The dissertation can be written in German or English, as a monograph or cumulatively. Any publication included must be preceded by an explanation of its significance in the context of the dissertation. The doctoral candidate's contribution must be clearly stated.

• A thesis with fewer than three included publications in the results section is considered a monograph
• A thesis with at least three publications in the results section is considered cumulative (i.e., works published or accepted for publication in recognized, peer-reviewed journals or books)

Unpublished manuscripts may be included but do not count as publications in the above sense.

Please discuss the form and content with your Thesis Advisory Committee (as a member of a graduate school) or the first and second supervisors at an early stage.

In addition, the thesis must always contain at least the following:

• a title page
• an abstract
• a comprehensive introduction
• a results section
• a concluding comprehensive discussion (exception: mathematics/computer science)
• bibliography
• a declaration

Here you will find a sample dissertation containing all mandatory sections and other useful information.

Deposit the dissertation as a PDF file including the signed declaration in Docfile D-file.

Send the dissertation in an email to the reviewers and a copy (cc) to the doctoral office (mnf-promotionen@uni-koeln.de). If the PDF file of the dissertation is too large to be sent by email, store the dissertation on a data server (e.g. Sciebo, Sync) and send the link by email to the reviewers and to the doctoral office.

Please state your department in the subject line.

No printed copies of the dissertation need to be submitted to the doctoral office or the reviewers.

As a general rule, two reviewers assess the dissertation. In special cases, the doctoral committee may obtain further reviews, e.g. if the thesis could be or has been assessed by all reviewers with the grade “0.0” = with distinction, or if there is a large discrepancy in grades.

The review should take place within four weeks. Afterwards, all reviews together with the dissertation are available for inspection by the faculty professors in the doctoral office. The disputation can only take place after the objection period has passed.

The following grades can be awarded for the dissertation:

0 = with distinction (summa cum laude): for exceptionally high academic achievement
1 = very good (magna cum laude): for above-average academic performance
2 = good (cum laude): for academic performance that meets average requirements
3 = sufficient (rite): academic performance that still meets the requirements
4 = not sufficient (insufficiens): in the case of academic performance that no longer meets the requirements due to significant deficiencies.

For a differentiated assessment, grades 1 to 3 can be increased or decreased by 0.3 or the intermediate values 1.5 and 2.5 can be awarded. The grade 3.3 is excluded.