You must conclude a supervision agreement with your first supervisor and your second supervisor. Your second supervisor must fulfill the formal requirements according to § 4 paragraph 3 of the Doctoral Regulations 2017/2022.

After the final acceptance as a doctoral candidate, progress meetings will be held at least once a year between you, your first supervisor and your second supervisor. The progress reports must be submitted, as the progress meetings are part of the doctoral studies. Of course, you do not have to conduct these meetings retrospectively. With the change to the Doctoral Regulations of 2017/2022, these meetings – oriented on the date of your final acceptance as a doctoral candidate – become due. You can find a sample progress report here.

According to § 7 of the Doctoral Regulation of 2017/2022, all doctoral students must complete a doctoral program during their doctorate, which consists of the following components:

• Participation in a colloquium
• Participation in a course on good scientific practice (offered by philGRAD)
• Evidence of annual progress reports
• Participation in at least one workshop from the areas “Project- and Self-Management”, “Presentation/Communication/Writing” and “Professional Orientation/Career” offered by philGRAD or by a comparable course offering

All previous achievements of the doctoral studies according to § 7 of the Doctoral Regulations of 2000/2014 are recognised for the doctoral studies according to § 7 of the Doctoral Regulations of 2017/2022.

Please note that, according to § 6 paragraph 4 of the Doctoral Regulation of 2017/2022, final acceptance as a doctoral candidate is subject to compulsory enrolment. You must remain enrolled without any gaps until the completion of your doctorate. If you are not already enrolled, please enrol immediately in the Student Service Center (SSC) as a doctoral student or as a doctoral auditor.

According to § 15 paragraph 7 of the Doctoral Regulations of 2017/2022, the dissertation must be published within a period of three years (and no longer within five years, as provided for in the Doctoral Regulations of 2000/2014).

Some doctoral subjects offer the possibility of a cumulative doctorate. Please refer to Annex 3 of the Doctoral Regulations of 2017/2022 to find out which doctoral subjects these are.

If you do not submit the documents, you and your initial supervisor will be informed after the end of September 2022 that your doctoral studies at HHU can no longer be continued. At the same time, the letter will give you a one-time deadline of six weeks to submit the documents.

All achievements that you have performed so far in the doctoral studies according to § 7 paragraph 4 and 5 of the PO 2000/2014 will be recognized. Of course, it is possible to additionally perform the achievements that are to be performed in the doctoral studies according to PO 2017.

If your doctoral examination procedure was opened before 01.04.2022, then you will complete your doctorate in accordance with the Doctoral Regulations of 2000/2014.

This also applies to those who have already been awarded a doctorate and are in the process of publishing their dissertation. The deadline for publication is still five years.