Could be true. Unlike in Germany and many other European countries university studies are not free of charge in Switzerland. No idea about PhD.

I'm not familiar with universities outside the ETH rules (ETHZ/EPFL only) but students are paid a salary at these universities and hold dual status as employees and students. I'm not sure if their tuition is waived. Even if they pay the same tuition as masters or bachelors students this is usually around 800-900 CHF per semester, the cost of 2-3 months health insurance. Not money you want to pay if you don't have to, but it isn't UK or US fees.

However there are definitely time limits. You would find it hard to be enrolled on a doctoral programme for 6 years or more especially if you aren't about to imminently graduate, and this is likely the main motivation behind the advice given the proposed 3 year break in China.

> Even if they pay the same tuition as masters or bachelors students this is usually around 800-900 CHF per semester,

AFAIK, as long as you are registered as a PhD student, you have to pay the fees.

That's easy to pay if you are an ETH employee with a normal salary.

It might not be that easy to pay if you are in Wuhan university, with a Wuhan PhD student "salary".

> students are paid a salary at these universities and hold dual status as employees and students

OT: How much? Undergraduates too?

Only PhDs are paid. I think the salary scale starts at around 51,000 CHF. That's a lot for other countries but it isn't for Switzerland. The exact amount is public knowledge and you can find it if you look. It is slightly higher for ETHZ, but not much.

Bachelors and masters pay fees according to: https://www.epfl.ch/education/studies/en/rules-and-procedure... or https://ethz.ch/en/studies/financial/tuition-fees.html

Tuition is definitely not free, but also not extortionate.

Here you go: the salaries of PhD students at ETH Zürich: https://ethz.ch/en/the-eth-zurich/working-teaching-and-resea...

In Swiss federal institutes grad students are paid but it's free for undergrads.

I'm afraid it isn't free for undergrads, even outside the federal domain. Actually St Gallen is more expensive than ETH! https://www.unisg.ch/en/studium/informationsangebote/gebuehr...

Free for undergrads here meaning that they attend school for free (no tuition), or that they are not paid? Or both?

For undergrads, no tuition fees and they are not paid