This proof of publication must be provided within one year of the disputation. The deadline can be extended by one year upon justified request. In exceptional cases, the deadline can be extended by a further year in each case (up to three times) upon further justified application. However, the dissertation must be published no later than 5 years after the defense.

Deposit the following documents in Docfile D-file:

• Approval of publication (= “acknowledgement of publication” by supervisor(s) and, if applicable, co-supervisor(s))
• PDF file of the published dissertation (see template of the dissertation)

No printed copies of the dissertation need to be submitted to the doctoral office, the doctoral regulations are outdated in this point

You can publish either electronically, as a single publication in a publishing house or in private print. 

In the case of electronic publication, no printed copies need to be submitted to the USB. In the case of non-electronic publication, the information on the number of printed copies to be submitted to the USB in the approval of publication form is correct; the doctoral regulations are outdated on this point. In both cases, please refer to the information provided by the University and City Library of Cologne (USB).

The doctoral office will be automatically informed by the USB about the publication of the dissertation and will contact you to hand over the certificate.