FAQ
Doctoral Admission (Promotionsvorhaben)
The doctoral degree is the research-oriented deepening or supplementation of an already completed university degree with the aim of making an independent contribution to research and thus acquiring an increased ability to argue scientific arguments. In principle, the doctoral degree consists of the independent preparation of a doctoral thesis (which usually consists of several essays) and an oral examination. The doctoral degree is awarded upon successful completion and publication of the doctoral thesis.
The procedure of a doctoral procedure is laid down across all faculties in the FAU Framework Doctoral Regulations (RPromO).
In addition to the FAU Framework Doctoral Regulations (RPromO), the various faculties and departments have their own Doctoral Degree Regulations (FPromO).
The current FPromO of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Society (FAU WiSo) can be found on our website under “Documents and Services” and on the website of the Graduate Center of FAU.
Note: since 01.07.2024, a new FAU Framework Doctoral Regulations (RPromO) has been in force at FAU with the following significant changes (for an explanation, see the Graduate Center website):
-The cover page, or the cover of the dissertation, must be designed in accordance with the FAU corporate design. You can find further information at Doctoral Degree-Doctoral Thesis.
-From now on, expert reports and co-authors’ declarations can be signed using an advanced electronic signature (§§ 11, 12).
-The summary of the dissertation should emphasize the independent research work of the doctoral candidate (§ 11, para. 5, p. 2).
If you are interested in a doctoral degree at our department, you must:
1. have found a supervisor (usually a professor in our department). Unfortunately, we cannot help you find a supervisor.
2. fulfil the formal requirements stipulated by the Framework Doctoral Regulations (FAU) and the Faculty Doctoral Regulations (WiSo)
Further requirements and information can be found on our website at Doctoral Degree-Doctoral Admission.
Important in the case of “Proof of requirements for Admission / Zulassungsauflagen”:
Please also remember to submit the “Proof of requirements for Admission / Zulassungsauflagen (in German)” to the Doctoral Office, signed by your supervisior, at the latest when the Procedure is opened.
As soon as you have found a supervisor, please register in DocDaten.
Further information can be found on our website at Doctoral Degree-Doctoral Admission.
If you have any further questions, please refer to our FAQs or contact the team in the doctoral office.
Yes, the copies are sufficient in most cases. However, it may happen that we need a short personal copy of the original. In this case, the doctoral office will contact you.
For this purpose, we refer to the page of the Rechenzentrum.
Login IdM-Portal: https://www.rrze.fau.de/infocenter/kontakt-hilfe/idm/#collapse_0
Instructions for activating your IdM account: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqB3hvWDz0U
Further information can be found on our website at Doctoral Degree-Doctoral Admission.
The Graduate Center provides support services in all aspects of doctoral degrees and coordinates all structured doctoral degree programmes at the institutional level.
Here you will also find answers to general questions about the doctoral procedure.
If you have any further questions, please contact the doctoral office of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Society (FAU WiSo).
Supervision (Betreuung)
Unfortunately, we cannot help you find a supervisor/first reviewer.
To find a suitable chair for your research focus, please refer to the chairs of the institutes.
For the first meeting with your reviewer, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the checklist for good practice in the supervision and implementation of qualification theses (Checkliste zur guten Praxis der Betreuung und Durchführung von Qualifizierungsarbeiten).
The second reviewer must be determined before the dissertation is submitted and the doctoral office must be informed by the deadline for the submission/opening of the Doctoral Procedure at the latest.
Further information and documents can also be found on our Website and in the FAQs.
Please contact the doctoral office if you have any questions regarding the constellation of your reviewers.
External reviewers must be approved in advance by the Doctoral affairs committee/Promotionsausschuss (PST); submission / opening of the doctoral procedure is only possible on the following PST. In this case, please contact us approx. 6 months before your planned submission.
The “Request for an external second reviewer” (document under “Dokuments and Service-Supervision”) must be submitted by the supervisor/first reviewer to the doctoral office at least 2 weeks before the meeting of the Doctoral Affairs Committee/Promotionsausschuss (PST) and presented in person at the meeting.
The doctoral candidate or supervisor/first reviewer must contact the second reviewer in good time with reference to the GAT deadline for submission of the review!
The second reviewer must be determined before the dissertation is submitted and the doctoral office must be informed by the deadline for the submission/opening of the doctoral procedure at the latest.
If necessary, further reviewers can also be appointed by the doctoral office or Doctoral Affairs Committee/Promotionsausschuss.
If you have any questions about the assessment constellation, please contact the doctoral office.
Twice a year, we organize a Zoom information event on the topic of doctoral procedures, to which we automatically invite all active doctoral candidates and inform them via our website. After registering, you will receive a confirmation and the Zoom link. You are welcome to attend more than once.
To ensure you get an invitation, please keep your contact addresses at DocDaten up to date.
