Doctoral Examination Procedure: Information & Important Forms
Application as a Doctoral Candidate
As at most universities, at the Technische Universität Berlin you first need a written confirmation of supervision from your doctoral supervisor. As soon as you have received such a confirmation from a professor of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, you can apply as a doctoral candidate.
In order to get clarity and certainty about the doctoral requirements of the faculty at an early stage, you should apply as a doctoral candidate in good time. The faculty then decides whether to accept or reject your declaration of intent and at the same time specifies any requirements for additional study and examination achievement. For example, additional study and examination requirements may be imposed on candidate with degrees from other disciplines or from foreign countries.
In addition, the supervisor and the doctoral candidate document their mutual expectations and obligations by concluding a doctoral agreement. This includes, in particular, the mutual commitment to the guidelines for ensuring good scientific practice at the TU Berlin, which are based on the recommendations of the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), as well as the recognition of the characteristics that are considered fundamental within the TU Berlin for a good supervisory and working relationship in the context of a doctorate.
You can submit your application at any time at our Faculty Service Center. Please use the following two forms:
For your information:
When you apply as a doctoral candidate, the faculty will check whether you fulfil the formal criteria for admission to doctoral studies and formally appoint a supervisor. You can easily withdraw your application as a doctoral candidate at any time, so you are under no obligation to actually submit a doctoral thesis if you have applied.
With the acceptance of the application, the doctoral applicant becomes a doctoral candidate. Unless employed by Technische Universität Berlin, the doctoral candidate is required to register as a student at Technische Universität Berlin in accordance with Section 25 (2) BerlHG. All information on this topic can be found here: How to enroll
Admission to the Doctoral Examination Procedure
Once you have completed your doctoral thesis, you can apply to commence the doctoral examination procedure. In this application you propose, among other things, the preferred evaluators. You can also propose a name for the chair of the doctoral examination board.
Please consider the requirements of the TU Berlin Doctoral Regulations as well as the Guidelines for Writing Dissertations at Faculty IV and our binding deadlines, both listed further down on this web page under "Important Information at a Glance".
Important forms:
Information sheets and forms for dual doctorates/cotutelle de thèse are available at the Faculty Service Center.
Scientific Defense
As soon as the doctoral examination procedure has been commence by the Faculty Board and all the evaluations have been submitted to the Faculty Service Center, the scientific defense follows.
The scientific defense is open to the university public and it takes place in the presence of the doctoral candidate and all members of the doctoral examination board.
It is divided into two parts:
- Presentation by the doctoral candidate about the dissertation (30 minutes)
- Discussion with the evaluators on the subject discipline of the dissertation (60 to 90 minutes).
According to § 8 (1) of the new TU Berlin Doctoral Regulations, doctoral candidates of Faculty IV are allowed to inspect the evaluators' reports prior to the scientific defense. For this purpose a request for inspection can be submitted.
Legal regulations & guidelines:
Publication
After the scientific defense, you are obliged to make the dissertation version approved by the doctoral examination board (including any modifications requested by the doctoral examination board) available to the scientific public within twelve months (extension only in exceptional cases upon request).
Find out about the three possible forms of publication on the website of the University Library Dissertation Service:
1 printed copy + online publication on DepositOnce or
15 printed copies in classic dissertation printing or
3 publisher's copies
Choose one of these and follow the steps in the relevant checklist. If you have any questions, please contact the dissertation office directly: dissertationen(at)ub.tu-berlin.de.
If it is a cumulative dissertation, further information, including copyright, must be observed.
You will receive a certificate of receipt from the University Library Dissertation Service after publication has been completed. This is usually also sent directly to the faculty service center and is a prerequisite for receiving the doctoral certificate.
Representatives for Doctoral Candidates
Patrick Reiske & Nadine Karsten
Please contact us in all inquiries and matters exclusively via this e-mail address: phdrep(at)eecs.tu-berlin.de!
Ombudspersons for Doctoral Candidates
►► PLEASE NOTE first: Our ombudspersons are NOT available for organizational tasks related to your doctorate, here please always contact Jana Peich, Office for Doctoral Affairs, contact information see above.
Our ombudspersons are there to
- help you with non-subject-related problems, conflicts of interest and problematic co-authorships, for example
- promote the cooperation between Faculty IV and the Center for Junior Scholars at TU Berlin (CJS), central institution for the advancement of junior scholars at TU Berlin
- participate in introductory events of the CJS and spread the word about education offers, scholarships and further news.