Examination Office of the Faculty of Humanities

Doctoral procedure: The path to a doctorate





The doctoral studies programme can be divided into different stages. This flow chart provides an overview of this. The individual stations are numbered and will be explained in more detail below. Further links will take you to pages that deal with specific topics in more depth.

The regulations governing the doctoral programme and its examination requirements can be found on the page Doctoral Degree, Admission and Programme Regulations.

  • A list of authorised examiners of the Faculty of Humanities can be found on the page Authorised examiners.
  • You can navigate to the institutes and seminars of the Faculty of Humanities via the page Institutions.

  • The application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate is submitted online via eCampus. Further information and a list of the required documents are published on page Application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate.
  • When submitting the application, a further person with at least a doctorate must be specified for the subsequent thesis committee in addition to the desired supervisor. Applicants who have not yet studied at the University of Göttingen can submit the proposal for this second person within three months of acceptance as a doctoral candidate.
  • Information on data protection can be found on page Data protection declaration of the doctoral procedures administration.
  • Upon receipt, the application and the attached documents are reviewed and checked by the examination office. If everything is complete and correct, the application is forwarded to the doctoral committee for a decision.

  • At the beginning, of course, there is the question of which of the 63 subject areas offered at the Faculty of Humanities you would like to do a doctorate in. In addition, the type of doctorate must be decided. There are three options available for this:

    • a) as an individual doctorate (not structured),
    • b) in one of 9 doctoral programmes (structured),
    • c) in the doctoral programme Behavior and Cognition (structured).

  • You can find a complete overview of the programmes offered by the Faculty of Humanities on the page The doctoral programmes and research areas at the Faculty of Humanities.
  • The page Confirmation of fulfilment of the subject-specific qualifications for entry provides information on the special admission requirements for the doctoral subject of your choice.

  • The individual doctorate is a non-structured variant of doctoral studies. In contrast to the doctoral degree programmes, no modules are completed here.
  • The individual doctorate is traditionally based more on individual supervision, usually by a single person from the thesis committee.
  • There is no set curriculum.
  • The subjects available for individual doctorates are listed on the page The doctoral programmes and research areas at the Faculty of Humanities.

  • Structured model.
  • The doctoral study programmes are designed to combine traditional supervision in the context of individual doctorates with the advantages of structured, quality-assured doctoral training.
  • The Faculty of Humanities offers nine doctoral programmes. For more information, see The doctoral programmes and research areas at the Faculty of Humanities.
  • As part of a doctoral degree programme, 3 compulsory and 1 compulsory elective module must be completed. Proof of successful completion of the modules is provided via recognition forms.

  • Structured model.
  • The Behavior and Cognition doctoral programme is a joint programme offered by the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Biology and Psychology with the participation of the German Primate Centre. You can find out more about this and which subjects can be chosen in this programme on the page The doctoral programme Behavior and Cognition.

  • Acceptance as a doctoral candidate must also be approved by the programme committee formed at the Faculty of Biology and Psychology for the Behavior and Cognition doctoral programme. Before the application is submitted to the doctoral committee of the Faculty of Humanities for a decision, the examination office will obtain the relevant statement from there.

  • The doctoral committee of the Faculty of Humanities makes decisions at regular intervals throughout the semester. It is therefore not necessary for applications to be submitted by a specific deadline.

  • The examination office will inform the applicant by email if the doctoral committee has accepted them as a doctoral candidate.
  • The letter of acceptance also outlines the next steps to be taken and the deadlines that begin on the day of acceptance. Once acceptance has been received, enrolment must take place immediately and the thesis committee must be appointed via the Graduate School of Humanities Göttingen (GSGG). After receiving your acceptance, you must enrol without delay and then contact the (point 8).

  • Applicants who have been accepted as doctoral candidates are obliged to enrol straight away and remain enrolled for the entire duration of their doctorate (i.e. until completion of the oral examination).
  • Enrolment is done online via the Student Administration Centre: Enrolment.
  • International doctoral students should contact the International Office (Göttingen International) for enrolment.
  • If there is a delay in enrolment, the time should already be used to clarify the composition of the thesis committee (see step 8).

  • If you have already studied at the University of Göttingen, your thesis committee is to be put together immediately after your enrolment. Therefore, if you have not already done so, please start looking for (additional) people who are willing to participate in the committee. If you have not yet studied at the University of Göttingen and are therefore not yet familiar with your subject and the academics there, you have three months after enrolment to find members for the unfilled places on the thesis committee.
  • In the doctoral degree programmes and in the Behavior and Cognition doctoral programme, the thesis committee consists of a total of three people, in the individual doctorate of two. In the case of Behavior and Cognition, it must also be ensured that at least two people are authorised examiners for the Behavior and Cognition doctoral programme.

  • As soon as the composition of the thesis committee has been determined and all questions have been clarified, the doctoral candidate and the members of the thesis committee sign an agreement to ensure professional supervision and advice during the doctoral procedure, the so-called doctoral contract.

  • Once the doctoral contract has been signed by all persons, please send it to the Graduate School of Humanities Göttingen (GSGG) , as it is responsible for appointing the thesis committee.
  • The GSGG is an academic institution that is supported by the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Theology and aims to provide doctoral students with a wide range of support services throughout their doctoral studies.
  • The GSGG likewise coordinates the annual reports and can also act as a mediator in the event of any disagreements between doctoral candidates and supervisors.

