The European context.

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Section 1. The European context.

Switzerland is internationally recognised as a centre of excellence for education and is therefore an attractive location for studying and research. Switzerland is actively adapting its education system in order to keep pace with globalisation and growing partnerships with other countries. Since 2001, Swiss universities have been rapidly adjusting their curricula to comply with the Bologna Declaration. The goal is to create a "European area for higher education" by coordinating the duration and structure of degrees and facilitating the study attainment and performance of students in European universities. This will make it easier for students to move around within European borders during their studies, either as participants in exchange programmes or in order to be able to transition smoothly from a Bachelor's to a Master's degree programme. The changeover is scheduled to be completed by 2010.

Under this new two-tiered system, the first level degree awarded is the Bachelor's, while the second is the Master's degree. A Bachelor's degree is the pre-requisite for admittance to studies at Master's level, while a Master's degree - and a high grade average attained during Master's studies - are the main pre-requisites for undertaking a doctorate.