Please submit the following documents to the Doctoral Office in order to be admitted to the doctoral examination procedure:

• Dissertation in printed and bound form
  • included: affidavit, signed by hand
  • included: short academic CV
• Dissertation in electronic form (identical to the printed version); you will be provided with an upload link in advance
• Form “Application for Admission to the Doctoral Examination Procedure”
• One-page summary of your dissertation in A4 format (in German or English)
• Proof of enrolment (ideally: certificate of study progress)
• Proof of completion of the doctoral studies programme 
  Note: Progress reports do not need to be submitted again.
• affidavit (as a separate paper document, signed by hand)
• For cumulative dissertations only: declaration of consent from the first supervisor
• Optional: substantiated request to exclude the public of the faculty from the disputation (oral defense)

If you have not yet submitted the following documents to the Doctoral Office, please also bring:

• Certificates and diplomas (school leaving certificate/qualification for university entrance, all previous academic degrees and state examinations) as certified copies
• A declaration stating whether, when, and where you have previously undertaken a doctoral procedure that was not successfully completed
• Confirmation of having taken note of the “Regulations on the Principles for Ensuring Good Scientific Practice at Heinrich Heine University” (German only, English edition is soming soon)
• Proof that any requirements imposed in accordance with § 3 (3) of the Doctoral Regulations have been fulfilled
• Proof of the language skills required according to Appendix 2 of the Doctoral Regulations

If you are unsure which documents are already on file, please feel free to inquire at the Doctoral Office.

Submit your dissertation either in person or by mail.

Submitting in person: Please schedule an appointment with the Doctoral Office in advance. The appointment will take approximately 30 minutes. About one week beforehand, you will receive an upload link so that you can upload the electronic version of your dissertation prior to the appointment.

Submitting by mail: You may submit your dissertation and all other required documents to the Doctoral Office by post at any time. It would be appreciated if you could inform the Doctoral Office in advance in this case as well.

The doctoral examination procedure consists of several steps, which must be completed in chronological order. The procedure is considered completed once you have passed the oral examination (disputation).

1. Admission to the Doctoral Examination Procedure
   
   Once you submit your completed dissertation and all other required documents (see above) to the Doctoral Office, you will be admitted to the doctoral examination procedure. You will receive confirmation of this.
    
2. Review of the Dissertation
   
   Your two reviewers will receive your dissertation so that they can prepare the dissertation reviews and submit them to the Doctoral Office. The reviews should ideally be submitted within three months. The procedure continues only once both reviews have been received.
    
3. Display of the Dissertation and Both Reviews
   
   As soon as both reviews have been received, the electronic display period for the dissertation and the reviews begins. The display period lasts at least two weeks and may take place at any time throughout the year. You will be informed once the display period begins. From this point at the latest, you should start arranging the date for your disputation.
    
4. Disputation
   
   The disputation may take place no earlier than three weeks after the start of the display period. You have a total of six months to complete the disputation, so please make sure to schedule your date in good time. You can find details on how a disputation is conducted in the section below.
   
   The disputation is generally held in person. However, upon a justified request from you, the disputation may also be conducted online (German only, English edition is coming soon). Upon a justified request from a member of your doctoral committee, individual members may be allowed to join online (hybrid disputation; German only, English edition is coming soon). Please clarify the format of your disputation with your committee members well in advance.

Important note: In all cases, you must remain enrolled until your disputation. The doctoral examination procedure is not considered completed until after you have successfully passed the disputation. 

Once you have successfully completed the doctoral examination procedure, you will receive a confirmation letter by mail. We will gladly issue your doctoral certificate as soon as you have published your dissertation.

The disputation (the oral defense of your dissertation) generally represents the final step of your doctoral examination procedure. It lasts at least 60 minutes and at most 90 minutes and takes the form of a colloquium.
Of this total time, a maximum of 20 minutes is allotted to your presentation, which you may accompany with slides if you wish.

Immediately after the disputation, you will be informed orally of the grade for the dissertation, the grade for the disputation, and the overall grade for your doctorate. You will receive the (written) doctoral certificate by mail a little later.

The disputation is, incidentally, open to the faculty: in addition to you and your doctoral committee, professors, habilitated members, postdoctoral researchers with a doctorate, and currently enrolled doctoral candidates of our faculty may attend.

Tip: Coordinate the scheduling of your disputation with the members of your doctoral committee as early as possible. As soon as the date and time are set, please inform the Doctoral Office so that all further required steps can be organized from there. This must be done at least three weeks before the planned date - earlier is always better.

A disputation training session is currently offered. If you are interested, feel free to contact the Doctoral Office!