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1. Is your acceptance as doctoral student still valid?

For your application for admission (Application for Admission to the Examination for a Doctoral Degree) you need to prove that you are accepted as a doctoral student at the faculty (copy of your letter of acceptance). Therefore, check in time whether your acceptance as a doctoral student is still valid.

At the Dean's Office you may apply for extension of your status as a doctoral student (Application for extension of doctoral candidate status).

If you are not /no longer accepted as a doctoral student and intend to do a doctorate, please contact immediately the dean's office of the faculty.

2. Cumulative Dissertation

In the subject fields of the geosciences / geography, a cumulative dissertation is possible. The dean’s office provides more information (Mrs. Antimisaris, INF 234, room 514). Please get in contact in good time, at least 15 weeks before your desired examination date.

3. Language

The dissertation can be submitted in English or German without prior application. The disputation in English is also possible.
In exceptional cases, the doctoral committee will check whether the use of a third language may be admitted. (only upon application)

4. Dissertation

The dissertation has to be printed on  acid-free paper with durable binding (e.g. no spiral binding).
It has to include (in the following order):

- cover sheet;

- an abstract in German and English (This abstract doesn’t replace the actual summary of your thesis);

- your scientific work with reference list

- the handwritten signed „sworn affidavit“ stating that you are the sole author of the submitted dissertation and that you have not made
  use of any sources or resources apart from those. This statement should be included at the end

5. Selection of evaluator/referee

The dissertation is examined by two experts one of whom shall normally be the main supervisor.

As a rule, the experts must be professors, university lecturers or associate professors and should normally belong to the faculty; the doctoral committee may allow professors, university lecturers or associate professors of other faculties or universities to act as reviewers. In the case of external written expertise, the evaluators should hold a position comparable to that of a German professor, university lecturer or associate professor. The same applies if leaders of independent research teams are appointed as reviewers.

The chair of the doctoral committee appoints the two reviewers upon proposal of the doctoral candidate (Approval of the Examination Committee). The proposal does not establish a legal entitlement for the candidate.

An external reviewer or another external examiner must be approved by the doctoral committee. If required please submit your request in time (to the dean’s office).

 

6. Examination date

Usually no oral examinations take place during the semester break of the summer term.

Your thesis has to be made available to members of the faculty by circulation before your oral examination. Depending on your desired oral examination date you have to submit your thesis and documents 5 weeks before your examination date (at the latest!) at the dean's office. Cumulative doctorates are subject to other regulations.

Please contact Mrs. Antimisaris from the dean’s office as early as possible to schedule your examination.

Before handing in all doctoral documents, you should arrange the date and time of the oral examination with your supervisor and the other reviewer. Make sure that the examination date is noted in your dissertation.

After the dean approved your examination board members (and your examination subjects) you have to coordinate the appointment with the remaining two examiners and inform the dean’s office about the arranged date and time.

 

7. Examination subjects

During the oral examination 4 examiners investigate at least 3 different subjects.
For chemists:
Chemists can arrange date and time with both referees and propose the further examination subjects (Approval of the Examination Committee). These subjects have to be approved by the dean.
He will appoint examiners for the further subjects.
You will be informed about the two chemical examiners by the dean’s office and have to arrange your oral examination date with them. If the examiner proposed for the examination is not available, ask another examiner at the dean's office.
Please inform the dean’s office about the agreed examination date.
For geoscientists / geographers:
The date and time of the oral examination is arranged with the two reviewers and the two other examiners by the doctoral candidate. (The examination subjects selected must cover three different subject areas!).
The board of examiners has to be approved by the dean (Approval of the Examination Committee).