The initial duration of the association contract is 6 months. The contract may be extended by two periods of 12 months, followed by a last extension of 6 months. The maximum duration of a doctoral student contract may not exceed three years. 
A progress report on the student's work is required for extensions after 18 months and after 30 months.

Some universities require an attestation for Health and Safety for your studentship. If that is your case, please contact tsc.student@cern.ch.

No, you are expected to start work on the following Monday. This also applies if your contract starts on a Sunday. Should your contract start on an official holiday, you are expected to start work on the next working day.

You will receive an invitation to the onboarding event at the Globe of Science and Innovation a few days before the start date of your contract. The exact time of the induction will be communiticated to you in the invitation. Please note that the first possible start time is 08:00 C.E.T.

You will receive instruction to upload your passport/ID. For some ID cards, the photo is outdated even if they are still valid. You must be recognizable in the photo so please renew it if necessary. The Swiss Mission requires up-to-date documents. Also, your ID card must have a validity start and end date. In addition you will need to provide us the following documents/ information:

For technical and administrative students:

• The declaration “Students Home  Institute Declaration” must be approved by the educational establishment before the contract can be established. Please use the format DD-MM-YYYY.
• ​Place of residence at the time of the committee. Please note that no official document is required to confirm your place of residence.

For doctoral students:

• The declaration “Students Home  Institute Declaration” must be approved by the educational establishment before the contract can be established. Please use the format DD-MM-YYYY.
• PhD description is also required for the contract set up.
• Place of residence at the time of the committee. Please note that no official document is required to confirm your place of residence.

Students are Associated Members of Personnel and the validity of the contract of association is subject to remaining a registered student at their university. ). The declaration “Students Home  Institute Declaration” must be approved by the educational establishment before the contract can be established. For doctoral students an additional document: PhD description is also required for the contract set up.

If your university requires a studentship agreement, please note that we cannot sign external documents. They should sign the CERN agreement which has been established in collaboration with schools.

Contracts are established in priority of their start date. You will receive your contract by email, along with instructions on how to return it signed. Should you need your contract urgently, please inform your coordinator

Should you need an attestation of your studentship before receiving the contract, kindly contact tsc.student@cern.ch.

Yes, you will need to open a Swiss bank account as you are paid in Swiss Francs. CERN has two banks in Meyrin site (UBS or La Poste), one in Prevessin site (Credit Agricole). You can also open a bank account in any other bank in Switzerland. Once you are at CERN, you can contact the bank in order to arrange an appointment.

Please check your contract.

Any financial benefits from external sources during your contract must be reported to the Coordinator and you are required to provide proof of the monthly net amount you receive. If this support is directly related to your placement at CERN, it will be deducted from your CERN subsistence.