An inside look: postgraduate study at EPFL. Part 2

Unique and stunning Rolex center: top - cheese, in the background of the mountains - foothills

So, in the previous article , aspects of admission to the EPFL postgraduate course were considered, but upon arrival in the country, the rhinestone raises many domestic issues that need to be resolved as soon as possible.

Happy and satisfied, having a ticket, visa and contract in your hands, you need to think over at least the first two months of your stay in Switzerland. The first month is before the salary, the second month is for getting used to the new habitat and exercises with various government agencies and insurance companies. The following description is summarized on the EPFL website itself , but I would like to present an expanded version with a ton of useful links, and share my own experience as the play progresses.
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Satisfied ?! Well, who will be pleased with this climate? (photos taken with a period of a day)

Accommodation and where does GASPAR?

The first thing you need to understand for yourself - the first month will be the most difficult and most costly. As I described in the previous part , the search for housing remotely - compare the construction of sand castles on the beach in a storm. No matter how lucky you are in the beginning, everything will most likely end at the “come and meet” stage. In addition, usually the true owner of the property can never be met, communicating only with agents who do not always want to speak in English.

Therefore, I would recommend puzzling this issue with either the secretary of the professor, or living a month in a kind of dormitory and then again shifting this problem to a special unit of EPFL - Logement . It is enough just to ask politely by e-mail for you to find accommodation. As if the university is charged for you, it will give you a certain amount of points in your favor when real estate agents make a decision (other parameters are personal impression, income statement, which is sent monthly by the university, rental stability or contract term). It is also useful to ask the secretary to make a paper for you that you are here thoroughly and for a long time.

In addition, upon arrival, each employee, student, and so on gets a so-called GASPAR account (in French only), which is used everywhere: to get a CamiPro student card, to purchase licensed software and computer equipment with certain discounts , purchases in a specialized store (in In my case, this is a store of chemical reagents and consumables), university-wide mail, an electronic system for accounting courses and teaching practices, and so on and so forth. That is almost everywhere. In particular, to access its own university (UNIL + EPFL) database for housing search .

In principle, it is possible to subscribe to similar information received from the Logement website, but in pdf format, simply, as I have already noted, by sending a letter to this department explaining the situation. They say that you are a future graduate student and you want to look for a place to live for yourself, but for now you cannot find anything.

For example, my statistics is as follows - out of 78 requests, 26 at least some answers were received (that is, one third), and there are no more proposals to come and see - more than 5. Depressed statistics.

In the long run, you can find suitable housing if you spend some time. At the same time, the cost depending on the area, the floor and the number of rooms varies from 500-700 francs (1 CHF ~ 34 rubles) to almost infinity.

University base for finding housing: no extra information, everything is strictly on business

Another feature - a deposit for housing. Opened in the bank. The amount made on this deposit can vary from 1 to 3-4 monthly fees for housing. He returns after leaving the apartment. It is clear that at the beginning of such money no one has, so there is a special service : about 100 francs a year and a third-party organization will vouch for you.

Work permit or permit

First of all, what needs to be done is to apply for a work permit (or colloquially) to the office of the Contrôle des habitants. This will require:

Photo 3.5 * 4.5 cm,
it’s better to fill out the Rapport d'arrivee application form, which can be downloaded and completed at home,
OASA form, which the professor’s secretary will send you as a scan,
a copy of the working contract and the contract itself,
notarized copy of birth certificate,
copy overseas. passports
Payment (~ 150 CHF) is made on site when submitting documents

However, you first need to go through biometrics in a special center and at the invitation, which again will be sent to you from the secretary. Cost - 20 francs. This price includes a photo, fingerprints and electronic signature.

2-3 months after submitting the documents, the bonus will be sent by mail.

Unlike Pochte Russia

Yes, a distinctive feature of local mail is speed and reliability. And this is despite the fact that the post office is trading in nothing, from stationery to mobile phones.

However, everything from accounts to documents goes through the mail. As I have already said, even the permit will be sent by mail (registered mail), the only thing that you will have to go to the post office itself.

New design of post offices (post.ch)

What to do if there is no permite, but you want to go home?

