You have found an appropriate doctoral topic for your thesis and a supervisor. Now you need a co-supervisor to further support you during your doctorate.

The supervision of doctorates is regulated in §10 of the PO/AT and in the special regulations of the department. Normally, doctorates are supervised by professors at TUDa. The special provisions of the department determine who can take over the supervision at the Department of Biology. An supervisor can also be chosen from all groups of people listed in § 11 PO/AT of TU Darmstadt. These include, among others, full-time professors from other departments, other universities or universities of applied sciences, as well as honorary professors and private lecturers (“Privatdozenten”) from these institutions. Young scientists from TUDa and other scientific institutions can also take on supervision functions if they meet the criteria specified in the PO/AT (recruitment in a quality-assured, competitive process with independent external reviews, the aim of qualifying for a professorship). However, at least one supervisor must be a full-time or adjunct professor of the Department of Biology.

Furthermore, an additional person from the group described above can be elected in consultation with the primary supervisor to accompany the doctoral project and to be available in particular for questions about the doctoral process and career development.

It is important to make a distinction between the functions of supervisors and examiners:

The supervisors will be appointed when the doctoral candidates are accepted at the department. They support the doctoral students during their scientific work and provide professional advice. Furthermore, they ensure the quality of the work through regular progress meetings and offer mentoring, which should also include aspects of career planning (see also section 2).

The examiners are appointed by the doctoral committee at the start of the doctoral procedure, i.e. after submission of the doctoral thesis, and prepare a written evaluation on the thesis. Doctoral candidates can suggest examiners. Usually, these are the supervisors of the thesis, but there is no automatic provision, and a supervisor is not entitled to also act as an examiner in the doctoral procedure (see also section 4).

After choosing the supervisors, you must register your doctorate at the department. The doctoral board (composition see § 3 PO/AT) will check your requirements. As a rule, a completed master's degree in biology or related scientific degrees qualifies for a doctorate. In the case of a state examination or a university of applied sciences degree programme, the doctoral board sets up an aptitude assessment procedure. This assessment is established to prove the competence and ability to independently carry out scientific work. If necessary, requirements are imposed – certain courses necessary for the doctorate may have to be passed during the first year. Those requirements are bound to be completed successfully in addition to other courses and lectures of a structured training program (see below).

doctoral regulations (PDF file) (opens in new tab).

Application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate at the department

In order to formally start your doctorate, you must first register and apply for being accepted as a doctoral candidate at the department. This should be done at the beginning of the doctoral thesis. Furthermore, according to § 2 para. 3 of the enrolment regulations of the TU Darmstadt (ESO), you are obliged to at least register or, if necessary, enrol at TU Darmstadt.

All necessary forms can be found here:

1. First of all, please complete form “Application for Acceptance as a Doctoral Candidate / Confirmation of Supervision”.
2. Then register online to submit your data (this process is not to be confused with enrollment/enrollment at TU Darmstadt)
3. Submit your application to International Admission (“Dezernat Internationales”), further information can be found here:

International Admission will examine your degrees for equivalence and will communicate the results to the Department of Biology.

Now submit the following documents to the Dean’s Office of the Department of Biology:

• a) The printed registration form
• b) The application for being accepted as a doctoral candidate (see above; document confirming supervision, signed by a supervisor of the Department of Biology (according to § 10 PO/AT) and a co-supervisor (according to the special regulations of the department).
• c) The university or college certificates that qualify you for a doctorate
• d) In case of an external dissertation at a research institute outside the university or at a different university: a short statement outlining the doctoral project as well as the confirmation of the external supervisor in writing

After you receive the confirmation that you are admitted, you may (this is optional!) enroll with TU Darmstadt as a doctoral student.

According to the doctoral degree regulations of TU Darmstadt, all doctoral candidates must be reachable via a personal e-mail address and are obliged to keep their personal data up-to-date in TUCaN. Therefore, please report any changes in address, e-mail address and name changes to the Student Service immediately and also inform our Dean’s Office.

