I am currently doing an academic research in agriculture and innovation (with one publication) and looking for a PhD position in Switzerland. I am considering the Zurich University and ETH, since they have quite advanced programs in agriculture.
My question is: What is the best way (higher chances) of applying for a PhD position - through an open vacancies (which I realized are usually few) or through a direct contact to a professor (in a graduate school)? What are my chances? Do you know any successful examples or your own personal experience?
Any other University experience will also be helpful.
The best chances in my experience come through your network. So, if any of your close academic contacts has a contact to your desired research group at ETHZ or UZH, use that connection.
Professors, scientists, and even postdocs receive a constant barrage of emails, many of them these "cold" emails, and these are often ignored out of necessity unless there is a direct connection between the research groups.
If you had met previously in a conference, you could also use this as a connection point. One unfortunate result of the pandemic is the loss of this.
Anyway, the main point is to use academic network connections as best you can. You could also leverage the reputation of the research group you did your master thesis in, if there is no direct connection, but even this might not work. Anyway, I've done most hiring this way, through recommendations made from researchers that I trust.
As Motorschweitz, it mostly works through networking. The job position is only published online if no suitable candidate is found among the network of contacts.
But this is good news for online ads, apply to them. It means they're looking outside their network of contacts and if you have the right profile, you get it. Since I graduated, my professor has asked me if I know someone with a certain profile (of course NO, very specific profiles), and some weeks later he sends me an email with the offer asking to publish it everywhere, from facebook to linkedin. So far, I've seen how 2 guys have been hired outside the network of contacts.
The department where I work has a hiring day program through which applicants can visit and interview multiple labs. Students apply directly to the hiring program, applications are reviewed by profs, and applicants of interest are invited to the hiring days during which they need to give a talk, and they also visit labs they have applied to.
Being accepted to attend the hiring days is not an acceptance to the PhD program: you need the prof to agree to take you on. So in addition to applying to the hiring days you need to proactively contact profs of interest to see if they have a space for you, and to ensure they will interview you on the day.
I'd contact the department(s) you are interested in to see what their application process is.
As Motorschweitz said, profs receive a lot of "cold" or generic emails, which are most often ignored. If you are going to contact a professor out of the blue make the email direct and personal, and be persistent if they don't respond. If all you say is "I like science and I find your research interesting" your email will be deleted within seconds. You need to sell yourself a bit.
Hi there. Obviously networking will be your best bet, either your networking or the professor's you're currently working with.
My wife's MSc professor did not have any contacts in Switzerland, so she applied directly to EPFL's doctoral program , in which she got accepted and listed some laboratories that she'd be interested in doing her PhD. One of these laboratories professor contacted her directly. Best of luck!
I think it is always best to contact the professor in advance. There's not much benefit of being admitted to a PhD program if nobody is willing to supervise you.
If the professor is interested he/she is likely to give you tips on how to improve your application. Besides, at ETH most professors recruit from direct applications.
It is important that the professor in question has funding but one may go trough an extra effort to find funding or tell when it may be available if the student is excellent.
We still have majority of this, it got shifted online. It is not as easy to mingle and network but it's doable.
OP - profs (and not just here), apppreciate a clear vision, a portfolio if you wish, that you have prepared with what you have done and what you want to do.
The easiest is to contact directly the professor(s) you would like to work with, mentioning why you are interested in working with them, and attaching your CV, etc.
If your email is personalized (i.e., it does not look like an email sent to many professors at the same time) and your past experience fits with the research area of the professor you are contacting, you will have better chances to catch their attention.
Typically research communities in any given area are not that large and professors in the same area mostly all know each other. If one of your current professors "knows" you (you did research with them or you got a good grade in their subject, or you were very active in their class, etc.) you could ask them if they know a professor at the ETHZ and they could help you establishing a contact.
Thank you so much for all your replies! Very useful! I will certainly follow your advice and contact the professor of much choice. Many thanks, much appreciated!