Support is also available from the FAU doctoral student representatives, where you will also find the in University elections elected representatives for the department at WiSo: (https://blogs.fau.de/proko/; Email: promovierendenkonvent@fau.de.
In addition, the doctoral office will of course be pleased to answer any questions you may have and, if necessary and in consultation with you, will pass on your concerns to the current acting liaison professor.
The premature termination of the doctoral project must be announced to all those involved in the specific doctoral project in accordance with Doctoral Regulations FAU (RPromO).
After you have informed your supervisor/reviewer, please submit your premature termination to the doctoral office using the correct form, which you can find on the website under “Documents and Services – Supervision“.
You will then receive a confirmation with a copy to your supervisor.
Doctoral thesis (Dissertation)
There are various service points at FAU and other organizations that offer you advice and support.
On our website you will find a selection of links for further information under “Tips for scientific working“.
The Requirements for the Thesis (Anforderung an die schriftliche Promotionsleistung) are regulated in accordance with the Doctoral Regulations (PromO), e.g.
-Title of the dissertation (if in English also German title);
-Approx. 2-page summary (if in English also in German);
-table of contents;
-number of pages;
-bibliography and other aids
Please coordinate any other formal components that are not regulated directly with your supervisor/first reviewer.
Further information can be found on our website at Doctoral Degree-Doctoral Thesis.
The Cover Page (Deckblatt), means the cover of the dissertation, must be designed for electronic publication (OPEN FAU) in accordance with the Framework doctoral regulations (RPromO 2024) in accordance with the FAU corporate design.
Templates can be found here on the intranet or contact FAU Brand Office.
The Title Page (Titelseite) must be designed exactly in accordance with the annex to the Framework doctoral regulations (RPromO) applicable to you and must not contain any logos, see also: https://www.ub.fau.de/forschen/dissertationenstellen/#collapse_2.
Templates for the “Dissertation Title Page for Proofreader’s version / Titelseite Korrektorenversion” and the “Dissertation Title Page for Publication version / Titelseite Veröffentlichungsfassung” can be found on our website “Documents and Services”.
Further information can be found on our website at Doctoral Degree-Doctoral Thesis.
The distinction between cumulative and essay-based dissertations is purely legal. If you submit a dissertation with at least two papers already published, it is legally a cumulative dissertation. Otherwise, it is an essay-based one. Operationally, however, this has no impact, as both types are handled in the same way. It is therefore irrelevant that “cumulative” instead of “essay-based” is stored in DocDaten.
Further information can be found on our website at Doctoral Degree-Doctoral Thesis.
It must contain at least three articles (German / English articles mixed possible), at least one of which must be written by a single author. In addition, at least two of the articles should have the potential to be published in a high-ranking peer-reviewed journal, preferably at an international level.
The assessment is carried out by your reviewers.
Further information can be found on our website at Doctoral Degree-Doctoral Thesis.
The declaration of Co-authors/Erklärung der Co-Autoren must be signed by all co-authors involved and submitted to the first reviewer for each article. The declaration is part of the documents that you must upload as a PDF to DocDaten by the submission deadline / opening of the doctoral procedure.
Further information can be found on our website at Doctoral Degree-Doctoral Thesis.
For each essay the following informations must be visible:
What? (Working Paper Nr. X)
Where? (published)
When? (published)
Who? (Name of all (Co-) Authors)
These informations must be given in a separate page in the beginning of your essay, or in the first footnote.
Further information can be found on our website at Doctoral Degree-Doctoral Thesis.
If you have any legal questions on the subject of copyright, please contact the legal advisor for legal issues relating to copyright, open access and research data management: Ms. Petra Heermann, Tel. 09131 85-23920; e-mail petra.heermann@fau.de or ub-tb02ju@fau.de
Website for doctoral rights at Erlangen University Library: https://ub.fau.de/ub-coach/rechtsfragen/promotionsrecht/
So far, this is a working title. The final title of the dissertation will be entered in DocDaten by the doctoral office after submission of your dissertation.
With your signature in the document “Application for the opening of the doctoral procedure/Antrag auf Eröffnung des Verfahrens (in German, page 2)” you confirm the Ensuring good scientific practice (in German). The provisions for conducting the oral examination as a video conference are also regulated here.
Further information can be found on our website at Doctoral Degree-Doctoral Thesis.
If this has been agreed in writing with your supervisor/reviewer, you can write your dissertation in English. Please note that your dissertation must still contain a German title and a German summary.
The FAU handout contains a passage on students (III.1.), which also contains information on writing dissertations: Students are not bound by the AGO. They are free to choose the form of gendering in presentations, examinations, term papers and publications. In particular, the use of special characters to express diversity-friendly language must not have any consequences for the assessment of examination results. This also applies to theses and dissertations.