The department offers a structured training program for all doctoral candidates. This includes:

Supervision agreement:

At the beginning of the doctorate, doctoral candidates and supervisors sign an agreement which specifies the respective rights and duties. The aim is to support doctoral candidates and supervisors in developing the scientific project, so that it can be completed successfully within the specified time frame. The special provisions of the department require that such a supervision agreement be concluded by all doctoral candidates.

supervision agreement (PDF file) (opens in new tab)

Thesis advisory committee (TAC):

addition to the supervisor, doctoral students are supported by a committee of experienced scientists. In addition to the supervisor and co-supervisor, the committee can include up to two more members. Here, the circle of possible persons is broader, in addition to professors, habilitated persons or postdoctoral scientists of the department, corresponding persons from other departments of TUDa or other universities and scientific institutions can also participate. Meeting of the TAC should take place within 6 months of registration. Further meetings take place annually. The meetings are organized and documented by the doctoral candidates. One week before the meetings, the doctoral candidate sends a short report to the TAC. After the meeting, an updated version will be circulated with comments and suggestions from the TAC. In case the TAC meeting is not considered to be satisfactory, it will be convened again within the following 6 months. Should the meeting again be unsatisfactory, the TAC recommends ending the doctoral procedure.

Form to document the TAC-Meetings (PDF file) (opens in new tab)

Training programme:

In order to support the qualification of doctoral candidates, the individual work on a scientific project is accompanied by a training programme.

The structured training program of the department includes the following points:

• a) at least two courses from the Ingenium program of the TUDa; with the consent of the supervisor, other courses can alternatively be attended
• b) at least one presentation at the PhD Symposium of the department
• c) additional courses that have been determined as a condition as part of an aptitude assessment procedure
• d) the CV attached to the doctorate should include the following information:
  • i. Participation in (international) conferences / symposia (specify poster presentations or lectures)
  • ii. Laboratory exchanges
  • iii. Scientific training programmes (incl. courses)

Self-organization/doctoral student representation:

The doctoral candidates elect two representatives who serve as contact persons for the department, represent the interests of the doctoral candidates, work constructively in developing the training program and act as mediators in the event of conflicts that might arise. The representatives are elected by a general assembly of all doctoral candidates for a two-year term.

Change of supervisor:

If a change of supervisor or co-supervision becomes necessary during the doctorate, this will be done in accordance with the regulations in § 10 (3) of the PO/AT. This requires that the previous and future supervisors have been informed of the change and confirm it in writing. Furthermore, the reasons must be communicated to the doctoral committee (form “change of supervisor (PDF file) (opens in new tab)”). In the event of conflicts, all parties involved are given the opportunity to present their point of view to the doctoral board.

Once you have completed your academic work, you will write your dissertation.

The ULB provides design templates for dissertations as well as useful tips (e.g. on embedding fonts, etc.) via the following links:

ULB – Publication guidelines – Information on layout, fonts, etc.

A link to important information from the ULB on usage rights and licences can be found under point 5, „After the exam: Additional requirements and publication“.

When completing your dissertation, you have two options:

Cumulative dissertation

In this form, the dissertation must contain at least two publications that are related to each other in terms of content, in which the doctoral candidate is the sole or shared first author. One of the publications must be accepted for publication in a scientific publication organ with a peer review procedure. Another publication must be published at least as a preprint if it has not yet been accepted by a journal. In addition to further publications, unpublished manuscripts can be added as further chapters of the cumulative dissertation. For this purpose, a declaration of the contributions of all participants attached at the end of this guide is also necessary (see below, PO/AT § 9 (5)).

The scientific context must be presented by the doctoral candidate in a synopsis consisting of an introduction and a concluding discussion of all chapters.

If these requirements are met, it must also be ensured that your own contribution to all publications contained is clearly and legally determined. For this reason, the PO/AT requires a declaration in which you explain your contribution in detail for each publication (see Appendix of the guideline (PDF file) (opens in new tab)).

This declaration must be signed by all authors of the respective publication and is part of the examination file. Only in the event that authors can no longer be reached the corresponding author of the publication may sign on their behalf.

