Doctorate Changes or Termination
Changing or Adding Supervisors
Changing supervisors
When changing supervisors, please note the following:
Doctorates in the subjects of Educational Science, Sociocultural Anthropology, Gerontology, Psychology, and Sports Science must generally be supervised by a professor, associate professor, or head of a junior research group (with the right to award doctorates granted by the faculty) of the faculty. If the doctorate is to be supervised by a person from outside of the faculty, the doctoral thesis must be supervised jointly with a faculty-affiliated professor, associate professor, or head of a junior research group (with the right to award doctorates granted by the faculty). Both supervisors’ consent must be obtained in advance. If one supervisor is a co-opted faculty member, the respective other supervisor must be a full faculty member.
The following documents must be submitted to the Dean's Office (Doctoral Office); these can also be sent by email:
- A brief informal confirmation from the current supervisor that they agree to the change
- A newly filled and signed form: “agreement between supervisor and doctoral candidate”
Please note: Backdating or forward dating the form is not permitted. The current date must be used! - for external supervisors it must be stated who will cover the travel expenses. Towards this end, the form: “declaration: travel expenses for external supervisor” must be submitted. Please note that the faculty cannot cover travel expenses.
Addition of a second supersivor or a third supervisor
The following documents must be submitted to the Dean's Office (Doctoral Office); these can also be sent by email:
- A newly filled and signed form: “agreement between supervisor and doctoral candidate”
Please note: Backdating or predating the form is not permitted. The current date must be used! - for external supervisors it must be stated who will cover the travel expenses. Towards this end, the form: “declaration: travel expenses for external supervisor” must be submitted. Please note that the faculty cannot cover travel expenses.
Changes to the Dissertation Title (Working Title)
When applying for a doctorate, a working title for the dissertation must be provided. This title may be modified during the doctoral phase, up until the submission of the dissertation. However, if you wish to completely change or switch the topic, this change must be reported to the Dean's Office (Doctoral Office).
The following documents must be submitted to the Dean's Office (Doctoral Office) by email only:
- A brief informal confirmation from the supervisor that they agree to the change.
- An informal request to change the dissertation title (working title), stating the old and new dissertation titles (working titles).
Change of Doctoral Subject from “Erziehungswissenschaft to ”Bildungswissenschaft"
Please note: A change of the doctoral subject in educational science from “Erziehungswissenschaft” to “Bildungswissenschaft” can only be made before the dissertation is submitted. If you are considering this change, it is necessary to address it at an early stage.
The following documents must be submitted to the Dean's Office (Doctoral Office) by email only:
- An informal application to change the doctoral subject from “Erziehungswissenschaft” to “Bildungswissenschaft”, including a brief explanation.
- A brief informal confirmation from the supervisor that they agree to the change of doctoral subject from “Erziehungswissenschaft” to “Bildungswissenschaft”.
Termination of Doctoral Candidacy
- If you are unable or unwilling to continue your doctoral project, please notify the Dean's Office (Doctoral Office) immediately in writing (by letter or email).
- Important note: Once admitted to the examination procedure, a doctoral candidate can no longer opt to discontinue their doctoral studies or withdraw their application for admission to the doctoral examination procedure.