In principle, this problem is solved in one day and costs 96 francs. For this you need to get a Visa de retour . Photo, certificate (attestation) that documents for the permit have been filed and a passport, in which the visa itself will be affixed. It is said that the procedure takes no more than 10-15 minutes.

Unfortunately, the Swiss laws are so harsh that the permit for all 4 years of postgraduate study is not enough that you have to change it every year, it also limits your possibilities somewhat because it is BL (although the permit B is printed on the card) is some mixture of temporary work permits and permits for students (students, for example). In addition, the contract spelled out in small print, that years in graduate school are not counted when receiving permit C, that is, a permanent residence permit. In Germany, for example, it is enough to work from five years on a more or less permanent basis and - voula - one step closer to citizenship.

Another minor dirty trick is moving from a commune to a commune (read, from village to village, from town to town). At the same time, the permit must be “updated”, i.e. submit the entire set of documents again and wait for the above time - a couple of months. And only a small street can divide two communes.

Bank account

After submitting the documents, usually immediately (from the commune to the commune, the rules may differ) a certificate (attestation) is issued, with which you can safely go to the bank and open an account there. Usually everything is done within 10-20 minutes. The main thing, then do not forget to enter the account number in the questionnaire and enter it into the Human Resource .

Switzerland is a country of banks. Exaggerating, each store has its own bank. The most popular are: Credit Swiss and UBS (both have representative offices in the Russian Federation), PostFinance (a very convenient bank for domestic use, as there are a lot of offices — consider, there is an ATM in every post office, but not much else), COOP Finance and MIGRO Finance (both names are network supermarkets) and so on.

For the first time, they will only make a salary card - Visa Electron or Maestro, but when the permit is on hand, you can safely apply for a credit card. Again, it is 15 minutes and the card will be sent by mail.

Admission to the doctoral school and obtaining a student card (CamiPro)

Another formality on the way to get a local student card is enrollment in graduate school. For this, it is necessary to submit diplomas to the secretariat of the relevant school (of course, originals and translations into English), the consent of the professor or supervisor to take charge of you.

Electronic document turnover system

Yes, yes, the main reason for the transition to the electronic document management system in EPFL is green technology and environmental care. Each piece of paper has a signature that you will be immensely grateful if you find a way not to print this or that piece of paper on a sheet of paper.

Honestly, and maybe disappointed, I don’t know what this electronic document management system is based on. I can only say that such a huge file (from passport data to diplomas and copies of contracts) is immediately collected in it, that for a moment it seemed to me that the FSB colonel, and not the secretary of the school, was receiving it. Accordingly, there are users with the appropriate rights. And even students are users of this system. For example, ISA .

Then you can safely go for CamiPro - a local student card, combined with the NFC-wallet. It takes about 10 minutes - photographing and printing the card itself. A couple of weeks from the school comes confirmation of enrollment, which means it's time to visit our little Oscar to print the "validity period" of this graduate student - funny!

In addition, the presence of CamiPro allows you to use scanners / copiers, rent a car for short trips or a bicycle - a complete list here . Finally, to make a bit of envy, there is the CamiPro application for iOS and Android with a huge list of features: from metro schedules and restaurants / canteens on campus to campus maps.

CamiPro in action. All photos are taken from official EPFL sites.

A nice bonus for EPFL employees.

I never cease to be surprised at the countries of Europe, the countries of the victorious ~~capitalism of~~ socialism. So in the essay on internship in Germany a couple of years ago, I cited some costing / income for an average student and why we, the builders of communism, didn’t build it.

In short, I will say that a ticket for all types of transport in Moscow for students costs about 350 rubles, for graduate students - about 2,000 (I am afraid to make a mistake with exact figures). Yes, yes, you heard right, graduate students have absolutely no benefits, and until September 2012 the scholarship was 2,500 rubles (without surcharges, with surcharges around 3,500-4,000), now it's 6,000 rubles (but this is a miserable consolation for surcharges were cut).

