PhD students in Switzerland are hired by universities and research centers for the duration of their studies, like their counterparts in other western countries. In this post, we inform you about the salary of PhD students in Switzerland. In addition to the salary information, we will also cover essential information about tax and deductions of salary in Switzerland.
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Like other Western countries, Universities and research centers in Switzerland hire PhD students for the duration of their studies. Note that it is common in many countries such as Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, and the UK. As it concerns this post, we should note that living expenses are among the highest in Switzerland. The nominal wealth per adult is the highest in the world, and the GDP of the country is among the top ten globally. Because of that, the salary of PhD students is also high in comparison to many other countries.
Gross salary of PhD students in Switzerland
According to the ETHZ website, the salary rates for doctoral students are as follows (rates in CHF):
| Rates | 1st year | 2nd year | 3rd year |
| Standard | 47040 | 48540 | 50040 |
| Rate 2 | 52855 | 55230 | 57610 |
| Rate 3 | 58670 | 61920 | 65180 |
| Rate 4 | 64485 | 68610 | 72750 |
| Rate 5 | 70300 | 75300 | 80320 |
As can be seen in the table above, there are big differences between different rates. You might ask yourself how can I be qualified for rate 5 instead of the standard rate. In the following, we try to explain what are the requirements for each rate.
According to the Ordinance governing scientific employees of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, the rate depends directly on the workload of the doctoral students besides his/her research. It reads:
If doctoral students provide services in excess of the normal minimum level of teaching in the Department, they are entitled to a higher rate of payment.
However, the student should spend at least 70% of his/her time on the dissertation and related research activities. Therefore, the maximum teaching load of PhD students is 30% of their time. That is why this rate is determined upon agreement between the employer and the employee (PhD student in this case). However, irrespective of the rate, the salary grows every year for the first three years of PhD job.
Duration of the contract:
The contract length of PhD students and Postdocs can be up to six years.
Family Allowance of Doctoral Students:
PhD students like other employees in Switzerland receive a family allowance for caring for children. The family allowance for ETHZ employees (e.g. PhD students) is as follows:
| Children | ETH rate |
| 1st child, child allowance | 376.60 |
| 1st child, education allowance | 376.60 |
| Add. child, child allowance until the age of 12 | 243.25 |
| Add. child, child allowance, age 12 – 15/16 | 250 |
| Add. child, education allowance over age 15/16 | 274.85 |
Note that the family allowance listed above is already included in the contribution from Zurich City.
Net salary (after tax) of PhD students in Switzerland
The net salary (take-home money) of PhD students is certainly less than the gross salary shown above. In this section, we will describe all deductions from your monthly salary as a PhD student. The following are the basic deductions from your gross salary: Old-age pension (AHV), Disability benefit (IV), Loss of income (EO), and Unemployment benefit (ALV 1). This all deduction makes in total 6.375% of your gross salary. Then you might also pay your contribution to the Swiss Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA) (around 0.38%). In addition to those mentioned above, you will also contribute to the Pension fund which is around 7% (varies according to age city of living, and Fund company). However, the major deduction is withheld tax which we will explain in detail in the next section.
Withholding tax of PhD students in Switzerland
For foreign students, the withholding tax is very similar to income tax. The rate of the tax depends on many factors such as marital status, number of children, and even your religion. The latter matters if you are Christian and wish to contribute to the church tax. According to the ETHZ website, the categories are listed in the following table:
| Groups of persons | Rate |
|---|---|
| Single, divorced, separated or widowed | A |
| Married Only one spouse at work | B |
| Married Both earning, spouse working | C |
| Single, divorced, separated or widowed Living with children and primarily responsible for their support | H1 – H5 |
Net salary Calculator of PhD students in Switzerland
The ETH Zurich makes an online calculator for salary and tax in Switzerland (you can find it here). In this section, we provide you with some examples of salary and corresponding take-home money. To make the data suitable for a broader range of readers, we divide this section into various rates:
Net salary of PhD students in Switzerland at a Standard rate
Let us assume you are on the Standard rate of PhD studentship in Switzerland and you are single without any child. Then your net monthly salary is 3330.85 CHF (~3660 USD) per month. Note that this net salary corresponds to a deduction of 589 CHF (~650 USD) per month (i.e. your monthly gross salary is 3920 CHF). The details of the deduction are as follows:
Non-​occupational accident (23.50 CHF), AHV contributions (206.80 CHF), ALV contributions (43.10 CHF), Savings contribution pension fund (131.70 CHF), Risk premium pension fund (15.10 CHF, Risk insurance (0.00 CHF), Withholding tax (168.95 CHF). That means the Withholding tax for a standard rate of Doctoral students is less than 5% (or the mentioned condition above).
However, if the same PhD student is married with one child but the partner is not employed, the net monthly salary will be 3428 CHF (~3777 USD). Note that such a person qualifies for a family allowance and gets an additional 376 CHF (~414 USD).
In all the following calculations, we assume that if the student is married, the partner is not in employment and they live in Zurich. If any of these condition changes, the tax will change, too.
Net salary of PhD students in Switzerland at a rate of 2
Here, we can run a similar calculation and the results are summed in the table below:
| First-year | Gross salary (monthly) | Net salary (monthly) | Total deduction (monthly) |
| Single | 4404.60 CHF | 3711.25 CHF | 693.35 CHF |
| Married without child | 4404.60 CHF | 3820.95 CHF | 583.65 CHF |
| Married with one child | 4404.60 CHF | 4247.80 CHF (including family allowance) | 4404.60 CHF |
Net salary of PhD students in Switzerland at a rate of 3
Let us run a similar calculation for the case of a PhD student in rate 3.
| First-year | Gross salary (monthly) | Net salary (monthly) | Total deduction (monthly) |
| Single | 4889.15 CHF | 4088.30 CHF | 800.85 CHF |
| Married without child | 4889.15 CHF | 4215.40 CHF | 673.75 CHF |
| Married with one child | 4889.15 CHF | 4646.80 CHF (including family allowance) | 618.95 CHF |
Net salary of PhD students in Switzerland at a rate of 4
Let us run a similar calculation for the case of a PhD student in rate 4.
| First-year | Gross salary (monthly) | Net salary (monthly) | Total deduction (monthly) |
| Single | 5373.75 CHF | 4452.70 CHF | 921.05 CHF |
| Married without child | 5373.75 CHF | 4598.85 CHF | 774.90 CHF |
| Married with one child | 5373.75 CHF | 5045.50 CHF (including family allowance) | 704.85 CHF |
Net salary of PhD students in Switzerland at a rate of 5
Let us run a similar calculation for the case of a PhD student in rate 5.
| First-year | Gross salary (monthly) | Net salary (monthly) | Total deduction (monthly) |
| Single | 5858.35 CHF | 4814.40 CHF | 1043.95 CHF |
| Married without child | 5858.35 CHF | 4984.25 CHF | 874.10 CHF |
| Married with one child | 5858.35 CHF | 5439.80 CHF (including family allowance) | 795.15 CHF |
The calculations above are according to the pay scale of ETH in Zurich.
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