Monograph

This form is an independent work, which usually consists of an introduction, material and method section, results and a discussion. The whole thing is framed by a summary and a bibliography. This structure can also be deviated from, for example by combining different chapters with a similar structure. It is important that this work contains only your own results and that all contributions by others are marked as such (in addition to literature citations, for example, illustrations created by others, etc.). If illustrations are taken from other works, the author must guarantee the transfer of rights.

Language: The dissertation can be written in both German and English. To publish on the university publication server, a summary in both languages is required.

The title page of the dissertation must contain certain information. Furthermore, the dissertation must contain a legally binding ‘declaration of honor’, which must be copied exactly as written. The declaration must be in German, but an English translation may be added.

You will find templates for both on our website under ‘Important forms and documents’.

With the submission of the dissertation, the last phase of your doctorate begins. You apply for the examination of your dissertation by sending the form „application for doctoral exam (PDF file) (opens in new tab)“ to the Dean of the department. The following documents have to be submitted in addition:

• Application for admission to the doctoral examination
• an electronic version of the dissertation for the Dean’s Office, (USB stick with name, first name)
• Proof of payment of the doctoral fee of € 100 to:
• • TU Darmstadt – Stadt- und Kreissparkasse Darmstadt
  • Project number: 40100191 – IBAN: DE36 508 501 500 000 704 300
  • Reference: “Doctoral fee + your name”
• in the case of an aptitude test, the final completion certificate of the credit points acquired
• In the case of cumulative doctorates, the relevant provisions must be observed (see above).

The doctoral board will review your application and appoint the first examiner and the co-examiner for the dissertation. § 11 (paras. 2 and 3) PO/AT as well as the special regulations of the department regulate who can be appointed as an examiner. Usually, these are the supervisor and the co-supervisor of the doctorate. In your application, you can make a proposal for the other members of the examination board. Proposals should be agreed in advance. Subsequent changes of the commission require the approval of the doctoral board.

When the doctoral procedure is initiated, the doctoral board also appoints the examination board. This is composed as follows:

• the examiners of the dissertation
• another professor from TUDa or other universities, proven junior scientists and group leaders of the department as well as leading scientists from recognized non-university research institutions; the requirements are laid down in § 11 (paras. 2 and 3) of the PO/AT
• a chairperson from the group of full-time professors of the Department of Biology

At least half of the members of the examination committee must come from the group of professors at the Department of Biology. If the chairperson is unable to attend, a member of the examination board from this group takes over the function.

The examination board decides on the acceptance, amendment or rejection of the dissertation, conducts the disputation and evaluates the doctoral achievements. It decides whether the disputation is to be repeated and determines the conditions for the publication of the dissertation.

Externally supervised doctoral candidates from other research institutions may start the procedure at this point (see form „Application for evaluation of the dissertation and admission to the doctoral exam“). In such a case, the department assures an evaluation rather than supervision. The structured training programme is not available for those candidates. However, the requirements mentioned under registration for doctorate apply.

Within eight weeks, the examiners independently prepare reports on the doctorate, which are forwarded to the Dean. In their reports, they recommend either acceptance or rejection of the dissertation. If accepted, an evaluation will be made with the grades:

• excellent
• very good
• good
• satisfactory

If both reports on the thesis rate „excellent“, this rating may also be considered for the final grade. In this case a third opinion by an external expert is necessary. The supervisor will be informed by the Dean’s Office, so that she or he can name a competent scientist of another university or non-university research institution. This expert opinion will then – together with a statement regarding possible conflicts of interest – be presented to the doctoral board. Furthermore, the rating „excellent“ requires at least one publication with you being the first author, published in a peer-reviewed journal or accepted for publication.

Upon receipt of the thesis evaluations, they are made available for two weeks to all the professors and entitled members of the department. During this period, it is possible to present statements or special reports. At the end of this consultation period, the examination board decides whether the thesis is accepted.

After acceptance of the thesis, the Dean sets the date for the oral examination in consultation with the doctoral candidate and examination board members. With a lead time of two weeks the Dean invites the participants and the University public to the dissertation defence.

