Faculty Presentation - ECTS - Doctoral Thesis Agreement - Annual Progress Reports - Submission

Faculty Presentation - Information & Registration

The faculty-wide presentation of the dissertation project is the prerequisite for the approval of the dissertation topic of all doctoral students and thus represents the initial phase of the program. Approval of the dissertation topic is subsequently the prerequisite for the dissertation agreement, which is concluded between the student, the supervisor and the DSPL and is mandatory for all DSPL43 students.

• The presentation can be held in both German and English.
• A maximum of 10 minutes of presentation and 20 minutes of discussion are scheduled for each presentation.
• After all presentations have been held, the Doctoral Advisory Board will meet to discuss the presentations in camera and will then announce the results of the presentation.
• Where applicable, the doctoral advisory board will provide candidates with suggestions for improvement when the results are announced

Detailed advice on the public presentation can be found in the document below and on the VDP website.

The current dates of the FÖP and the respective registration deadlines can be found here. Registration for the dissertation topics in philosophy and cognitive science is done through the SSC Philosophy.

To register, please submit the following documents as PDF files to the SSC via the service desk:

• Form Registration of the dissertation topic and announcement of the supervisor (SL/D11)
• Form Rules of good scientific practice (SL/W1)
• Exposé: Visit the VDP Research Proposal website for detailed information on the exposé/proposal requirements.

ECTS requirements

According to the curriculum §5 (1), 24 ECTS are to be earned through courses taught by the SPL 43 and/or other scientific activities related to the dissertation project.

The planned distribution of ECTS must be recorded in the dissertation agreement.

In the section below, on the dissertation agreement, you will find some information on how ECTS are weighted for various scientific achievements.

Doctoral Thesis Agreement

After the approval of the doctoral thesis project as part of the FÖP, the research phase begins.

Students are then obliged to conclude a dissertation agreement with their supervisors, which must be approved by the DSPL. Submit the completed form “Dissertation Agreement” (DV.01) as a pdf file to the SSC via the service desk. You can find the form here.

Notes on completing the form “Dissertation Agreement”

• Doctoral project (page 1):

You can find all the necessary information about your degree program/doctoral research area in your study sheet (available on u:space).

• Feedback (point 4, page 2): Provide precise specifications for your supervisor's feedback.
• According to DSPL43, the deadline should be a maximum of four weeks.
• Specify whether the feedback will be given orally and/or in writing.

• ECTS (point 7, page 2):
• You must earn a total of 24 ECTS credits as part of your studies.
• You can earn ECTS credits by regularly attending DSPL43 courses and by engaging in academic activities that further your doctoral studies.
• A plan for the allocation of ECTS should be included in point 7 of the doctoral thesis agreement, e.g. “15 ECTS in doctoral seminars, 9 through other activities”. If more detailed plans are already available (e.g. seminar X, conference Y), these can be included.
• The DSPL recommends that, if possible, 15 ECTS credits be earned by attending DSPL43 doctoral seminars.

Information on ECTS within the doctoral program:

1. Recognition
• Please note that any type of performance that is not coded for DSPL43 (i.e. is listed in the DSPL43 course directory) may only be used to obtain a certificate with the approval of DSPL43.
• Approval for the recognition of achievements by the DSPL43 can be obtained by submitting the dissertation agreement or the annual progress report. Both are submitted via the service desk.
2. Courses
• Courses from MA programs or from other doctoral programs can be recognized by the DSPL43 if a plausible justification for their relevance to the dissertation project is provided.
• University courses that are open to BA students (see code at the end of the u:find entry) are usually not recognized for the completion of the doctoral program.
• Achievements that have been made at other universities will be recognized after completion via an application for recognition in the transcript of records - the application form can be found below.
3. Academic activities
• Representative examples of academic activities that can be credited, as well as guidelines for ECTS:
• Teaching (ECTS number corresponding to the course ECTS number)
• Conference presentation (1 ECTS)
• Conference participation (0.5 ECTS)
• Review for journals (0.5 ECTS)
• Own publication, the content of which is not included in the dissertation (up to 2 ECTS)
• Editorial board positions (up to 2 ECTS)
• Organization of workshops etc. (up to 2 ECTS)
• Outreach events
• Scientific internships, e.g. at publishers or foundations.
• Important notice: The information on ECTS credits above is only a guideline. The specific allocation of ECTS is decided individually by the DSPL upon request (taking into account, for example, the size of the workshop, length of publication, etc.).

Please contact the SSC if you have any questions regarding the provision of services. Please submit your requests exclusively via the service desk of the SSC.

Progress reports

Once the FÖP has been successfully completed, submit an annual progress report as a PDF file via the service desk for approval by the DSPL. You can find the DZ.V02 Progress Report form here.

Assignment of the dissertation to examiners

The assignment of the dissertation to the examiners marks the beginning of the final phase of the doctoral program. The assignment determines which persons will evaluate the dissertation. The following is the process for assigning a dissertation in the context of DSPL43:

1. Students and supervisors jointly submit three proposals for external reviewers to the DSPL using the application for assignment of the dissertation to examiners (SL.D3). - The application must be accompanied by a German and (if possible) an English abstract (SL.D 4 DE and EN) and one CV including a list of publications for each proposed person (the forms SL.D3 and SL.D4 and CV files must be submitted as a single PDF file via the SSC's service desk; the forms can be found here)
2. The DSPL makes a preliminary decision as to which reviewers should be requested by the SSC and the SSC contacts the reviewers.
3. As soon as the SSC has two acceptances, the potential external reviewers are submitted to the Studienpräses for approval.

Important notes:

• Helpful information for the selection of reviewers can also be found on the website of the VDP.
• Neither the students nor the supervisors may contact (potential) examiners - students must not have worked scientifically with the examiners in the past, e.g. published publications
• Only submit the application for assignment to examiners when you can foresee that you will soon be submitting your dissertation
• The application for assignment must go through several instances and the acceptance or rejection of the invitation by the external reviewers can take some time - it may take several weeks before the reviewers can be approved by the Studienpräses.

Submission of the dissertation

After the dissertation has been assigned to the external reviewers, it can be submitted via u:space. Information on submission via u:space can be found here.

Once the dissertation has passed the plagiarism check and been sent to the external reviewers for assessment, students must submit the following to the SSC:

1. A digital copy of the signed HOPLA upload confirmation - via the service desk
2. Form SL.D6 Submission of the dissertation - via the service desk, the form can be found here
3. 3 printed copies of the dissertation including a copy of the HOPLA upload confirmation to be submitted in person at the SSC

The SSC must receive the two external reviews within a period of four months. As soon as the SSC receives a review, it will be forwarded to the students and supervisors via the SSC service desk.

Important note:

Students and their supervisors must not under any circumstances contact the reviewers during the review period.

Defensio

After the positive assessment of the dissertation and the completion of all course work, students can register for the public defense via the SSC's service desk. The necessary form SL.P4 Registration for the Final Oral Examination can be found here.

The examination board for the defensio consists of the DSPL (chair) and the two external reviewers (examiners) and awards the grade for the defensio.

The defensio consists of the following:

• The students give a presentation on the research field of the dissertation (up to 20 minutes)
• The presentation is followed by questions from the examination board (approx. 40 minutes)
• Non-public discussion of the examination board
• Grading Announcement

Notes:

• The defensio is a public examination, members of the public may attend the defensio
• The grade for the defensio assesses the quality of the presentation and the student's performance during the defense, i.e. the grade does not take into account the dissertation or its grade