Travel & Expenses

Basic principles

Any trip involving air travel or an overnight stay (in Switzerland or abroad) is subject to a prior travel request (TR), which has been approved in the “Expense Management” tool by the Head of Unit or by his/her delegate.

EPFL has a central travel agency responsible for organizing academic travel. All requests for airline ticket purchases must be submitted to the agency in order to benefit, among other things, from negotiated rates with airlines. Any booking made through the agency enables the provision of security or medical assistance to the traveler if needed, in collaboration with International SOS.

Expense claims (EC), prepared using the “Expense Management” tool, must include proof of payment and be approved by the immediate superior.

Heads of Unit and frequent travellers may request an individual credit card from the Accounting Department for their travel and professional expenses.

Responsabilities 

Unit heads are required to ensure that their staff are informed of the existence and content of the following directives: the Directive relating to the organization of responsible professional travel (LEX 5.6.2), the Directive relating to the organization of responsible student travel (LEX 5.6.3), and the Directive concerning the reimbursement of work-related expenses (LEX 5.6.1).

Guided by the duty of exemplarity and transparency in the responsible use of public funds (regardless of the source of funding), unit heads must ensure responsible use of resources and the absence of personal enrichment.

Legal basis 

• LEX 5.1.1 “EPFL Financial Regulations” (Art. 48)
• LEX 5.6.1 “Directive concerning the reimbursement of work-related expenses”
• LEX 5.6.2 “Directive relating to the organization of responsible professional travel”
• LEX 5.6.3 “Directive relating to the organization of responsible student travel”
• LEX 5.4.1 “Directive on the use of credit cards at EPFL”

Further informations

• • Practical Guide for the Expense Management tool
  • Expense Management tool, via Sesame
  • Information on travel at EPFL
  • Videoconferencing

Advice for day-to-day 

Refer to the information provided on the travel website.

Favour videoconferencing in order to reduce travel.

An approved travel request is required in advance of all trips implying an air travel ticket or overnight stay (in Switzerland or abroad). It serves to:

• set a spending budget for the trip in question;
• give the person travelling the right to incur the full planned expenses for the trip.

Air travel:

• all employees travel in economy class in Europe. Heads of Unit may authorise a higher category for intercontinental flights
• It is mandatory to use EPFL’s travel agency (or the Online Booking Tool) for the purchase of airline tickets.

Public transportation

• National and international train tickets must be purchased via the SBB WebShop. The Businesstravel Service Center (tel. 0848 111 456) can be contacted in case of any issues.
• To encourage the use of public transportation for both private and professional purposes, several discounts on public transport passes are offered to regular EPFL staff (including doctoral students, interns, and apprentices). For more information, please click here.

Rental cars:Mobility car-sharing and Europcar are EPFL’s preferred providers for car rentals. For more information, please click here.

Accommodation for guests: wherever possible, use the hotel facilities available on campus.

Other guidelines

• Hospitality expenses with third parties, meetings held externally, end-of-year meals: systematically indicate the purpose of the event, the number of participants and their names. The maximum spending amount is CHF 100 per person.
• Ensure that expense claims are duly completed and approved, and include all necessary receipts.
• Heads of Unit must ensure that expenses incurred by the members of their unit comply with applicable directives and correspond to their usefulness for the unit.