In developed countries (Germany, France, Switzerland, etc.) there is a special travel card for students, the cost of which rarely exceeds 40-60 euros (that is, no more than 2,400 rubles), while this item of expenditure does not exceed 5% of income of undergraduate and graduate students, rather than 50, 70 or 90.

For example, my monthly Mobilis ticket for two zones (the so-called Greater Lausanne) costs 45 francs per month. However, EPFL together with SBB (local Railways) provides a free “demi-tariff” card (all trips are at 50% of the cost, but also include public transport in some cities and water transport) or a discount of several hundred francs for GA (annual unlimited travel card).

Having a “half price” card in your hands, you can buy a “7 way” card for 130 francs, which gives you the right to travel from 7 pm to 5 am absolutely free of charge, without even getting a boarding cost, like ours, with a “zero” cost. True, such a card can be bought only by persons from 16 to 25 years old.

Mandatory Safety Instructions

Upon receipt, CamiPro is issued an invitation to compulsory briefing on fire safety and first aid. This is useful, I do not argue, yet quite boring, except for the practical part:

Health insurance

In Switzerland, there is one small but extremely significant nuance: the supremacy of cantonal laws over federal ones. That is, you can not just take and insure yourself and your health. It is necessary that this insurance and this insurance company be approved by cantonal !!! by the authorities. And this means that even do not think to buy insurance in the Russian Federation for more than one month.

The most famous companies in EPFL are SwissCare and CSS insurance . The differences are minimal, everywhere the monthly payment is about 80 francs. But this is basic insurance, for example, it does not include a dentist, which costs some more francs per month.

In general, being sick in Switzerland is not enough pleasant, because insurance covers only what is above the so-called “franchise” (usually from 100 francs and above). That is, it is necessary to pay for the treatment of some amount from your karma.

The main difference between the above companies is that CSS itself pays directly to the doctor, whereas in the case of SwissCare you have to pay yourself, send the bill by mail and in a couple of weeks the card will receive a refund of this bill.

Home Insurance and ECA

Yes, insurance of everything and everyone is a rather substantial part of the expenses of the family budget. Health insurance, health insurance against accidents at work, pension insurance, home insurance, insurance against fire. In the end, you sit all reinsured ...

There are at least two types of home insurance: ECA (against fire) and RC privee (if you suddenly want to break the wall with your head). As far as I understand, RC privee is required to cover costs, if something is broken, broken or broken at the time of leaving the apartment.

Telephone and Internet

There are no big problems with communications. Pre-paid mobile Internet 250 MB costs 7 francs per month (enough for the eyes, as at home and at work Wi-Fi), and home Internet 8 MB / s will cost 30 francs plus 5 for the console with wireless Internet.

Nutrition

Most importantly, I forgot!

How and what to eat:

You can eat quite fully in the dining rooms and cafes in the territory of EPFL / UNIL. CamiPro gives some discounts of 1,2, rarely 3-4 francs from 10 francs for lunch. Lunch is usually a side dish (and much more varied than in Russia - green beans, vegetables, peas in pods, antrishoki, etc.), a piece of meat (from horse meat steak - yes, I tried - to corny chicken). There are a huge number of "themed" cafes or "stalls" - from Indian and Thai cuisine to pizza (real Italian, which they spin with their hands) and kebabs (shawarma or shaurma).

Unfortunately, soups - in our understanding of borscht and cabbage soup - are absent in European countries as a class. There is goulash soup - great lunch in the mountains, and mashed soups - from pumpkin to cabbage. This is a big minus, but no one bothers on the market to find the products necessary for making rich borscht.
Food in the store at a cost is not very different from Moscow (if you skip it not at Auchan, but at the supermarkets of the ABC of Taste or Crossroads network).

Fruits, as lucky as you can, can be bought for cheap: bananas and apples from 2-4 francs per kilogram, Chinese lychees (something like grapes with hard skin and big bones) for 5-6 francs per pound, Pineapple can be snatched for the same 3-4-5 francs.

Juices. Quite calmly, you can buy really fresh juices (with pulp, without sugar and with a small shelf life) of 4-5 francs per liter.

