Master Thesis

Please refer to the official website of the Registrar’s Office for detailed information .

Students can choose from the following three options for their Master’s thesis:

• Master thesis in a laboratory of the Institute of Materials (IMX) or in a laboratory of another EPFL Institute (18 weeks, incl. 1 week vacation)  

  Some laboratories list available Master’s thesis projects on their websites.

  Supervision Requirements: The EPFL supervisor must be a professor or MER from SMX. If the project is carried out in a laboratory of another EPFL institute, co-supervision by an SMX professor or MER is mandatory.

• Master thesis in an external university or academic Institute (18 to 26 weeks, incl. 1 week vacation)

• Master thesis in industry with engineering internship (PdMe) (26 weeks, incl. 1 week vacation)

  Before accepting an offer from a company, students must secure an SMX supervisor (professor or MER) who agrees to oversee the project according to the specified guidelines. The PdMe may also be carried out if the engineering internship has already been completed.

Enrollment procedure:

• Register your Master project on IS-Academia as soon as registrations open (using the course registration module).
• Submit the signed registration form (PDF) to smx@epfl.ch or to the SMX secretariat.

Registration & Dates

• Spring semester: Master’s projects can start between January 1 and May 31.
• Fall semester: Master’s projects can start between June 1 and December 31.
• Start day: Projects should always begin on a Monday.
• Graduation timeline: To participate in the current year’s graduation ceremony (Magistrale, held in early October), the Registrar’s Office must receive the final grade before the end of September.

Report Submission

• You must send the electronic version of your master’s project in PDF format by e-mail (or via a transfer service if the file is too large) to the department as well as to your supervisor and expert, on the date indicated in IS-A, no later than 12:00 PM (local Swiss time).
• Non-confidential master’s projects must also be uploaded to IS-A on the submission day, before noon. Please ensure that the report is in PDF format and does not exceed 20 MB.
• The project title can be modified in the IS-A registration until the day of report submission. This title will be included on the student’s diploma supplement.
• The oral examination usually takes place within two to four weeks after the report submission. The exact date is agreed upon between the student, the EPFL supervisor, and the expert, and is entered in IS-A by the EPFL supervisor.