Most post-docs are 100% jobs, but less-than-100% positions are also not unheard of. You may find that this percentage changes (i.e. increases) if more funding becomes available, either through collaborations with another lab/research group that will pay for part of your salary, or through grant monies that come in. It's worth asking your future supervisor about the possibility of your job percentage (and hence your salary) changing.

On the bright side, working 75%, you'll have some time off each week to get out and explore this beautiful country... and you can even get some shopping done during the day! (Which is a luxury...)

HeatherM

Aha, if that is the case, then I would ask about grants from the SNF you can write under the professors guidance; basically you write it and his name goes on it, then if you get it you are all better off and some of it can flow back to you.

That would be the difference between Cantonal tax rates. French speaking Switzerland is much much higher than Zurich.

Daniel

Hi,
most interesting thread.
I'm a post-doc at the WSL in Zurich (affiliated to the ETH). One important thing I found out in the last months (arrived here in January) is that as an expat post-doc, i.e. researcher with a contract of less than three years, it is very easy to get excempt of the obligatory swiss health insurance. I am insured by swisscare, which, despite its name, is an international health insurance company, focused on students and researchers. I believe there is a thread on swisscare somewhere else on the forum. Anyway, you pay 990 chf per year with a 300 chf franchise and many important aspects are covered. The whole application process is straightforward and online (www.swisscare.com). Although I haven't needed to use the insurance so far (fingers crossed), I would recommend this insurance to anyone based on the price/ease of application.

good to know that there's so many postdocs on the forum. We should get together some time and maybe do some poster presentations

If it's not shiny, magnetic crystals, you'll have to dumb it down for me...
Might well check out that Swisscare bit. Be interesting to see if the rest of the family can tag along on that.

The swisscare website goes straight to a cosmetics and medicines website. I can't find anything insurance-y at all. Any ideas?

Aha - I think you might mean this site:
http://www.swisscare.ch/
It looks really good - there must be something wrong with it in that case...!

oops,
didn't mean to send you to a cosmetics site, sorry about that.
I know, it almost sounds too good to be true, but after reading positive feedback about it in this other thread, I decided to risk the leap.
I haven't figured out yet how to link to other threads on this forum, but if you type swisscare in the search window, you'll find it.

It's not vaild in Aargau, Neuchâtel and Tessin. Just means being very careful when birdwatching at Lake Neuchâtel, not falling off the train between Bern and Zurich while in Aargau and not visiting Tessin. Come to think of it, I couldn't even find Tessin on a canton map...

Ahhh, now I get it - Tessin is German for Ticino...

Hi all. Fellow post-doc here. I'm happy to see their are so many post-doc scientists on here. I know this thread was about taxes but as it started going towards insurance I have a great one. As long as you're not getting paid by your host institution (have a fellowship from your country of origin) you're eligible for insurance with tradiconsult (tradiconsult.com) (you might even be able to get it if you are being paid by your host institution). CHF 960 and CHF 300 deductible. Their coverage is quite extensive.

I had an accident in the lab about a month after I started working at the ETH and they covered my entire CHF 50,000 hospital bill with absolutely nothing being done of my part. After the whole whoo ha, I only received a statement from the hospital saying I owed nothing.

Does anybody else have a fellowship? If so, will you pay taxes back to your home country or to Switzerland? I'm still not 100% sure how the whole thing works.

Hello,

I am a Canadian postdoc at the EPFL since November and as mentioned earlier, they really seem to do nothing to help get new people started. I have an additional tax question. Does anyone know where we get forms to file the taxes (or whether we need to file a tax return since they are removed at the source)? Also, does anyone know if there is a minimum amount one would have to earn to be required to file? The reason I ask is that I only received 1.5 payments in 2006, so it wouldn't be very much to claim. Any help that can be provided would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone is coming to Switzerland to do a postdoc, I can also be e-mailed to share some of the tips I learned the hard way when I arrived.

Thanks!

Dave

Well as a post doc you should be able to research this information in other threads on this forum. But seeing as you might not be able to do that () I will provide you some answers.

As long as you do not earn 120K pro rata in any year then you are exempt from the requirement to fill in a tax return. If you earn over this, own property or decide to fill one in anyway then you are obligated to continue filling them in for the duration of your stay. You can generally get the requisite forms from the canton's tax website. Here is the link for you http://www.vd.ch/fr/themes/etat-droit/impots/ Often as here this is cantonal based. For 1.5 months income it is not worth the hassle so wait until next year. What you could do is complete the form provisionally to see if you would save anything and indeed to check to see if you can alter your circumstances to your benefit - simple examples would include 3rd pillar or moving to a less accessible and more distant location.

All,
I find this whole thread great as I am about to start a postdoc at Uni de Geneve shortly. I just got the message they are going to make me an offer as soon as Professor returns from a vacation, hooray, so I have no idea yet what kind of money to expect. Hence my special thanks to Andrew for disclosing his paycheck at ETH Zuerich completely. Can anybody post the deductions percentages (or absolute numbers) for a postdoc at Uni de Geneve? I haven't read all posts yet, so it may be already here. Anyway, if it isn't, I will try to remember to return and post here, once my salary is nailed down.
Daniel

Richard,
can you tell me, what the 3rd pillar is? Also, would you recommend it as a general approach to test-drive the tax form to see, which way is cheaper and then follow the result? I for one would opt for manual tax return, even if I just saved CHF 50. But are the deductions not taken off my paycheck be the employer anyway? If so, does the manual approach just mean applying for tax returns?
Daniel

How much higher is "much much higher"? Any news about Geneva?
Daniel (another one, naturally)

Thanks Richard. I suppose I had that coming. Once I reach the level of spare time to achieve more than 4 hours of sleep per night I'll start researching non-work-related issues again. That aside, you have saved me some very valuable time and I am quite appreciative. Dave

Hallo!

I have a question concerning a post-doc salary in Zürich (ETH) at the institute of chemistry. I obtained my Ph.D. in Germany, working there 4 years. I heared that the salary should be 60.000 per year. I am (27) not married (I think it's also important).

How much is the difference between Brutto and Netto?

How much is the amount of money after
SUVA (accident insurance) -
AHV (Old Age) ALV (unemployment)
ETH Pension

Net - ?

Thank you for your suggestions and comments!

Maybe Andrew you can comment my post!

I have read your message, but 6500 is really good amount of money! Stiil after deductions is it high enough!

What should I expect in my case?

Thak you!

Nick

Can someone answer my question? Thanks!

I think that no-one has responded to your question because it appears that there is enough information in this thread already for you to answer it yourself. No-one can tell you EXACTLY how much your net income will be, but you should get a fair estimate by using the above information. If something is still not clear then explain clearly what you still need to know.

BTW, please don't ask the exact same question in three different threads. Choose the most appropriate one (in this case, this one), and leave it at that in the future, please.