With regard to the examination dates, the above-mentioned deadlines must be observed. After receipt of the evaluations, this is at least four weeks. Eight weeks are to be planned for the reviews, but you can agree shorter deadlines with the examiners on a voluntary basis.

The dissertation defence is open to the public and begins with a 30-minute presentation in which you present the topic and the results of your work. This will be followed by an examination interview during which you will defend your work to the members of the commission. Topics from the wider academic field of your dissertation will also be included. The dissertation defence can be made in German or English. As a rule, the defense takes place in presence. Members of the examination committee who are unable to attend can also participate virtually. This is regulated by § 16 (5) of the PO/AT.

After the examination interview, which is not supposed to last more than one hour, the examination board determines the overall grade of the doctorate in a non-public meeting. The rating of the presentation and the examination as well as the rating of the examiner reports determine the overall grade. The following grades are possible:

• excellent (mit Auszeichnung bestanden)
• very good (sehr gut bestanden)
• good (gut bestanden)
• passed (bestanden)
• not passed (nicht bestanden)

It is possible that conditions will be set that must be fulfilled before the dissertation is published.

After the doctoral examination and after making any necessary changes, you submit the dissertation to your supervisor and ask for approval for publication of this version by signing the form “Declaration on the Dissertation and Transfer of Rights (PDF file) (opens in new tab)”. Submit this declaration with the original signatures (no PDF) to the Dean’s Office. It will be forwarded to TUprints.

To publish your dissertation, you must register with the ULB. This registration is only possible via two-factor authentication (2FA), for which a valid TU ID is required. Existing TU IDs can be renewed via your supervisor in your department. External doctoral candidates should contact the Dean’s Office to set up a guest TU ID.

Further information on (guest) TU IDs and two-factor authentication can be found here:

ULB-Register-2FA

Important information from the ULB concerning rights and licenses can be found at

ULB – Checklist for first publication – Information on rights and CC licenses

Publication must take place within one year via the TUDa university publication server. Further details are regulated in § 19 PO/AT. An extension of the deadline is possible under special circumstances upon application to the doctoral board (§ 20 PO/AT). Please note: If the doctoral candidate does not fulfil the obligation to submit the dissertation within one year (without requesting an extension), the doctorate is considered failed.

Recommendation regarding data protection:

The dissertation submitted to the Dean’s Office must include a signed declaration of honor from the doctoral candidate as well as an academic curriculum vitae.

The ULB would like to point out that there is no obligation to publish this declaration of honor or the curriculum vitae in the dissertation. The declaration can be included in the uploaded dissertation, but then without a signature, as it will be published on the internet and could be misused. The academic curriculum vitae, which is often included in the dissertation, should not contain any personal data for privacy reasons.

For further information please contact the ULB-Team.

After the oral doctoral examination, you will receive an interim notification from the Dean’s Office confirming that you have successfully passed the doctoral defence, but are not yet allowed to use the doctoral title. This interim notification can be used, for example, for job applications.

The printing of your doctoral certificate will be commissioned by the Dean’s Office after the examination has been completed. As soon as you have published your dissertation via TUprints, the ULB will send a confirmation to the Dean’s Office and the certificate can be handed over or sent to you. Only upon receipt of the certificate are you entitled to use the doctoral title.

Application as a doctoral candidate (PDF file) (opens in new tab)

Application for extension of acceptance as a doctoral candidate (PDF file) (opens in new tab)

Supervision agreement (PDF file) (opens in new tab)

change of supervisor (PDF file) (opens in new tab)

Application for doctoral exam (PDF file) (opens in new tab)

Application for evaluation and admission to doctoral exam (PDF file) (opens in new tab)

Doctoral Thesis: title page specifications (PDF file) (opens in new tab)

declaration of honor (PDF file) (opens in new tab) (Ehrenwörtliche Erklärung, needs to be in German)

Transfer of rights (PDF file) (opens in new tab)

TAC meeting evaluation form (PDF file) (opens in new tab)