Conferral of Doctorates at Faculty IV
The doctorate is the acquisition of the doctoral degree at an institution of higher education within the framework of an examination procedure that is regulated at the TU Berlin by doctoral regulations common to all faculties. This scientific work makes an important contribution to the development of the latest scientific findings and to their transfer and application in practice.
There are various ways to earn a doctorate at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science: as a research assistant, within structured doctoral programs, or as an external doctorate. The requirements and the examination performance in the form of the dissertation with the scientific defense are the same for all doctoral candidates.
Doctoral Examination Procedure: Information & Important Forms
Application as a Doctoral Candidate
As at most universities, at the Technische Universität Berlin you first need a written confirmation of supervision from your doctoral supervisor. As soon as you have received such a confirmation from a professor of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, you can apply as a doctoral candidate.
In order to get clarity and certainty about the doctoral requirements of the faculty at an early stage, you should apply as a doctoral candidate in good time. The faculty then decides whether to accept or reject your declaration of intent and at the same time specifies any requirements for additional study and examination achievement. For example, additional study and examination requirements may be imposed on candidate with degrees from other disciplines or from foreign countries.
In addition, the supervisor and the doctoral candidate document their mutual expectations and obligations by concluding a doctoral agreement. This includes, in particular, the mutual commitment to the guidelines for ensuring good scientific practice at the TU Berlin, which are based on the recommendations of the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), as well as the recognition of the characteristics that are considered fundamental within the TU Berlin for a good supervisory and working relationship in the context of a doctorate.
You can submit your application at any time at our Faculty Service Center. Please use the following two forms:
Admission to the Doctoral Examination Procedure
Once you have completed your doctoral thesis, you can apply to commence the doctoral examination procedure. In this application you propose, among other things, the preferred evaluators. You can also propose a name for the chair of the doctoral examination board.
Please consider the requirements of the TU Berlin Doctoral Regulations as well as the Guidelines for Writing Dissertations at Faculty IV and our binding deadlines, both listed further down on this web page under "Important Information at a Glance".
Important forms:
Information sheets and forms for dual doctorates/cotutelle de thèse are available at the Faculty Service Center.
Scientific Defense
As soon as the doctoral examination procedure has been commence by the Faculty Board and all the evaluations have been submitted to the Faculty Service Center, the scientific defense follows.
The scientific defense is open to the university public and it takes place in the presence of the doctoral candidate and all members of the doctoral examination board.
It is divided into two parts:
- Presentation by the doctoral candidate about the dissertation (30 minutes)
- Discussion with the evaluators on the subject discipline of the dissertation (60 to 90 minutes).
According to § 8 (1) of the new TU Berlin Doctoral Regulations, doctoral candidates of Faculty IV are allowed to inspect the evaluators' reports prior to the scientific defense. For this purpose a request for inspection can be submitted.
Legal regulations & guidelines:
Publication
According to § 9 of the TU Berlin Doctoral Regulations, a doctoral thesis must be made available to the scientific public in an appropriate manner after the scientific defense. Accordingly, you must fulfill your publication obligation within twelve months after your scientific defense.
The University Library Dissertation Service of TU Berlin is responsible for publication. There you have to hand in the version of your doctoral thesis approved by the doctoral examination board (including the changes ordered by the doctoral examination board). The Dissertation Service issues confirmations of receipt, publishes the thesis and provides a record of it in the relevant library databases.
Contact & Office hours
Ombudspersons for Doctorates
► What our Ombudspersons do for you!
Our ombudspersons are there to help you with non-technical problems, conflicts of interest and problematic co-authorships, for example. In addition, they promote the cooperation between Faculty IV and the Center for Junior Scholars at TU Berlin (CJS), central institution for the advancement of junior scholars at TU Berlin: they participate in introductory events of the CJS and spread the word about education offers, scholarships and further news.
Please note that, on the other hand, organizational tasks related to doctorates are handled by the Faculty Service Center.