Info for current students

Study regulations

Every student will study under study regulations (legally binding form only available in German). The regulations contain all legally binding information for the MSc Statistics and you should make sure to read them carefully.

Questions

Answers

Q: I need help - where do I find resources? [up]

A: We want you to feel welcome in our program! If you encounter any problems, please look for help early on. ETH offers many resources.

In general, you can always come to your study coordinator (Dr. Markus Kalisch) or study director (Prof. Dr.Jonas Peters) if you encounter any type of problem (e.g. related to courses and exams but also personal issues that potentially interfer with your studies). We will treat your information confidentially. Sometimes we can solve the problem directly. Otherwise, we will redirect you appropriatly. Many questions can already be answered by browsing through our Info Pages for prospective, current or alumni students.

Here is a short list of services, which you can contact directly:

D-MATH: General advisory services and contact persons regarding Respect
Student Orientation and Coaching: If you have trouble getting started; if you have motivational or organizational problems; independent contact person in case of issues with study coordinator or study director
external page Psychological Counseling Service of ETH / UZH: If you are in a difficult phase in life or have troubles in your studies
external page Career Center: When you start looking for a job near the end of your studies (see also "Q: I'm looking for a job. Where should I start looking?")
Student representatives of MSc Statistics:

You can also find lots of information on the webpage of the Study Administration.

Q: How do I get to know other students? [up]

A: For your later life, extra-curricular skills are probably as important as specialized domain knowledge. Moreover, social interactions form a healthy and enjoyable balance to the life in the lecture halls. Therefore, we recommend that you give them a high priority. There are a few ways in which we try to help you socialize:

At the beginning and at the end of each semester there is an Apero (Room: HG G 69) for all MSc Stats students. This is a great way to socialize with students of different semesters.
Join the student association of math and physics students:
There are student representatives for the MSc Stats program who raise issues and organize social events; moreover, they maintain social network groups. For more infos please contact .
ETH has offers a great variety of sports (external page ASVZ); this is a fun way to get in touch with other people.

Q: What requirements do I have to meet in order to finish the MSc successfully? [up]

A: Please check the regulations (German) (esp. Art. 30). You are responsible to follow these rules. However, we'd like to help you by summarizing the most important rules (you need to meet all of them):

Visit one lecture in each of the three core topics (Statistical Modelling, Applied Statistics, Mathematical Statistics).
Get at least 12 ECTS in the core topics. If there is more than one lecture offered in a category, you can visit both in Statistical Modelling and Applied Statistics but not in Mathematical Statistics.
Get at least 15 ECTS in subject-specific electives.
Get at least 4 ECTS from a seminar (StatsLab every spring where you will solve a real consulting case; or a more theoretical Seminar every semester; or a semester project).
The sum of your credit points in core courses, subject-specific electives and the seminar must be at least 52.
Get at least 2 ECTS in the "GESS Science in Perspective" (maximum of 4 ECTS are credited in GESS).
Write your Master Thesis (30 ECTS).
To fulfill all previous constraints, you need 84 ECTS. To graduate, you must have at least 90 ECTS in total. The remaining credit points can be collected without restriction ("free electives").

Q: What is the 'studyplan'? [up]

A: We require each student to create a list of lectures they plan to attend (and when) in order to finish the degree. Within the first few weeks of your first semester, you should make an appointment with the study coordinator (Markus Kalisch) and discuss the plan. Here is an Excel Download template (XLS, 10 KB). The study plan is not binding and only serves counselling purposes.

Q: Which courses should I take? [up]

A: If you have additional requirements ("Auflagen"), they should get your top priority.

In general, you should first focus on getting all your core topics done. Usually, there are a few core topics offered each semester. They should be your first priority, because the lectures don't take place every semester. So, if you miss one, you might have to wait until it is offered again.We also recommend taking the course Scientific Works in Mathematics in your first or second semester, since you can only start any written thesis (e.g.Semester Paper or Master Thesis) after you completed this course.

Your next priority should be the electives and the seminar; in this area, there is much more freedom to choose among courses.

Finally, your GESS lecture has the lowest priority because there is a huge variety.

Q: How many credit points should I aim for each semester? [up]

A: You need 60 credit points from courses to finish your degree. You need one semester for the master thesis, which is worth 30 credit points (giving a total of 90 credit points). So, if you want to finish after 1.5 years, you have two semesters for the courses. Hence, you should aim for 30 credit points each semester. If you want to finish after 2 years, you can take three semesters for the courses and hence should aim for 20 credit points each semester. Most students finish after 1.5 to 2 years.

Note that 30 credit points per semester really needs your full time efforts. As a rough guide, you should expect about 2 hours of solid work per week per credit point. So, if you have 20 credit points in a semester, you should expect to work about 40 hours each week. If you have 30 credit points in a semester, you should expect to work about 60 hours per week.

