The search is on for a solution to the cost-of-living adjustment for doctoral students
In contrast to other ETH Zurich employees, it is still unclear for doctoral students whether and when they will receive a cost-of-living adjustment and how this will be financed. The Executive Board is unhappy with this situation. A working group will seek a solution in early 2023.
It wasn’t good news for doctoral students at ETH Zurich when the ETH Board – the strategic governing body in the ETH Domain (ETH, EPFL, PSI, WSL, Empa, Eawag) – announced on 8 December that ETH employees would receive a 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment for 2023.
That is because this resolution does not apply to doctoral students. At present, only professors, permanent researchers (senior scientists, senior assistants), temporary researchers (postdocs), and technical and administrative staff are set to receive the cost-of-living adjustment.
Doctoral students, on the other hand, are paid flat-rate salaries set by the ETH Zurich Executive Board. These salaries included no cost-of-living adjustment either this year or in previous years since 2014. Why this unequal treatment?
This has to do with the salary system that the ETH Executive Board introduced for doctoral students in 2014: in accordance with this system, their work is paid according to fixed rates, which increase from the first to the third year. Moreover, ETH Zurich has implemented five different salary rates with a view to meeting the market requirements of the various departments.
ETH salary rates linked to SNSF
One peculiarity of this salary system is that in 2013 the ETH Executive Board decided that the salary rates for doctoral students at ETH are linked to those of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
The SNSF sets a salary range for the gross annual salary of doctoral students at Swiss universities and defines a minimum salary that must be adhered to regardless of the level of employment and the source of funding. For ETH doctoral students, this means that if the SNSF increases its rates for doctoral students, ETH will too.
Since 2014, however, the SNSF has left the rates unchanged and has not adjusted them to reflect what was until recently very low inflation In the same timeframe there was an approximately 4 percent salary increase for other ETH employees.
Although the SNSF is examining an adjustment to its rates for the increased inflation of 2023, it has not yet decided to proceed. Accordingly, the ETH Executive Board also refrained from a salary adjustment for doctoral students at its last meeting of the year at the beginning of December.
This has left a bad taste in the mouths of many doctoral students – especially those in the lowest pay bracket, known as the standard rate, whose annual salary lies between 47,040 Swiss francs (in their first year) and 50,040 Swiss francs (in their third year) (see box). ETH Zurich has some 3500 doctoral students working full-time with a 100 per cent workload. Of these, about 36 percent are paid at the standard rate and about 27 percent are paid at the highest rate (grade 5).
Inflation hits those on the lowest salary
“Anyone who is paid at the standard rate will be acutely aware that inflation is rising along with the cost of living, rent and energy prices,” says Charles Ledoux, president of the AVETH association of scientific staff. AVETH had consistently emphasised during the previous rounds of consultation over the past years that deciding against a cost-of-living adjustment would worsen the living situation of doctoral students.
For this reason, the association of scientific staff is calling for regular cost-of-living adjustments. Following the Executive Board’s resolution, AVETH was very concerned that only certain staff would have their salaries adjusted for inflation, but not the weakest members of the ETH community.
The Executive Board is also unhappy with the fact that, of all ETH employees, only doctoral students are not to receive any cost-of-living adjustment. Julia Dannath, Vice President for Personnel Development and Leadership, would therefore like to reach out to them: “We are very aware of the rise in inflation and the cost of living, and also of the situation our doctoral students find themselves in. We don’t want to leave things as they are. AVETH’s concerns are justified.”
Search starts for a solution
“We want to find a solution as soon as possible that will permit an adjustment to salary rates. We have to wait for the SNSF’s decision and sort out the funding,” explains Dannath, whose responsibilities include the salary policy for scientific staff at ETH.
She has convened a working group that will start working to find solutions from the beginning of next year. “Actions to adjust doctoral student salaries are needed independent of SNSF as well”, replies Charles Ledoux.
Accordingly, the working group will discuss whether to maintain a link to the SNSF rates, how to stagger the salary rates and how to finance the adjustments.
Any change in the rates would lead to higher funding requirements in the departments and must of course be discussed with them – after all, salaries for doctoral students are generally financed by departments and professorships using funds from the Swiss federal financial contribution granted to ETH, or by the SNSF, grants, or other project funds.
This was one of the reasons why the Executive Board had initially advocated maintaining the link to the SNSF. That is why, in addition to VPPL and AVETH, professors from the departments should also be involved in finding solutions.
SNSF wants to increase salaries later
Dannath is not entirely satisfied with the lack of transparency regarding the SNSF’s conditions: “In light of the current rate of inflation, the SNSF has promised more rapid action. Its decision is pivotal for us and is not yet known for the 2023 start date.”
The SNSF has at least signalled in its ongoing talks with ETH that the last word has not yet been spoken. “This gives us hope that there will be an adjustment of the SNSF rates after all, which will also lead to an adjustment of the salaries for doctoral students at ETH.”
Employment conditions for doctoral students
The circumstances of employment contracts for doctoral students are different to those for other members of the ETH community: Doctoral student are full-time employees whose most essential role is of course to drive science by running their own research projects for the 3-6 years of their doctorate.
As employees they also perform important tasks in teaching (e.g. supervision of students in exercise sessions) and in research (e.g. tasks in the laboratory or in the maintenance of research equipment). On the other hand, doctoral students are also receiving an education.
The employment conditions of doctoral students are an important concern for ETH Zurich. Accordingly, together with the external page Ordinance on Doctoral Studies, new Download directives for employment entered into force on 1 January 2022, heralding major improvements.
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