Master Project

The Master project aims to deepen the students’ knowledge and skills in a topic related to their field of study, while demonstrating the ability to carry out independent research or advanced work.

During their 30 credits Master project, students work on a problem assigned by the head of the laboratory, whether at EPFL, another university or in a company. The laboratory head ensures the student can complete the necessary tasks, enabling the EPFL advisor to evaluate their engineering skills.

Coursebook Master project (BIO-597)
General EPFL regulations

Note: students who undertake a Master project in another university remain registered at EPFL and pay EPFL’s tuition fees even if the host university charges tuition fees or taxes. It is therefore highly recommended to ask the host university about their policy.

The duration of the Master project is:

  • 17 weeks (+ 1 week holiday) within EPFL
  • 17 weeks (+ 1 week holiday) or 25 weeks (+ 1 week holiday) outside EPFL in a company or academia

Students may start their Master project earliest on January 1st (spring semester) or June 1st (autumn semester).

A Master project has to start on a Monday and the report submitted on a Friday at noon. 

To start the Master project, a successful completion of the Master cycle is mandatory. A conditional admission to the Master project might be granted if only 8 credits are missing from the Master cycle and those credits are not the industry internship.

Procedure:

  1. Find a Master projects (see options below)
  2. If your Master project is in a different EPFL faculty or outside EPFL, you have to first ask for the approval of the section via the LSE support platform
  3. Find an EPFL supervisor (usually SV professor or MER) who will follow your project and validate it at the end. If your project is in a SV laboratory, your supervisor will be by default the head of the laboratory
  4. Fill in the relevant registration form (below) and send it to the SV section via the LSE support platform. You have to submit your registration form at the latest before the start of the Master project. 
  5. Register for the Master project on IS-Academia, at the latest 2 weeks after the start of the semester (as any other course) and tick the confidentiality box if necessary

Note: for Master project done outside Switzerland, be aware that visa procedures take time.

  • You must send the pdf version of your Master project by email to the section, your EPFL supervisor and the external expert on the due date indicated in IS-Academia by noon (Swiss local time). A reminder email will be sent the week before the due date. Use web transfer if the file size is too large for email
  • If the Master project is not confidential, upload it on IS-Academia
  • The oral exam generally takes place within two to four weeks after the date of submission. The date and organization of the oral exam is mutually agreed between the student, the EPFL supervisor and the external expert.
  • In order to obtain your diploma at the graduation ceremony (Magistrale) of the current year held in early October, the Registrar’s Office must have received all Master grades by the end of September

Note: changes in the title of the Master project and/or confidentiality must be submitted by email to the student services, cc EPFL supervisor.

Reasons for considering that the content of the Master project is confidential include, but are not limited to: 

  • Data that have been submitted, but not yet accepted for publication
  • Data that are the subject of a patent application 
  • The work is the subject of a confidentiality agreement signed with an industrial partner

If the Master project is confidential, tick the confidential box on your IS-Academia page; you will not have to upload it on IS-Academia when completed. Your EPFL supervisor will be asked to confirm it.

If the Master project is not confidential, you have to upload it on IS-Academia when completed and it will be checked for plagiarism; the results will be communicated to your EPFL supervisor.

There are different available tools to find Master project opportunities:

 

  • Outside EPFL:
    • On IS-Academia some positions for industry internships are also available for Master projects (PDME)
    • Offers received by the section on Moodle

Bertarelli Fellowships Program

EPFL Master students have the opportunity to apply for this fellowship allowing them to carry out their Master project within an Harvard Medical School-affiliated laboratory. Bertarelli Fellowships, which comprise an allowance of up to 30’000 USD for travel and living expenses in Boston (USA), are awarded on a competitive basis to up to 5 students each academic year.

Other scholarships

The forms to complete are available on Moodle (EPFL access only) and must be sent to the section using the LSE support platform.