We advise that you don't follow courses during your Master's thesis except for perhaps a small lecture (not more than 5 CP in total). The master thesis should get your full attention.

Q: Two lectures I want to attend take place at the same time. What should I do? [up]

A: You have two options:

You look for alternative choices without conflicts. This is the recommended option.
Take both courses anyway and take the exams. This is technically possible, but not recommended. It will be much harder for you to pass the exams that way.

Avoid timing conflicts with lectures from UZH at all costs, because this might lead to a timinig conflict of exams.

Q: Which courses will take place next semester? [up]

A: Please check the ETH course catalogue. Select "Statistics Master" as "Programme". The University of Zurich also offers interesting courses (e.g. in the MSc of Biostatistics).

Q: Which courses will take place after next semester? [up]

A: The course catalogue is only binding for the next semester. However, most lectures take place every year or every other year. So you can check the course catalogue for the last couple of semesters in order to find out what is typically read in the spring and fall semester. The field "Periodicity" tells you whether the course takes place every year or every other year.

Q: Can I take lectures at the University of Zurich? [up]

A: Yes, you can. If you want to take such lectures, you have to enroll at the University of Zurich (UZH), as explained in these informal guidelines. As an ETH student, you don't have to pay any fees (also no "late application fee") and you have relaxed deadlines: You have to enroll no later than the last working day before the semester starts (see RueMIS Art. 13). Note that after you are matriculated at UZH, it might take 3-5 days until you receive the info on how to log in to their analog of myStudies.

After you finish the course, there are two options:

If the course is listed in the ETH course catalogue for the MSc Statistics program, you don't have to do anything. Your grade will automatically be transferred into the right category in the ETH system.
If the course is not listed in the ETH course catalogue for the MSc Statistics program, you can only take it as free elective. Your grade will be automatically forwarded to ETH, but you have to declare the category in which the credit points should count. In this case, please write an email including the lecture name, lecture ID, number of credit points and semester when you visited together with your name and your student ID to the study administration (studiensekretariat (at) math.ethz.ch) with a CC to the study coordinator (kalisch (at) stat.math.ethz.ch). We will then do the assignment for you.
Note that the exams at ETH and UZH are not coordinated in general. Therefore, there is a small risk that exams will collide between ETH and UZH. However, we try to make sure that the lecture Likelihood Inference does not collide with other exams of core courses in our program (but it might collide with statistical electives)

In principle, you can also take courses at UZH in your first semester. However, this is only possible after completing your registration early enough in order to receive your immatriculation number and your nethz-login from ETH to enroll regularly at the University of Zurich as indicated above.

If you receive your immatriculation information from ETH after the UZH deadline, you will have to take courses exclusively from the ETH course catalogue in your first semester.

If you take courses at UZH, please make sure that you read the emails in your UZH account (e.g. via forward), so that you do not miss any important infos related to exams etc.

Q: What is the GESS department and how do I choose a valid course? [up]

A: GESS is the german acronym for "Humanities, Social and Political Science" (search for this in the "Department" field of the course catalogue). The GESS department offers all kinds of courses from music theory to politics to Shakespeare to ethics of data science. Every ETH student has to gain some credit points in this department. The goal is to make you culturally more aware and extend your horizon. In order to choose a valid course you have to go to the course catalogue, select our program ("Statistics Master") and click "Search". On the resulting page, browse to the section "GESS Science in Perspective". There you will find several links that lead you to a selection of valid GESS courses. Please be aware that in the study plan we don't check if the course you entered in the field "GESS" is valid or not.

Q: Can I take language courses from the Sprachenzentrum in the GESS category? [up]

A: Yes, you can take any course you like, but only a selection of all courses is for credit in the GESS category. You can take courses in English, Italian, French and Spanish only at an advanced level (B2 or more) for credit (GESS). You can take German only at an expert level (C2) for credit (GESS). Courses in any other language count in the GESS category no matter what the level is. Courses that don't give you credit in GESS will still be mentioned on the diploma supplement.

Q: How do I enrol for / drop courses? Is there a limit on the number of students? [up]

A: You enrol via mystudies. There is rarely a limit on the number of students for a course (apart from seminars, StatsLab and some selected lectures). If you find out during the semester that you don't want to take a lecture after all, you can just drop it in mystudies. As long as you don't sign up for the final exam, it will not be mentioned in your diploma. Note that different rules might apply at UZH, please check with the lecturer.

Q: How can I integrate sustainability and climate change into my statistics studies? [up]

A: Statistics develops many of the quantitative skills needed to contribute to these important fields and other areas relating to environmental studies. Here, you can find a catalogue of courses that can complement your statistics knowledge and enable you to apply your skills in several environmental science and policy-related disciplines, such as atmospheric science, agriculture, and transportation modelling.

