Incoming Students

All exchange students are invited to contact the Student Services Office which will help them organise their arrival and stay in Geneva: visa, housing, course registration, logistics, etc.

At the start of the study semester, a welcome meeting will be organised to introduce newcomers to the Institute and explain the various administrative procedures they are required to complete.

Exchange students have access to all the same facilities as regular students: access to the library, use of IT resources, a personal email account, the assistance and support of Career Services, etc.
 

As part of its seven Masters and its PhD programmes, the Graduate Institute offers teaching in key areas of international and development studies. The Course Catalogue [pdf] is designed to assist students in choosing their courses from among those offered by the different academic units. Students who are undecided may call on the services of an academic adviser who will be happy to advise them on the choice of course(s) depending on their interests and their programme of study.

Most of the courses on offer take the form of seminars and bring together between 10 and 25 students of a similar academic level. Such small numbers allow for close interaction between professors and students, promote debate and encourage free expression of opinions.

Attending the Graduate Institute as an exchange student offers a marvellous opportunity to learn and/or perfect knowledge of English and French. All teaching is bilingual – English and French – and both languages are spoken by all members of the faculty and administrative staff. All students may, if they so choose, express themselves, draft their written papers and write their exams in English, even if they opt to follow a course taught in French. Exchange students may confine themselves to courses delivered only in English.

The autumn semester runs from mid-September to end-December; the spring semester runs from February to June. Courses take place during the day. The course timetable is available on the website and a hard copy may be obtained from the Student Services Office.

For additional information, please contact: Dr. Laurent Neury [Laurent.Neury (at) graduateinstitute.ch], Academic Adviser, Tel. + 41 22 908 62 61