Incoming students

D-MAVT welcomes students from abroad interested in following courses at the bachelor's or at master’s levels, or in undertaking a project (bachelor's thesis, semester project, or master's thesis).

D-MAVT expects incoming students to show good performance, so that they can really benefit from the courses offered at ETH, to have the full support of their home universities, and to be proficient in the teaching language of the courses they intend to follow. Incoming students are expected to follow courses and pass examinations as ETH students (30 ECTS/semester). Please consult the study guides, or the web pages of our programs. They describe the courses, projects and exams completely by regular ETH students in each year of study.

Incoming students come to ETH for mainly one semester. They can start in the fall or spring terms. During the fall semester D-MAVT offers a larger number of courses than in the spring semester.

Incoming students are free to choose courses from other departments and other years of study if they wish. A minimum of two thirds of the courses (ECTS credits), however, must be chosen from the courses offered at D-MAVT (courses with the numbers 151-xxxx).

D-MAVT should approve the proposed study plan, based on the courses selected from the online ETH course catalogue. The teaching language of each individual course is stated in the catalogue. If the program of a future semester is not yet available, it can reasonably be expected to be similar to the prior year.

The D-MAVT teaching language is generally German at the bachelor level (some courses are offered in English in the 5th and 6th semesters) and English at the master level.

It is important that the curriculum has been well coordinated with the schedule of the home university. The ETH semester dates, as well as the timing of the examination sessions, are published in the academic calendar. Incoming students are obliged to complete their exams during the sessions just like regular students (see Binding Information).

German language courses: A crash course in advanced German is offered in the weeks just before the start of the semester (three weeks prior to the start of the fall term, two weeks prior to that of the spring term). Beginners and advanced learners can find courses at all levels of proficiency during the semester.

Exchange students can generally take part in research projects at ETH. Students interested in a research project should contact a supervisor at the corresponding D-MAVT institute or laboratory (where the projects are published). All D-MAVT professors listed offer projects on their homepages.

Mobility and exchange students are admitted through a simplified procedure. They receive a student card, tuition waiver and, depending on the program, also a scholarship. The Student Exchange Office helps students with immigration formalities and, if necessary, applies for an entry visa (only for students coming from non-European programs). Once at ETH, the incoming student should contact the D-MAVT mobility advisor in order to discuss the details of the semester. The student should request their transcripts at the end of the semester, before leaving ETH. ETH will provide the list of courses with the grades in English, with an explanation of the grading scale and if requested a short summary of the content of the course (Diploma Supplement, abstract of the course catalogue).