Faculty V – Mechanical Engineering and Transport Systems

Completing a Doctorate at Faculty V – Mechanical Engineering and Transport Systems

Doctoral Procedure

General Information

You can complete one of the following doctorates at our faculty:

  • Doctor of Engineering Sciences (Dr.-Ing.)
  • Doctor of Natural Sciences (Dr. Rer. nat.)
  • Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. Phil)

provided that your doctorate is supervised by a professor at our faculty. If you are interested, please contact the professor/academic chair for the relevant subject area.

The formal legal bases for the various stages of a doctorate are provided for in the Doctoral Regulations of 25.06.2021. We recommend that you indicate your planned doctoral project in advance by submitting a declaration of intent to pursue a doctorate. We also recommend that you complete a supervision agreement with your supervisor.

Once you have completed your dissertation and are ready to submit it for assessment, you first need to submit an application for admission to the doctoral procedure. Your dissertation will then be assessed by the reviewers. If your dissertation receives a positive assessment from the majority of the reviewers, you will be invited to defend your dissertation.

If your scientific defense is also successful, you are required to publish your dissertation via the University Library Dissertation Service. Your certificate will then be issued to you.

Below you can find more detailed information about the various stages of completing a doctorate as well as the relevant regulations, rulings and forms.

If you are interested in doing a doctorate at our faculty, please contact our Doctoral Office.

Declaration of Intent to Pursue a Doctorate

We recommend that you inform us of your intent to pursue a doctorate before starting. We will then check to see if you meet the requirements for completing a doctorate at our faculty. We strongly urge the following groups of candidates to submit a declaration of intent to pursue a doctorate:

  • Doctoral candidates with non-German university degrees
  • Doctoral candidates wishing to pursue a doctorate in an area unrelated to their degrees
  • Doctoral candidates with a Diplom from a university of applied sciences

To register your declaration of intent, please use the form "Declaration of Intent to Pursue a Doctorate" and submit all necessary paperwork.

Your supervisor also has to provide their consent by signing the form. You further need to submit all relevant documents relating to your degrees. You can submit either certified copies of your certificates,or simple copies if your prefer, provided you also present the originals.
Once you have submitted your declaration of intent to the faculty dean, you need to enroll as a doctoral candidate with the Office of Student Affairs. If you are employed at Technische Universität Berlin, you are not required to enroll. The Office of Student Affairs will help with enrollment.

If you are planning to do a doctorate by publication (kumulative Dissertation), please refer to the faculty’s implementing regulations.

Admission to the Doctoral Procedure

Once you have completed your dissertation and are ready to submit it for assessment, you first need to submit an application for admission to the doctoral procedure. Please use the form for applying for admission to the doctoral procedure and include all necessary documents.

Once the dean has approved your application, you will be admitted to the doctoral procedure. Your dissertation will then be forwarded to the reviewers for assessment.

Scientific Defense

If the majority of reviewers provide a positive evaluation for your dissertation, you will be invited to defend your dissertation. A date for the scientific defense is decided on by the candidate and the members of the doctoral committee (chair and all members of the committee). The Doctoral Office must be informed of the date well in advance.

This means the following documents must be submitted to the Doctoral Office at least 3 weeks prior to the date agreed for the defense:

  • All evaluations
  • Information about the day, time and room for the defense
  • The format for the defense and the documents required

Invitations are sent by the Doctoral Office at least 15 days before the scheduled date.

According to the doctoral regulations of 2021, §8 subsection 2, external reviewers may take part in the defense via video conference tool in duly justified cases. If you should consider this option for your scientific defense, please contact us.

If you successfully defend your dissertation, you will be issued a temporary certificate showing the result.

Publishing the Dissertation and Awarding of the Doctoral Certificate

The dissertation must be published at the latest 12 months after passing the scientific defense by the University Library Dissertation Service. If you are unable to meet this deadline, please contact us well in advance. The changes indicated by the reviewers are to be completed prior to publication in discussion with the reviewers.

All information and guidelines about publishing your dissertation can be found on the website of the University Library Dissertation Service.

The Dissertation Service will send a confirmation of publication to both the candidate and the Doctoral Office.

Once we have received this confirmation, we will send your certificate by mail or you can make an appointment to collect it from us in person. Before issuing the certificate, we also require a summary of your dissertation in German and English.

Ombudsperson for Doctoral Candidates at our Faculty

If you are unhappy with any aspects of completing a doctorate at our faculty, please contact our onmbudsperson for doctoral candidates Prof. Dr.- Ing. Andreas Bardenhagen for advice and support. Your case can be treated confidentially if you prefer.

Prof. Dr.-Ing.

Bardenhagen Andreas

+49 30 314 28538

Office F 2
Room F 126
emailanderas.bardenhagen(at)tu-berlin.de

FAQs

What Do I Need to Do if I Wish to Complete a Doctorate at Faculty V?

You need to find a supervisor at the faculty. You also need to ensure that you meet the requirements for completing a doctorate. We will check this for you. Please get in touch with us for advice.

What Do I Need to Consider if my Degrees Are from Abroad?

All university degrees obtained abroad need to be checked for equivalence with German university degrees by the Department of International Affairs at TU Berlin. You also need to submit the relevant documents relating to your university degrees. These need to be provided in German or English. If the documents were issued in another language, you need to provide a certified translation in German or English.

Can I Complete a Doctorate at Faculty V with a Diplom Degree from a University of Applied Sciences?

Yes, this is possible if your overall grade was “good” or better. You also need to pass three additional assessment tests, see Section 3 (3) of the Doctoral Regulations.

How Do I Submit my Documents?

Via a link which we will provide you in an email. Please upload all necessary documents for an initial check. We will then inform you about submitting your documents as hard copies.

Please do not send any documents to us by mail without first being requested to do so.

Do I Need to Enroll?

If you are not employed on a contract at TU Berlin, you need to enroll as a doctoral student. You can find information, relevant documents and contact persons at the Office of Student Affairs, Graduate Admissions.

What Is the Doctoral Database?

The Berlin-Brandenburg Office of Statistics collects data about doctoral candidates from all Berlin universities once a year. This data is used for planning purposes.

When you register your intent to pursue a doctorate with us, your data will be recored in a database (= doctoral database). You can access your data using a link, which we will send to you by email. Please check this data and complete as necessary so we can forward it to the Berlin-Brandenburg Office of Statistics.

 

I Would Like to Complete a Dissertation by Publication (kumulative Dissertation). What Do I Need to Do?

Please refer to the faculty implementing regulations for dissertations by publication. Your supervisor also has to provide their consent for you to complete a dissertation by publication.

Publications can be co-authored. As part of the admission process, doctoral candidates must describe their own contribution to each publication and the co-authors must confirm this with their signature. We therefore recommend that you retain long-term contact data for co-authors.

How Many Bound Copies of my Dissertation Am I Required to Submit?

This depends on the number of reviewers.

One copy must be provided for the faculty Doctoral Office and one copy for the chair of the doctoral committee. Each reviewer receives one copy.

You also need to provide the Doctoral Office a copy of your dissertation in PDF format.

What Do I Need to Consider When Publishing my Dissertation?

You can find all relevant information about publication formats as well as guidelines and contact persons on the website of the Dissertation Service of Technische Universität Berlin.

How Do I Get my Doctoral Certificate?

You will receive your certificate once you have provided us with the following:

  • Proof of publication of your dissertation from the University Library Dissertation Service. This will be sent to you and the Doctoral Office once your dissertation has been published.
  • German and English abstract of your published dissertation as PDF

You can collect your certificate in person or we can send it to you by mail.

Further Information