Application

The next information session about the doctoral program will take place on:

Wednesday, August 20, 2025, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM

The information session will be held virtually. Registration on the ZHAW website is required to participate in the information session.

Enrollment

The PhD program in Care and Rehabilitation Sciences is open to applicants from Switzerland and abroad who are highly qualified academically and display a strong interest in research in the areas mentioned above.

To be admitted to the program, applicants must:

1. hold a Master's degree from a university or an equivalent academic degree from a university of applied sciences in a health profession regulated in the Swiss Healthcare Occupations Act (GesBG); the equivalence of degrees is decided conclusively by the doctoral program commission on a case-by-case basis. Admission of applicants from other academic health science disciplines in health care (i.e. disciplines which can be studied at universities or universities of applied sciences); including nursing (MSc in Nursing), is decided on an individual  basis by the doctoral program commission
2. have proof of their academic qualification (for example, in the form of academic transcripts, awards, scholarships or publications)
3. show motiviation and commitment regarding their research interests, and
4. have good knowledge of English (German recommended)

The ZHAW School of Health Professions makes a preselection of applicants using the admission criteria and quality standards which have been laid down by the doctoral program commission. Please use the application form:  Application Form (PDF, 562 KB).

The application must include the following documents:

1. curriculum vitae
2. academic transcripts
3. Letter of motivation describing the applicant's interests within the filed of research as well as proposed research questions which the applicant would like to address, as well as the applicant's reasons for applying and future career plans
4. Doctoral project: In the project outline, you describe on a maximum of two pages the status for the doctoral project at the time of application (background, research questions, methods, relevance of the expected results for research or health care practice)
5. two letters of recommendation describing the applicant's qualification and potential (signed by a person with a doctoral degree, not to be issued by members of the doctoral program commission)
6. if possible: a suggestion of a potential supervisor from the Faculty of Medicine for the University of Zurich
7. if possble: a suggestion of a potential supervisor from the cooperating university of applied sciences

8. proof of a funding plan for the applicant covering a period of at least 3 years, the funding must be confirmed in writing by the funding provider. Please use the template for the confirmation: Proof of funding template (German Document) (PDF, 103 KB)
   
   Please merge these application documents (1-8) into a single PDF file and send with a separate application form to doktorat.gesundheit@zhaw.ch

The two-stage application process begins with a pre-selection by ZHAW. Please use the application form and send your application for the fall semester by April 30 and for the spring semester by September 30 to doktorat.gesundheit@zhaw.ch

For more information, please visitwww.zhaw.ch and the overview of the Application Procedure (PDF, 110 KB)

For questions, contact doktorat.gesundheit@zhaw.ch.

Interview dates winter term 2025

Monday, June 23, 2025 (morning) and
Monday, June 30, 2025 (morning)

Information Application Interview (PDF, 144 KB)