Practical Life
University administrative procedures
Certificate of registration for the semester
A certificate of registration for the semester, which is necessary to fill out a tax declaration or to apply for an education allowance or family allowance, is available on portail.unige.ch. It also contains the certificates for the last twenty semesters.
Please note: the certificate is only available after registration of the payment of the semester fee (five days after the date of payment).
Change of faculty/institute/centre/school
Every student starting his/her first bachelor semester, without prior university studies or limitation to a faculty/institute, and wishing to change to another faculty/institute can do so no later than three weeks after the start of the course on the Admissions Office's platform.
No changes are possible for the Faculties of Medicine, Translation and Interpretation, and other programs with pre-registration, unless the pre-registration has been made within the deadline and the application has been accepted by the faculty/institute.
Requests to change faculties for the following semester must be made between December 1 and January 15 for the spring semester, and between July 1 and August 15 for the fall semester.
Change of orientation within the same faculty/institute/centre/school
Any student who wishes to change direction and discipline while remaining in the same faculty/institute may do so by submitting a written request to the Dean of the faculty/institute concerned. Contact the student services or student secretariat of the faculty or institute for information on deadlines.
Academic Calendar
Exam registration
Exam registration procedures are specific to each faculty/institute. In some cases, registration for the courses automatically leads to registration for the exams; in other cases, a specific procedure must be followed.
Students who are attending one or more courses in another faculty or institute than the one in their original study plan must be informed about the procedure to follow in order not to miss a deadline or an exam session. For more information, please contact the student services or the student secretariat of the faculties or institutes concerned.
Leave of absence
Any student who wishes to interrupt his or her studies temporarily can obtain a leave of absence while remaining registered. The leave is granted by the dean or director of the faculty or institute concerned for a period of one semester or one year, renewable.
For the duration of the leave, the student pays only the fixed fees, i.e. 65 francs per semester. He or she is not allowed to take exams. In order to be taken into account, the request for leave must reach the faculty or institute concerned at least one month before the beginning of the course (this deadline must be checked with each faculty/institute).
When several courses are followed in parallel at UNIGE, each faculty/institute must give its agreement for the period concerned, otherwise the leave cannot be validated.
Leaving the UNIGE
Students who wish to stop their studies for good must register. This process, to be carried out on the Admissions Department platform, will immediately suspend their rights and obligations. It is strongly recommended that you contact your student advisor beforehand to find out the possible academic consequences of such an exmatriculation.
Applications for exmatriculation cannot be submitted during examination sessions and until notification of results. Each student who applies for exmatriculation within six weeks of the official start of the semester pays only the fixed fee of 65 francs. He or she is entitled, upon request to the Admissions Department, to a refund of the tuition fees already paid. On the other hand, each student who applies for exmatriculation after the six-week period following the beginning of the course must pay the full semester fees.
Exmatriculation is automatic for those who, after obtaining a degree, have not enrolled in another program (master, certificate, doctorate, etc.); for those who, after a final failure, have not announced their change of faculty or section in time; for students who have not enrolled in time or who have not paid their fees in full. A certificate of ex-matriculation is available on the portal until the end of the current semester.
Re-registration
Persons who have already been registered at the UNIGE in the past and who have been exmatriculated must submit their application for re-registration before 15 August for the autumn semester (except for special earlier deadlines) and 15 January for the spring semester, on the online platform.
Change of personal information
Any modification of personal data (change of address, name, telephone, private e-mail, etc.) must be made directly by the student on his or her portal. Requests to change a first name, surname, gender or residence permit, or the use of a first name, surname or gender must be communicated to the Admissions Department.
Duplicates
In case of duly justified loss of a UNIGE diploma, a duplicate may be established under conditions. Students should contact the Diploma Office. For transcripts, students should contact their faculty or institute to obtain a copy.
For the sake of readability, the terms "faculty/institute" also refer to centers and schools.