Incoming Exchange Students

• Your home university has a bilateral agreement with the EPFL and you have been nominated to participate in an exchange of one semester, one academic year or a few months to carry out your master project (final thesis) at the EPFL, please read carefully the below information and apply on-line.

• Your home university has no bilateral agreement with the EPFL  and you have been nominated to participate in an exchange of one semester, one academic year or a few months to carry out your master project (final thesis) at the EPFL, please apply on-line. Should you have any questions, please contact the student services desk services.etudiants@epfl.ch. Students in Architecture are not allowed to apply, if no bilateral agreement exists. 

Conditions

• The exchange student must be selected by the home university.

• An exchange at the EPFL is authorized for one semester, one academic year or for a master project (final thesis), it cannot exceed two semesters and has to be performed on the same academic year. The exchange duration is from 3 to 12 months.
   
• Exchange students from partner-universities are exempted from the EPFL tuition fees.

• Bachelor courses are taught mainly in French, although several Programmes offer master courses in English. A sound knowledge of French is therefore a requirement for an exchange at the EPFL. The EPFL reserves the right to refuse students with inadequate language skills. 

• Exchange students must observe the same rules as regular EPFL students as to registration for lectures, exams, use of computers, etc...

Application deadlines

The on-line application form must be submitted by the following dates:

Prepare your application

Before starting the on-line application, prepare the following information:

• Learning agreement. List the courses you plan to attend at the EPFL. Your learning agreement will be based on the current study plans that may change the following year, due to schedule conflicts or study plans modifications, when you come to study at the EPFL. You are authorized to attend courses in different faculties and level (bachelor and master) as far as you meet the required prior knowledge. Should you have any academic questions (courses, credits, etc...), the exchange coordinator of your section may help you with it.

• Name of the exchange/international coordinator of your home university responsible for confirming your nomination to an exchange at the EPFL and his/her e-mail address.

• Scanned passport photo (ratio 3/4, 3.5 x 4.5 cm, jpeg format, less than 2MB).

• Scanned copy of your passport or ID card (pdf format, less than 1MB).

• If you wish to carry out your final master project / final thesis at the EPFL, you must first find a professor at the EPFL who is ready to supervise your project in the field of your interest. Once you have been accepted by a professor, complete the on-line application.

Application procedure step by step

All incoming exchange students must fill out the on-line application form. Please do not send any paper forms or other documents (as official transcript, passport copy, CV, etc...). 

• Apply on-line: complete and validate the on-line application form.

• As soon as you validate your application form, the exchange coordinator, you have mentioned in your on-line application form, will get automatically an electronic message asking him/her to confirm your nomination on-line.

• When we receive your exchange coordinator's confirmation, we will consider your application. If your application is accepted, your acceptance package will be sent to the correspondance address you mentioned in the application form.

As soon as you receive your acceptance letter: 

• If you are a non-EU citizen, apply for a Swiss visa at least 3 months prior to the start of your study.

• Look for an accommodation.

• Register to the French intensive summer course. You will need your username and password that will be sent to you by e-mail prior to the course registration period.

• Read the EPFL student's guide, which has been sent in your acceptance package.

At your arrival at the EPFL

• Participate in the information sessions for exchange students organized in August and September. Your student card will be given to you during these sessions.

• Participate in the welcome day.

• Register at the immigration office of your commune of residence ("contrôle des habitants").

• Register for the courses not later than 2 weeks after the start of the semester.

• If you are entitled to a scholarship, you will receive a postal check which will be given to you during a session at the beginning of the semester. You will receive further information by e-mail. If you carry out your master project, you will receive your postal check by announcing your arrival at the Student Services Desk.

Before your departure from the EPFL

• Return the Erasmus report (séjour d'études en Suisse) to the Student Services Desk.

Erasmus scholarship

Exchange students who are EU citizen and coming from a partner-university in the frame of the ERASMUS programme are entitled to a scholarship from the Swiss government of CHF 220.- per month. The scholarships are distributed by the EPFL.

Official transcript of records

The official transcripts of records will be sent to the student's permanent address (usually the parents' address) at the end of February for the Autumn semester and beginning of August for the Spring semester. It is the student's responsibility to provide his/her home university with the official transcripts, in order to have the exchange semester or year validated. No transcript of records will be sent to the home universities.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Student Exchange Office

Eliane Reuille responsible for exchange students from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Korea, India, Russia, Mexico, Chile, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Lithuania, Switzerland

Luisa Pizzillo responsible for exchange students from United-States, Canada, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic