In general, EPFL master thesis guidelines Apply.

Find here below the section guidelines

Calendar

The start date is usually the first day of each academic semester. Handing-in date depends on the project duration and is calculated automatically on IS-A when registering.

The Master’s projects can start between January 1 and May 31 for the spring semester. The Master’s projects can start between June 1 and December 31 for the fall semester. The Master’s projects should in any case start on a Monday, and be submitted on the Friday at noon.

Students have to register the master project on IS-Academia, latest 2 weeks after the start of the semester, as any other course (academic calendar).

The master project lasts 17 weeks when it’s achieved at EPFL. The duration is 25 weeks if the project is achieved out of EPFL (industry or other university) : in either case, add one-week holiday (i.e. 18 or 26 weeks).

Extension requests made during the master project will not be considered.


Choosing a Master project in a laboratory

We recommend to look for your project at the end of the previous semester. Browse through the following pages

These project lists are non-exhaustive and other projects can be found by contacting directly the labs of interest.

Reserve your project as early as possible. Meet with the professor in charge and define the objectives and work to be accomplished.

Watch OUT ! The project supervisor is a Professor or MER affiliated to the section; exceptions have to be asked to Sebastian Gautsch

Master project in another university

A master project in another university, in Switzerland or abroad, lasts  25 weeks (+1 week holiday, i.e. 26 weeks).

The period is determined jointly with the EPFL professor and his or her counterpart at the host university. It is not possible to change it afterwards.

Setting up a master project in another University requires a close coordination between the host university and the Professor. Students can’t accept an offer from a University without involving the Professor in the definition of the objectives.

Project’s objectives

At the beginning of your project, the professor will give you a description of the objectives and the work to be accomplished:

Master projects in industry (PDMe)

Students can choose to carry out a PDMe which includes the engineering internship and the PDM (25 weeks + 1 week holiday). Upon request and validation by the section, the duration can be reduced to 17 weeks (+1 week holiday) if an internship has been conducted in the same company.

Setting up a master project in industry requires a close coordination between the company and the Professor. Students can’t accept an offer from a company without involving the Professor in the definition of the objectives.

Contact person for internships and master theses in industry : Mrs Hind Klinke

Registration

Register the master project on IS-Academia as soon as the registrations open (with course registration module), set the project’s information.

Don’t forget to tick the confidential box on your IS-academia page. Your EPFL supervisor will be asked to confirm the data.


Hand-in procedure

You must send the electronic pdf version of your master thesis by email to Isabelle Schafer and the supervisor, on the hand-in day indicated in IS-Academia. Submission time is latest 12:00 (noon, Swiss local time). Use web transfer if the file size is too large for email.

The master’s projects registered as “non-confidential” must be uploaded on IS-A on the submission day, before noon. Please upload only your final report in PDF format, with a maximum size of 20 MB.

If the file is too large, please compress it using Adobe or reduce its size by removing some images or other elements.

A paper version may be required by the professor: to be confirmed with him/her directly.

The project title can be corrected in the IS-A registration entry up to the day of submission. The title is mentioned on the student’s diploma supplement.


Evaluation method

The examination of the master project consists of an evaluation of the final report, followed by an oral exam with the the professor in charge and an external expert designated by the professor. The examination expert is chosen by the teacher responsible for the Master project from amongst experienced EPFL staff member or persons external to EPFL, and by virtue of their competence in the subject to be examined. The teacher responsible for the Master project cannot choose a staff member from their unit or a phd student.

An oral presentations of the work progress at mid-semester is strongly recommended. A final presentation at the end of the project is mandatory. The oral exam generally takes place within two to four weeks after the date of submission. The date of the oral exam is mutually agreed between the student, the teacher in charge and the external expert

In order for the student to receive his/her diploma during the Magistrale of the current year (beginning of October), the Registrar’s Office must have received the grade before the end of September.

The section also recommends to complete the following form (which is a supplement to the evaluation) and to send the PDF to the Section for the student’s file.

Student prizes

Microengineering section has several Prizes that are attributed each year to exceptional master theses. The professor decides to recommends the student to apply for one of these prizes at the end of the oral defense. It is up to the student to follow the described application procedure.