Geschlechtersensible Sprache – Büro für Gender und Diversity (fau.de)
For further questions, please reach out to gender-und-diversity@fau.de or your first supervisor.
Once the Doctoral Affairs Committee/Promotionsausschuss (PST) has confirmed the grades and you can present the print approvals of your reviewers on the “Application for completion / Antrag auf Vollzug (in German)”, you can publish.
Further information and contacts for publication can be found on our website under “Publication (completion)” and in the FAQs.
Submission of the doctoral thesis – Opening of the doctoral procedure (Verfahrenseröffnung)
The first is usually at the end of April/beginning of May, the second at the beginning of July and the third at the end of November/beginning of December.
The doctoral thesis has to be handed in about two months before the respective PST.
Please coordinate your submission date in advance with your reviewers – with reference to the review submission date (GAT) -, check your documents for completeness (e.g. “Declaration of co-authors” if essay-based), and arrange an appointment with the doctoral office approx. 2 months before submission for your electronic “Opening of the doctoral procedure” (Upload) in DocDaten.
At this point at the latest, please inform us of your second reviewer (note: in the case of an external second review, please notify the doctoral office at least 6 months before submission, see also FAQs-Supervision).
You can find the submission procedure according the Doctoral Regulations / Promotionsordnungen (PromO) on our website at Doctoral Degree-Doctoral Procedure with reference to the required documents at Dokuments and Service-Opening of the doctoral procedure.
The successful completion of the Doctoral Programme is confirmed by your supervisor/first reviewer on page 3 of the application to open the doctoral procedure (Application for the opening of the doctoral procedure/Antrag auf Eröffnung des Verfahrens). You should submit the certificates to your first reviewer for signature.
In total, the programme includes modules worth a total of 30 ECTS. How exactly you obtain these, whether through seminars, lectures, conferences or similar, will be agreed with your supervisor/first reviewer, as this is regulated differently depending on the institute.
You can find the submission procedure according the Doctoral Regulations / Promotionsordnungen (PromO) on our website at Doctoral Degree-Doctoral Procedure with reference to the required documents at Dokuments and Service-Opening of the doctoral procedure.
The third examiner is assigned by the office of doctoral affairs and may not belong to the same institute as the first and second reviewer.
Once the first reviewer has agreed a date with the supervisors involved and all reviews (GAT) have been received, you will receive your Disputation date from the doctoral office with an invitation in the so-called “Big Letter/Großer Brief” at least one week before your Disputation, including written grades and the name of the third examiner.
You then send your dissertation to the third examiner by email as a pdf document.
The third examiner is appointed by the doctoral office and may not belong to the same institute as the first reviewer or second reviewer.
Further information on the Oral Examination (Disputation) can be found here.
After coordinating the date with the involved reviewers by the supervisor/first reviewer and the receipt of all reviews (GAT), you will receive your Disputation date, including written grades and the name of the third examiner, with your invitation (so-called “Big Letter/Großer Brief“) from the doctoral office at least one week before your Disputation.
You then send your dissertation to the third examiner by email as a pdf document.
The organization and implementation of the Disputation is carried out by the supervisor/first reviewer.
In addition to the content, please also agree on the technical details (e.g. zoom link for video conference; room).
With your signature on the “Application for the opening of the doctoral procedure/Antrag auf Eröffnung des Verfahrens (page 2: Erklärung zur Dissertation)” you agree to a possible “Digital Oral Examination” in compliance with the provisions stated there.
Two thirds of your grade consists of the average grade of the dissertation and one third of the grade of the Disputation. If there is an intermediate grade that lies in the middle between two grades (1.5; 2.5; 3.5), the better grade applies.
We will send you the certificate (German and English) by post to your contact address entered in DocDaten (please make sure you check this!).
Please note: the English certificate is only valid in conjunction with the signed German certificate.
As soon as all obligations have been fulfilled, the doctoral degree is awarded by handing over the doctoral certificate (Completion).
Only after receipt of the doctoral certificate does the doctoral candidate have the right to use the doctoral title.
Publication / Completion (Publikation/Vollzug)
For essay-based theses: Please remember to add an embargo note to your thesis if parts of essay-based dissertations are still in the review process. Send this Blocking Notice/Sperrvermerk, signed by you and the first reviewer, to the doctoral office .
After the doctoral office has signed it, you can forward the application directly to the library (Please note: https://ub.fau.de/forschen/dissertationenstellen/#collapse_4)
There are no quarter-note markings in the document and only the Latin predicate!
We will send you the doctoral certificate (German and English) by post to your contact address entered in DocDaten (please check!).
Please note: the English doctoral certificate is only valid in conjunction with the signed German doctoral certificate.
As soon as all obligations have been fulfilled, the doctoral degree is awarded by handing over the doctoral certificate (Completion).
Only after receipt of the doctoral certificate does the doctoral candidate have the right to use the doctoral title.