The field of ecology and evolutionary biology is well established in western Switzerland, with more than sixty research groups distributed between the Universities of Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Lausanne and Neuchâtel. Thanks to the financial support offered from the Conférence Universitaire de Suisse Occidentale (CUSO), these five Universities decided to join their efforts and expertise to establish a new Doctoral Program in Ecology and Evolution.

The Doctoral Program in Ecology and Evolution (DPEE) aims to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge and scientific methods through courses, seminars and workshops to which foreign experts will be invited. The doctoral program will also allow doctoral students to improve their aptitude for communication about their research, and offers a possibility to improve scientific English. Furthermore, the school encourages the doctoral students to acquire experience in the organization of their own scientific events (congress, course) and to establish networks of collaboration.