Conférence universitaire de Suisse occidentale CUSO

The DPMS (Programme Doctoral en Sciences des Minéraux in french) unites the doctoral students and senior teaching scientists of the traditional disciplines mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry, geochronology, material sciences and archeometry from the Universities of Fribourg, Genève, Lausanne, Neuchâtel and Bern. The doctoral program aims to foster scientific quality and creativity in the field of Mineral Sciences and to promote mobility and soft skills competence. Activities are also open to doctoral students and researchers from other related fields. The education and training offer comprises acquirement of scientific tools (mainly analytical methods), soft skills, and a broad scientific background through courses, workshops and field excursions.

The DPMS aims to enhance collaboration and scientific exchanges between the research groups of the CUSO universities. DPMS doctoral students are welcome to (co-)organise their own activities and develop networks of collaboration, and to present their research during annual DPMS meeting days. Discussions with advanced researchers and with doctoral students from other universities give students the chance to discuss new scientific developments and to exchange methods, ideas and points of view.

a. Groundhog burrow under an amphibole-bearing micaschist (Val Piora, Switzerland); b. Folded porphyroclast (dextral deformation) in a black schist with garnet (Stgir-Formation, Val Piora, Switzerland); c. Microphotograph in polarised-analysed light of a blueschist containing epidote porphyroblasts, glaucophane, phengite, actinolite and titanite (Ile de Groix, Brittany, France); d. View of the Mont-Blanc Massif (south face) and Aosta Valley from the Col d’Arpy viewpoint (Italy) [© Photos: Afifé El Korh (UniFr)]