provide services in excess of the normal minimum level of teaching in the Department, they are entitled to a higher rate of payment.

However, the student should spend at least 70% of his/her time on the dissertation and related research activities. Therefore, the maximum teaching load of PhD students is 30% of their time. That is why this rate is determined upon agreement between the employer and the employee (PhD student in this case). However, irrespective of the rate, the salary grows every year for the first three years of PhD job.

Duration of the contract:

The contract length of PhD students and Postdocs can be up to six years.

Family Allowance of Doctoral Students:

PhD students like other employees in Switzerland receive a family allowance for caring for children. The family allowance for ETHZ employees (e.g. PhD students) is as follows:

Note that the family allowance listed above is already included in the contribution from Zurich City.

Net salary (after tax) of PhD students in Switzerland

The net salary (take-home money) of PhD students is certainly less than the gross salary shown above. In this section, we will describe all deductions from your monthly salary as a PhD student. The following are the basic deductions from your gross salary: Old-age pension (AHV), Disability benefit (IV), Loss of income (EO), and Unemployment benefit (ALV 1). This all deduction makes in total 6.375% of your gross salary. Then you might also pay your contribution to the Swiss Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA) (around 0.38%). In addition to those mentioned above, you will also contribute to the Pension fund which is around 7% (varies according to age city of living, and Fund company). However, the major deduction is withheld tax which we will explain in detail in the next section.

Withholding tax of PhD students in Switzerland

For foreign students, the withholding tax is very similar to income tax. The rate of the tax depends on many factors such as marital status, number of children, and even your religion. The latter matters if you are Christian and wish to contribute to the church tax. According to the ETHZ website , the categories are listed in the following table:

Net salary Calculator of PhD students in Switzerland

The ETH Zurich makes an online calculator for salary and tax in Switzerland (you can find it here ). In this section, we provide you with some examples of salary and corresponding take-home money. To make the data suitable for a broader range of readers, we divide this section into various rates:

Net salary of PhD students in Switzerland at a Standard rate

Let us assume you are on the Standard rate of PhD studentship in Switzerland and you are single without any child. Then your net monthly salary is 3330.85 CHF (~3660 USD) per month. Note that this net salary corresponds to a deduction of 589 CHF (~650 USD) per month (i.e. your monthly gross salary is 3920 CHF). The details of the deduction are as follows:

Non-​occupational accident (23.50 CHF), AHV contributions (206.80 CHF), ALV contributions (43.10 CHF), Savings contribution pension fund (131.70 CHF), Risk premium pension fund (15.10 CHF, Risk insurance (0.00 CHF), Withholding tax (168.95 CHF). That means the Withholding tax for a standard rate of Doctoral students is less than 5% (or the mentioned condition above).

However, if the same PhD student is married with one child but the partner is not employed, the net monthly salary will be 3428 CHF (~3777 USD). Note that such a person qualifies for a family allowance and gets an additional 376 CHF (~414 USD).

In all the following calculations, we assume that if the student is married, the partner is not in employment and they live in Zurich. If any of these condition changes, the tax will change, too.

Net salary of PhD students in Switzerland at a rate of 2

Here, we can run a similar calculation and the results are summed in the table below:

Net salary of PhD students in Switzerland at a rate of 3

Let us run a similar calculation for the case of a PhD student in rate 3.

Net salary of PhD students in Switzerland at a rate of 4

Let us run a similar calculation for the case of a PhD student in rate 4.

Net salary of PhD students in Switzerland at a rate of 5

Let us run a similar calculation for the case of a PhD student in rate 5.

The calculations above are according to the pay scale of ETH in Zurich.

We will update all different types of academic positions, so if you’re looking for a position, think about checking out our Home Page and also our Academic Jobs page . You can also follow us on Facebook to be the first to know when we post any new vacancies. But if you are not a fan of reading text, and instead prefer to watch, join our PhD and Postdoc-related videos on our Youtube Channel .

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Education News

How much should you expect to earn after graduating from a Swiss university?

A new report by FH Switzerland, the umbrella organisation for graduates of higher education , has found that people who have attended a  university in Switzerland have seen their salaries rise significantly in the last two years. The median wage of a Swiss graduate now stands at 104.000 francs a year.

Median graduate salaries rise to 104.000 Swiss francs a year

By interviewing 13.463 people from all regions of Switzerland, FH found that regardless of what grades they actually achieved during their studies, graduates have seen their wages increase significantly in the last two years. By the end of 2022, the median salary of a university graduate stood at 104.000 francs a year - 4.000 more than in 2020 and significantly more than the overall Swiss median salary of 78.456 francs a year.

While this does mean that 50 percent of alumni earn less than 104.000 a year, 50 percent reported making more - it's also important to bear in mind that 70 percent of the survey’s participants are under 40 years old. FH explained that much of the wage growth can be attributed to the economic recovery after the pandemic and employees negotiating higher wages as part of new or revised  work contracts .

In fact, 70 percent of those surveyed said that they had secured a salary increase for 2023, with half negotiating a pay rise of up to 5 percent. In view of a decline in purchasing power , the number of people who chose not to renegotiate their wages for 2023 hit a new low.

Which graduates in Switzerland go on to have the highest salaries?

In terms of specific sectors, graduates that went on to work in the banking , finance, insurance , pharmaceutical, IT and public administration sectors received the biggest pay packets, with median annual salaries for said industries totalling 120.000 Swiss francs a year. However, architecture and engineering graduates have reported the sharpest increase in wages, rising from 87.100 francs a year in 2020 to 95.000 francs in 2022.

On the flip side were those working in the arts, culture, media and entertainment industries, with a median salary of 69.271 Swiss francs in 2022 - almost half that of bankers. Despite this, the lowest median wages recorded in an industry and region were pharmaceutical workers in Canton Ticino at just 65.000 francs a year.

FH added that the difference between regions is stark, with wages in German-speaking areas generally higher than those west and south of the Röstigraben . Canton Zurich is in a clear lead when it comes to median salaries for all sectors (111.000 francs a year), but the eastern regions of St. Gallen , Schaffhausen, Thurgau, Glarus, the two Appenzells and Graubünden have seen the best wage growth, with median wages rising by an average of 6.000 francs between 2020 and 2023.

Wages still unequal between men and women

However, the study added that while wages do remain high, there remains a significant imbalance between the two sexes. In 2022, the median salary for male graduates stood at 113.000 francs a year, compared to just 92.000 francs for women. 

Finally, FH concluded that while the days of mortarboards and student housing may be behind most graduates, most workers still want to learn. A whopping 60 percent of those surveyed said they wanted to pursue an MBA , language course , development programme or additional qualification in the near future.

Thumb image credit: Shutterstock.com / EQRoy

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Jan de Boer

Editor for Switzerland at IamExpat Media. Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most...

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