Deposit copies

Please submit the following documents to the Doctoral Administration Office:

2 bound copies of your thesis. One copy must be signed by your supervisor on the front or title page.
The Download Submitting the doctoral thesis deposit copies (PDF, 886 KB) form.
- If it is not possible to obtain the signature of your supervisor on one of the copies, you can use this Download form (PDF, 788 KB) instead, on which your supervisor can insert the signature electronically.
The check list for your doctoral certificate on which you can correct any mistakes. This check list is sent together with your preliminary confirmation to you by post after the department conference.
E-mail from the ETH-Bibliothek confirming that you have uploaded the PDF version of your thesis to the Research Collection.

Shipping/Delivery:
Send your deposit copies and the above-mentioned documents by mail.
Note that all associated costs must be borne by the doctoral student. ETH will not cover any charges associated with deliveries from abroad, such as customs duties or additional costs incurred by private shipping companies such as DHL or FedEx.

If you would like to hand in your deposit copies personally, they can be dropped off at Campus Info. From there, your deposit copies will be forwarded to us. Please check their opening hours.

You must hand in your deposit copies no later than three months after the department conference (department conference + 3 months). At the earliest, you may hand in the deposit copies upon receipt of your provisional confirmation. This is sent out after the department conference. You can check the dates for department conferences in the academic calendar.

However, before you hand in your deposit copies to the Doctoral Administration Office, it is compulsory to upload an electronic version of your thesis to the Research Collection. You may only upload the electronic version of your thesis after the department conference. Unlike with the printed version, in the interest of data security you may omit your CV from the electronic version.

Important:
As soon as you have submitted your PDF and received confirmation of its release, it is no longer possible to change the PDF or its content. Significant changes of content can be submitted and published in the form of an Erratum or Corrigendum.

If an electronic publication in the Research Collection is not possible for copyright or patent reasons (e.g. publishing house publications) or because of ongoing follow-up applications to research funding institutions, one can be released from the electronic publication obligation for a limited period of time. The abstract will be published in any case.

A temporary non-publication of the full text of a doctoral thesis can be initiated directly in the publication process of the Research Collection at the same time as the upload of the doctoral thesis, stating the reason (cf. access rights). The permissible embargo periods are 12, 24 or 36 months.

The embargo initiated in the Research Collection only applies to the electronic version of the doctoral thesis. Exclusively in the case of embargo requests based on patent applications, a maximum 12-month embargo on lending of the printed copies will also be initiated.
Even in this case, you are obliged to upload the dissertation for archiving in the Research Collection! In accordance with ETH Zurich's Open Access Policy, every dissertation is finally published in the Research Collection after the embargo period.

Format & Print

You can freely choose the format of the printed version of your thesis. The title page in accordance with the Download sample title page for thesis (PDF, 128 KB) is a must either as a cover or then as the first page after the cover. In that case the cover must list your name, the title of your thesis, and the dissertation number.

Please note:
Spiral, ring or wedge bindings are not permitted because these binding processes are not accepted by the libraries.

You can find the required elements of the doctoral thesis on "Appendix 2 – Design of the doctoral thesis", p. 16 in the Rector’s Implementation Provisions for the ETH Zurich Ordinance on the Doctorate.

You can have your thesis also printed at ETH. Check the Print & Publish Web-Shop from Print & Publish for further information.

Year specification on the title page of the dissertation

Please note: the date resp. the year that must be printed on the title page of your dissertation refers to the date of the department conference at which your dissertation was confirmed.

The following points should also be noted:

The title page must be in accordance with the Download sample title page for thesis (PDF, 128 KB). If the text of your thesis is in English also your title page must be in English, if the text of your thesis is in German you title page must be in German too.
Please note that the English title “Swiss Federal Institute of Technology” may no longer be used. ETH is now only referred to as “ETH Zürich” (German) or “ETH Zurich” (English).
For everyone who has registered for doctoral studies since 1 January 2003, this is, without exception: Doktor/in der Wissenschaften resp. Doctor of Sciences (Dr. sc. ETH Zurich).
You are obliged to send your supervisor and co-examiner(s) each a copy of your thesis (bound or electronic).

Incomplete deposit copies or copies with incorrect information, e.g., in the title page, will not be accepted and must be reprinted.

> Contact the Doctoral Administration