Chocolate and cheese. Lots of manufacturers and varieties. There are budget and elite options. The average price of a chocolate bar is 1-2 francs, cheese is 20-30 francs per kilogram.

Wine. Swiss wine is absolutely not known outside the country, because it is produced exclusively by local, often family, distilleries for the domestic market. However, the wine is quite tasty, the price varies from 5-6 francs per table to 20-30 for the "semi" collection bottles.

They filled all the slopes - these vineyards ...
Markets In Europe, in general, weekend markets are very common. And it's not even about some organic farming products. Local come to market trite talk. For example, it is very difficult to imagine a radical Parisian without a Sunday market - absolutely impossible.

Lausanne has its own, combined with a flea market, on Wednesdays (slightly smaller) and on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) more. Everything is sold: from vegetables and fruits to the “finger-shoved” sausage (s) . The same sausage costs about 15-20 francs per kilogram, which is not so expensive. Pork can be found for 15-20 francs, chicken is slightly more expensive - fillets from 20-25.

Leisure and sport center UNIL-EPFL. useful links

Let's start with the fact that for graduate students EPFL organizes Welcome Party . So far I can’t say anything concrete about this event - I’ll have to visit it.

Lausanne, as the inscription on the building of the railway station says, is the capital of the Olympic Games, and therefore almost every village in the district has its own sports club and a small stadium.

The UNIL-EPFL Sport Center is located in UNIL and formally belongs to the University of Lausanne. The annual subscription to the sports center itself costs 100 francs a year, while the gym will have to pay another 20 francs and undergo compulsory instructions on the use of machines for pumping biceps, triceps, or something else. For comparison, in the Russian Federation, I had to officially pay 150 rubles for visits, but I did not pay officially - 100 rubles. Yes, almost everyone is obsessed with security here, though ...

Suspended in chem. the store: the chemists are joking ...

After completing the card, you can enroll in different sections (some are paid, but the fee is small, some are free), including educational ski weekends. It costs about 130 francs, this cost includes tuition for two days, a lift (usually 40-50 per day) and dinner with breakfast in a chalet (that is, the price is fully justified). For renting skis (92 francs) and travel (27 there and back - 50% of the cost) you will have to pay yourself, but it's worth it:

Stunning views

Fondue - for everyone, like a chalet visiting ritual ...

The EPFL has its own trade union - ACIDE , which organizes, in particular, trips to CERN, skiing, various parties and so on.

By the way, while collecting this material, I discovered that ACIDE had just prepared the most informative and informative brochure for those who would like to study at the EPFL (I mean graduate school), but does not know how to approach it.

Anyway, in the course of the life story in the EPFL, I mentioned some figures from personal experience, some generalized cost of living is shown on the student life site .

If it was not possible to find accommodation through the EPFL-UNIL base, ImmoStreet , ImmoScout or Home.ch are at your service.

15 minutes from Lausanne there is a ~~small~~ village called Allaman with 3 huge shopping complexes IKEA, Outlet and COOP Litoral .

I always check the technique on TopPreise and mostly buy in Digitec (prices + 2-5% to the minimum Moscow ones), sometimes you can see the local Ricardo flea market.

If you still have time for cultural life, then welcome here or here . Movie lovers can find a session for themselves here .

In order to start new ones, it is better to leave aside such Russian forums as Ladoshki and Russian Switzerland, and go straight to EnglishForum and Glocals .

On the advice of Komrad noittom , I add a couple of useful links: anibis.ch is another good flea market, and cuso.ch are useful seminars for swiss romande uni.

Thank you for reading to the end! If you have any questions - please contact, I will try to answer!

PS: A proposal was received to add the following information: that the years of graduate school "can be taken into account" (potentially, but not tentatively) as necessary for the Permit C Proof .

PPS: Occasionally, publications from NASA , in which there are stunningly beautiful night shots of earth from space, skip. On them Russia - several large cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Yekaterinburg and so on. Did not believe. Flying from Moscow, I photographed a sprint, the weather allowed, I had to believe: Moscow plus another diameter of the capital is light, and everything else is dark ... While Western Europe is bird's-eye view — lights of small villages and spots of millionaire cities. Sad comrades!