  • The GSGG management board checks whether the persons proposed in the doctoral contract formally fulfill the requirements to be able to participate in the thesis committee.

  • If the proposed composition of the thesis committee is in order, the GSGG management board gives its approval and appoints the committee.

  • A provisional work schedule for the doctoral project must be submitted to the thesis committee by this time at the latest.

  • From the date of acceptance, the thesis and the oral examination must be completed within six years at the latest. A longer doctoral period is only possible if the thesis committee agrees.
  • Deviating from this, in the doctoral programme Behavior and Cognition the dissertation should be submitted within three years. In justified exceptional cases, the deadline can be extended up to four times by half a year each time; the doctoral committee decides on this after the thesis committee has given its opinion on the basis of a justified application from the doctoral candidate.
  • You can find more information about the research work on the page The thesis.

  • The doctoral candidate must report to the thesis committee regularly, at least once a year, in detail on the status of the doctoral project and, if applicable, the study achievements to date.
  • The report must be commented on by the members of the thesis committee and forwarded to the GSGG office.

  • During the doctoral studies programme, colloquia must be attended in which the participating doctoral students present and discuss the status of their research.
  • Further information can be provided by the first supervisor.

  • If you are doing a doctorate as part of a structured doctoral programme, i.e. in a doctoral degree course or programme, you are required to have completed modules by the time you apply for admission to the doctoral examination.
  • Three compulsory and one compulsory elective module totalling 24 C must be completed in one of the nine doctoral degree programmes. Proof is provided via crediting forms, which the examination office provides on the page Crediting forms for the doctoral degree programmes.
  • Deviating from this, five modules totalling 20 C must be completed in the doctoral programme Behavior and Cognition.

  • Once you have completed your thesis, you can apply for admission to the doctoral examination. The application is submitted online via eCampus. You can find more information on this on the page Application for doctoral examination.
  • In the application, you can propose who the doctoral committee should appoint as members of your examination board, i.e. on the one hand the reviewers of your dissertation (at least one must be a member of the thesis committee, usually the first supervisor) and on the other hand the other members of the examination board (usually all other members of the thesis committee who are authorized to examine).
  • If you are doing your doctorate in the doctoral programme Behavior and Cognition, the BeCog coordination will confirm to the examination office in addition to your application that you have completed all the required modules and meetings with the thesis committee.
  • After receipt, the application and the attached documents are reviewed and checked by the examination office of the Faculty of Humanities. If everything is complete and correct, the application is submitted to the doctoral committee for a decision.

  • If the application is in order, the doctoral committee opens your doctoral procedure and appoints the examination board. The examination office will inform the parties involved and will also send your dissertation to the reviewers for assessment.
  • Please note: The oral examination should be held no later than six months after admission to the doctoral examination.

  • Within three months of submitting the thesis, each reviewer should propose that the dissertation be accepted, rejected or returned for revision if they would otherwise recommend rejection.
  • Within six months of submission, each reviewer should prepare a review of the thesis in text form, justifying the proposal made within the first three months.
  • The examination office shall inform the doctoral candidate in writing of the decision to accept or reject the dissertation. If the thesis is accepted, admission to the oral examination is determined at the same time.

  • Once all reviews have been received, the thesis and the reviews are made available for at least 10 days to members and fellows of the Faculty of Humanities who are authorised examiners. During this time, they have the opportunity to view the documents and raise objections to the assessment(s) made by the reviewer(s).

  • If the display is over without objections, the oral examination - usually a disputation, but in principle a doctoral viva (rigorosum) is also possible - can take place.
  • The disputation (oral defence) is open to the university public. On the page Dates for disputations the examination office informs about the upcoming oral examinations. Only members and fellows of the University of Göttingen belong to the university public. Friends or family members - unless they are members or fellows of the University - are therefore not admitted.
  • At the application of the doctoral candidate, the university public may be excluded if there is an important reason. The examination board decides on this.
  • The rigorosum (doctoral viva) is not open to the public. However, other doctoral candidates who will soon be taking the doctoral viva themselves may attend the examination with the candidate's consent.
  • Immediately after the oral examination, the Chair of the examination board informs the doctoral candidate (in camera) of the grades awarded for the thesis and the oral examination.
  • Please note: The dissertation must be published within two years of the date of the oral examination.

  • Upon successful completion of the oral examination, the examination office will issue a certificate confirming that the doctoral examination has been passed.
  • Please note that the doctoral title may not yet be used. The doctorate is only completed when the thesis has been published and the obligatory copies have been submitted to the examination office.
  • Passing the oral examination entitles the candidate to participate in the Graduation ceremony of the Faculty of Humanities.

  • Two years are available after the oral examination to revise the dissertation, taking into account the comments and remarks of the reviewers.
  • Further information can be found on the page The Publication of the thesis.

  • Before the revised thesis may be published, it must be presented to the first supervisor for checking. If they come to the conclusion that all the criticisms noted in the reviews have been adequately considered, they confirm this on the revision certificate. The thesis can now be published.

  • As soon as the obligatory copies have been submitted to the examination office, the doctorate is awarded by issuing the doctoral certificate.
  • See also The Publication of the thesis

  • In general, the doctoral certificate is sent by post. If it is clear when the obligatory copies will be delivered to the examination office, the certificate can be prepared so that it can be received immediately.
  • If the doctoral candidate gives their consent, the degree will be posted on the page Completed doctoral studies.