Q: What are exams like at ETH? [up]

A: The duration and format of each exam is shown in the course description of the course catalogue. Most exams are in the semester break, usually rather at the end of the semester break. These exams are called "session exams" in the course catalogue. So you should reserve several weeks during your semester break to prepare for the exams. However, there are also some lectures with mid-terms, end-terms or graded homework assignments. Always check in the course catalogue to see when your exams take place. If in doubt, you can ask the lecturer.

If you fail an exam, you can repeat it once, but no more.

The grading system at ETH goes from 1 (worst grade) to 6 (best grade). Usually, quarter-grades are given. The lowest passing grade is a 4.

Some exams at ETH are oral exams. For such exams, there is always a third person present who writes the minutes of the exam. It may be helpful to prepare in teams for oral exams: 2-3 students think of questions and another student is questioned as in the exam. Try to make the setting as realistic a possible (e.g. same time as in examination, same language; if problems/questions come up, make a quick note and discuss only at the end of the mock examination). Thinking of questions that could be asked in an oral exam is a great way to prepare. Moreover, working together can make learning more enjoyable!

Q: How do I choose a supervisor for the Master Thesis? [up]

A: You are responsible for finding a supervisor for the master thesis. You can do a master thesis with people from outside ETH (e.g. companies) but you always need at least one authorised advisor (usually a professor or senior scientist), who will be your main official advisor. Please have a look at the list of authorised advisors (make sure you look in the Statistics section, not in the Math section). Here are some suggestions for finding a good master thesis project and supervisor:

(Usual way) Browse the webpages of the authorised advisors half a year before you want to start. Find out what their research topics are. Get in touch with them during lecture breaks. Approach them actively and ask whether they have a topic for you in due time.
Members of the Seminar for Statistics regularly (April & October) publish a (non-exhaustive) list of possible topics.
If you plan to do a thesis with a professor of ETH, who is in some sense close to SfS (e.g. math, computer science, etc.) but not an authorized advisor, you can contact the study director and request an exception so that the professor can act as authorized advisor for your particular project. For this, please proceed in the following way: First make sure the professor is willing to supervise you. Then write your request as an email to the study director containing: (a) Name of the professor, (b) a description of the topic (5-10 sentences), (c) the info that the professor is ready to supervise you.
If you are interested in doing a thesis in connection with business or industry, or with other research institutes at ETH or other universities, try to make contacts as early as possible. Try to contact companies you are interested in and find out if they have research problems that could be addressed in a master thesis. If you find something, make a proposal to an authorized advisor of your choice and ask them, if they would supervise you (as official main supervisor) together with some person from the company (as co-supvervisor; it is crucial that in this scenario the company has someone to supervise you in addition to the authorized advisor). Such collaborations are generally very welcome if they address a statistically relevant topic, but please be aware that there is a lot of admin effort involved from your side and there is no guarantee that it will work out.
Start looking for a supervisor at least four months before you want to start your thesis. If you cannot find a supervisor, please contact the study coordinator.
There is a list of past theses (incl. the respective supervisor). You can use this to see the interests (and collaborations) of the potential supervisors.

Q: Is it possible to write a Master Thesis with a company? [up]

A: Yes, this is possible. You should be aware though that it requires additional administration and communication for you, and there is no guarantee that you will be able to set up a project that is acceptable for both the company and ETH. Here you can find further information.

Q: What deadlines and requirements are there for Semester Projects or Master Theses? [up]

A: For the Master Thesis and the Semester Project you need to enroll at least two weeks before you want to start. However, get in touch with an authorized advisor well before that. You can start at any time during the year. However, most students start roughly with the semester just because it fits their schedule best.

For the both Master Thesis (M) and Semester Thesis (S), you need to fulfill administrative requirements in order to be able to start (see Art. 29.1 of the study regulations):

(M) you must have finished your BSc degree
(M) you must have finished your additional requirements
(M) the CP in your core, subject-specific electives and seminar must sum to at least 40 CP
(M & S) you must have completed the course 401-2000-00, Scientific Works in Mathematics.

You have to register online for the thesis before you start (via mystudies). For information on remuneration and copyright of the thesis have a look at this directive.

The Master Thesis always takes exactly 28 weeks, this period is strict. The official hand-in date will be communicated by the study secretaries. The period for a semester thesis is much more flexible.

Short extensions can only be granted in severe cases. Good reasons for extensions are mental/physical illness with doctor's documentation and similar things. An experiment that did not work, data that came late, a change in the focus of the thesis, etc., are typically not reasons for extensions. If you need an extension, your supervisor has to contact the study director and request an extension. For longer extensions (more than a few weeks), the study director needs to put in a request at the rector's office.

Students can continue to work on the Master Thesis project after they handed it in, for example to work on a paper version. But this is not graded and not part of the official Master Thesis.

