UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE

For the doctorate you submit your dissertation and defend it in the disputation. After the dissertation has been accepted and the disputation has been passed, you will receive the doctoral certificate. You will receive the doctoral diploma with which you will be awarded the doctoral degree only after the publication of the dissertation (see notes on publication of the dissertation and diploma).

You can write the dissertation as a monograph or as a cumulative dissertation. According to the doctoral regulations of 12.3.2020, you can include publications and manuscripts with a substantial part of your own in both the monograph and the cumulative dissertation, whereby the dissertation is designated as cumulative as of three articles already published or accepted for publication (see § 7 of the doctoral regulations of 12.3.2020).

Please discuss the form and the content of the dissertation with the Thesis Advisory Committee (members of a graduate school) or with the first and second supervisors (without membership in a graduate school) at an early stage. For doctoral theses in the field of physics, the approval of the Thesis Advisory Committee or the first and second supervisors is required for the inclusion of publications, manuscripts, and published content (e.g., figures). According to the doctoral regulations of 2006, the dissertation is usually written as a monograph, in which no publications may be included.

Prepare the application for admission to the doctoral examinations early. The documents must be submitted in full to the doctoral office at least 2 weeks before the submission of the dissertation.Update and complete their information in Docfile.

Deposit the following documents in docfile:

• current curriculum vitae with photo
• Course of study certificate (KLIPS-download) as proof of enrollment in the doctoral program
• Non-graduate school members (completing the your doctorate according to the regulations of 12th March 2020): proof of participation in a course on good scientific practice.
• Desposit the Application for Admission to Doctoral Examinations in Docfile. It must be completed in full and signed by you, the supervisor(s), and the department's Graduate School or Graduate School of Teacher Education.
• In addition, deposit the signed Declaration for Admission to the Doctoral Examinations

Add any missing documents:

• University entrance qualification (a PDF file).
• Bachelor's degree certificate, transcript and transcript (combined in one PDF file)
• Master's degree certificate, transcript and transcript (summarized in one PDF file)
• if applicable, cooperation agreements (in case of doctorates in cooperation with universities of applied sciences, other universities, external research institutions or industry).
• Supervision agreement (if applicable) (if you are not a member of a graduate school)

Send an email to the Doctoral Office, please include “Admission to examinations, Department" in the subject line; state that you have uploaded all documents in Docfile.

Submission of the dissertation:

• Deposit the dissertation as a PDF file in Docfile.
• Note that the declaration, which has to be included in the dissertation (in German), has to be signed.
• Send the dissertation in one email to the reviewers and in CC to the doctoral office. If the PDF file of the dissertation is too large to email, deposit the dissertation on a data server (e.g., Sciebo, Sync) and email the link to the reviewers and to the Doctoral Office. 

The disputation (thesis defense) will take place after the dissertation has been positively evaluated.

• Coordinate the disputation date with the examination committee well in advance.
• Deposit the "Thesis defense scheduling form" in Docfile and inform the doctoral office by email with "Disputation Date, Department" in the subject line.

After positive assessment of the dissertation and passing the disputation, you will receive the doctoral certificate on request, which is usually issued within 6 to 10 weeks after the disputation. It can only be sent within Germany by registered mail to you personally or to an authorized representative. After the certificate has been issued, you may request to inspect the evaluation reports of the dissertation.

The doctoral degree is awarded upon proof of publication of the doctoral thesis which must be submitted within one year after the thesis defense date. Upon justified request, the deadline may be extended (up to four times) by a further year. However, the doctoral thesis needs to be published no later than 5 years after the thesis defense date.

Please deposit the following documents in Docfile:

• Druckfreigabe (= "Consent for Publication" signed by the supervisor and, if applicable, the first reviewer).
• PDF file of the published doctoral thesis (no print version are to be send to the doctoral office, the doctoral degree regulations are outdated in this respect)

For publication, please also refer to the information provided by the University and City Library (USB) regarding publication in KUPS. Note that no print versions need to be submitted to the USB in case of publication in electronic form. In case of non-electronic publication forms printed versions need to be submitted to the USB as specified in the form  Druckfreigabe. The doctoral degree regulations are outdated in this respect.

The Doctoral Office will be automatically informed by the University and City Library about the publication of the doctoral thesis and will contact you to hand over the certificate.

If there is an important reason that prevents the publication of the dissertation according to §13 paragraph 3 of the doctoral regulations of 12.3.2020, you can apply to be authorized to temporarily bear the doctoral degree. For the application please deposit an informal letter with justification, which must be co-signed by the supervisor, as PDF file in Docfile and inform the doctoral office about it.

If the doctoral degree committee agrees, you will receive a temporary authorization to bear the doctoral degree for a period of 2 years. You are obliged to publish the dissertation before the expiry of the validity of the temporary authorization to bear the degree. Upon justified request, the deadline can be extended (up to three times) by one additional year each time. The dissertation must be published no later than 5 years after the disputation.