SNI PhD School: Looking beyond the boundaries of one’s own research Doctoral students at the SNI PhD School complete their dissertations in research groups at the University of Basel, the Paul Scherrer Institute, the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland or the Depart- ment of Biosystems Science and Engineering of ETH Zurich in Basel. The students are well integrated into their working groups, where they receive excellent scienti昀椀c education with a focus on diverse subject areas. Given the interdisciplinarity of the SNI network, the doctoral students also gain insights into research projects outside of their specialist 昀椀eld — and come into contact with researchers from other disciplines at various SNI events. They receive an overview of wide-ranging projects in basic and applied science that are funded by the SNI and also learn to present their own research to an audience including people who are not experts in the 昀椀eld. This form of exchange is particularly encouraged at the annual “Nano- science in the Snow” Winter School and the Annual Event, while inter- disciplinary interactions also take place as part of courses developed speci昀椀cally for the PhD School. At the end of 2023, a total of 40 doctoral students were enrolled in the SNI PhD School, almost 30% of whom were women. Five doctoral stu- dents successfully completed their doctoral dissertations in 2023. Eight new dissertation projects were approved in 2023 and will begin in 2024. Of the 53 SNI doctoral students who have completed their dissertations so far, 74% were employed in industry at the end of 2023. In addition to that, 26% of former SNI doctoral students are employed at research or federal institutions. 16 SNI Annual Report 2023