After handing in the Master Thesis, you need to stay enrolled until the degree request is finished and your degree becomes official. If you finish just before the start of a new semester, you might wonder if you still have to enroll into the next semester: Students who fail to enrol despite a reminder will be deregistered as of the fifth week of the semester. So, if you can request your diploma for sure (well) before the fifth week of the next semester, you need not enroll. Otherwise, you must enroll and take a leave of absence (if you don't take other courses). More details can be found here (see especially the point "Degree request").

Q: What courses will be shown in my diploma? [up]

A: The diploma consists of two parts: 1) The certificate and 2) the supplement. In the certificate you will put all the courses (up to 100 CP) that really count towards your degree and also towards your grade point average (GPA). In the supplement all other courses you have taken (also failed courses) will be shown.

You can only retake an exam if you failed. If you retake an exam (because you failed), only the second result will be shown (no matter if it got better or worse).

Q: I'm about to finish. Where should I look for a job etc.? [up]

A: The ETH and other organizations offer some excellent resources for finding a job. Here is a selection:

external page Career center
external page www.polycareer.ch [being active at the annual Polymesse or Polyinterview is especially recommended ! ]
external page www.eth-gethired.ch
www.mindphair.ethz.ch [specifically for math/phys students of ETHZ]
external page www.math-jobs.com
external page www.datacareer.ch
external page Job offers by Swiss Statistical Society

In Switzerland there are restrictions on work permits for students from non-EU countries. Please find detailed information here.

If you would like to do a PhD at ETH, please contact professor of interest directly. If you want to continue studying for another degree, please browse the ETH webpage for suitable programs.

Q: How do I keep in touch after I have finished? [up]

A: Have a look at our Info for alumni.

Q: Where can I get more information on graduating? [up]

A: You can submit a degree request anytime. Note that after requesting your degree you cannot have any registration for exams anymore. The requests will be processed continuously. Once a year there will be one big graduation ceremony to which all recent graduates are invited. For more information, please see the webpage of the Study Administration.

Q: What happens after the degree request? [up]

A: After the degree request, the diploma will be checked, issued and printed within about 2 weeks. Then, you will get exmatriculated automatically. The diploma will be sent to you via post. As a rough rule: All IT services (mail, polybox, etc.) remain active for another 180 days. Your student card remains valid until the end of the 2nd week of the following semester. ASVZ membership ends more or less immediately. More infos can be found here.

Q: Is there a permantent study room for MSc Stats students? [up]

A: Due to space restrictions it is unfortunately not possible to offer a permanent study room. We recommend that you work routinely at the desks in the hallway around HG G 19.1 and 19.2 (although they might sometimes be occupied by other students). Oftentimes, these two rooms themselves are not used and open to students.

Q: Can I do an exchange semester abroad? [up]

A: You can only do an exchange semester if your previous degree is from ETH Zürich (see Art. 15). In general, we discourage exchange semesters at this stage, since the program is already quite compact and an exchange semester would cause a lot of disruption. However, if you are interested, please contact the study coordinator.

For a short-term research exchange, please see the external page IDEA League.

Q: Can I get a reference letter for an internship? [up]

A: Some programs have mandatory internships and provide reference letters proving that the internship is mandatory. We do not have mandatory internships and therefore can not provide such a letter. However, we can give you a letter in which we support the idea of internships in general. For that, we also need to check that the internship will not interfer with your 6-semester-deadline. So, if you need such a letter, please contact the study administration via email and explain in this mail, that the internship will not interfere with your 6-semester deadline.

Q: What library services does ETH offer? [up]

A: The ETH has a huge general library. Many books are available online (e.g. as pdf) via the ETH library. There is also a mathematics library with a wide selection of mathematical books. In both libraries, you can register as a user and take books home.

Q: Can I attend talks of academic guests? [up]

A: We have a seminar on applied statistics where companies or research institutions present their (usually complex) statistics problems and solutions. You are welcome to attend. You may also attend the research seminar, but (depending on your background) these talks may be less suitable.

Q: Do you offer Teaching or Research Assistantships? [up]

A: The Math Department offers a limited number of teaching assistantships each semester. However, all introductory classes are taught in German. Therefore, you need to be fluent in German (mother language or at least level C1). If this is the case, you can apply. Note that you can usually only start in your second semester or later.

The Math Department only rarely offers research assistantships. However, other departments of ETH / UZH sometimes need students with some knowledge in statistics (and usually some programming experience). If there are any part-time job offers, they will be announced via email.

Q: Whom should I contact with further questions? [up]

A: Please contact the study coordinator Markus Kalisch:
Email:
Office: HG G 15.2
Phone: +41 44 632 3435

Info for current students

Study regulations

Questions

General

Course selection

Exams and Master Thesis

Finishing

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