The Doctoral Degree Regulations regulate in Section 11 para. 1 which persons can act as supervisors. The supervisor usually prepares the first assessment of the dissertation and is thus also a member of the Examination Committee that later conducts the defense (disputation).

In addition, a Doctoral Committee may be appointed, for which the doctoral candidate can propose members. If the doctorate is pursued within a doctoral program or degree track at the Graduate School OLTECH, the formation of a Doctoral Committee is mandatory. This committee consists of the primary supervisor and up to four additional members.

The relationship between the doctoral candidate and the supervisor, as well as any potential Doctoral Committee, is regulated in a supervision agreement (supervision agreement:pdf). Further information on supervision can be found in § 6 para. 4 and § 11 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations.

In case of any questions, issues or difficulties related to the doctorate, candidates are always welcome to contact the Doctoral Committee or the faculty's designated ombudsperson. Confidential treatment of the inquiry is of course guaranteed.

The requirements for admission to doctoral studies are regulated in §8 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations.

The application for admission to doctoral studies and thus for acceptance as a doctoral candidate must be submitted in writing to the Chair of the Doctoral Committee. The required documents must be submitted to the doctoral office in paper form or digitally by email as one coherent PDF file at least 8 days before the meeting of the Doctoral Committee. The application must be accompanied by the following documents in accordance with § 9 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations

• application for admission
• certified copies of the Abitur, Bachelor's and Master's degree certificates or the degree entitling the applicant to doctoral studies*,
• a description of your academic career,
• the doctoral research topic (working title) with a brief description of the project, agreed upon with the designated supervisor,
• names of the members of the Doctoral Committee, if already established (Sectionn 11 para. 2),
• a declaration of any previous doctoral applications with proof of termination,
• if applicable, an application for a joint doctoral procedure,
• in the case of a joint degree doctorate, a copy of the Agreement for a Joint Supervision of a Doctorate (this can also be submitted later if necessary),
• a declaration that the regulations on good scientific practice of the University of Oldenburg are known and will be followed,
• a declaration that no commercial mediation or consultancy services (doctoral consultancy) have been used in connection with the doctoral project,
• a list of publications that the applicant has already published and
• supervision agreement

*Alternatively, an appointment can be arranged for a comparison with the originals

After admission, doctoral candidates should enrol as doctoral students as soon as possible. Further information can be found on the homepage of the PhD Admissions Office.

The dissertation should be written in German or English. In principle, the guidelines of good scientific practice of the University of Oldenburg always apply to the writing of the dissertation.

The dissertation can be written in monographic form or publication-based. Further details are regulated in Section 10 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations.

For submission, the dissertation must be provided with an appropriate title page (sample see appendix of Joint Doctoral Degree Regulations) and a statutory declaration (see guidelines for good scientific practice).

The submission of the dissertation and the submission of the application to initiate the doctoral procedure is generally possible at the earliest one year and at the latest five years after admission. At the request of the doctoral candidate, these deadlines may be changed by the Doctoral Committee by a reasonable period of time. To do so, please submit an informal application to us with a justification and the consent of your supervisor. If the application to initiate the doctoral procedure is not submitted within the deadline, admission is deemed to have been withdrawn. Further details are regulated in Section 12 para. 1 of the Joint Doctoral Degree Regulations.

The application to initiate the doctoral procedure must be submitted in paperform or digitally by email as a single PDF file to the doctoral procedure office. The application to initiate the doctoral procedure can be submitted independently of the Doctoral Committee meeting dates.

The application must be accompanied by the following documents in accordance with Section12 of the Joint Doctoral Degree Regulations:

• Application for opening of a doctoral procedure,
• dissertation in PDF format and a printed version (additional printed copies can be requested at the request of the members of the Examination Committee, please coordinate this in advance),
• a declaration
  • that the applicant has written the dissertation independently and that the resources used are listed in full,
  • whether the dissertation has already been published in part or in full; in this case, a list of publications must be enclosed
  • that the dissertation has not been submitted in its entirety or in part to another university for assessment in a doctoral procedure, or has not been submitted in the past,
  • which doctoral degree is being sought,
  • if applicable, whether the degree sought is to be listed in the doctoral certificate in the female form as Doktorin or in the male form as Doktor,
  • that the regulations on good scientific practice of the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg have been followed,
  • if necessary, proof of enrollment as a doctoral student in accordance with Srection 9 para. 5,
  • that no commercial mediation or advisory services (doctoral counseling) have been used in connection with the doctoral project.
  • suggested names for the other assessors.

If submitting by post, please send the documents to:

Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
Fakultät V // Promotionsverfahren
attn [name of administrator]
Ammerländer Heerstraße 114-118
26129 Oldenburg

The doctoral committee initiates the doctoral procedure by appointing assesors to review the dissertation. The primary supervisor of the doctoral candidate usually serves as the first reviewer. In addition, the Doctoral Committee appoints at least one other person to review the dissertation, ensuring that the review covers the academic breadth of the work. Doctoral candidates can submit proposals for this as part of the application to initiate the doctoral procedure. In the case of publication-based dissertations, at least one of the reviews must be prepared by a person who is not biased towards the doctoral candidate in accordance with the guidelines of the German Research Foundation. Further details on reviewers can be found in Section 7 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations. In the case of a joint degree doctorate, the appointment of reviewers is subject to additional regulations.

After the expiration of the deadline and upon acceptance of the dissertation, the thesis defence takes place. The doctoral committee appoints an examination board to conduct the defence. Further information on the composition of the examination committee can be found in Section 6 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations. In the case of a joint degree doctorate, the composition of the examination committee follows additional regulations.

In due time, the doctoral candidate is informed by the Doctoral Office about the determined composition of the examination board and to independently take over the organization of the thesis defence, i.e. the scheduling in coordination with the examiners as well as the reservation of a room. As soon as time and place are determined, the Doctoral Office must be informed. If the scheduling takes place at the same time as the assessment of the dissertation, care should be taken to ensure that the date of the defense is not too soon after the presumed end of the display period. If reviews are not submitted on time, there may be delays in the procedure, meaning that the date of the defense may have to be rescheduled.

The defense is intended to take place in person. However, with the consent of all members of the examination board, it is possible to conduct the defense partially or entirely electronically. All doctoral candidates admitted before August 2022 must also submit an informal request to switch to the currently valid Doctoral Regulations of August 1, 2022, in order to take advantage of this option.

Within one year after the thesis defence, the doctoral candidate must make the dissertation available to the scientific public in an appropriate manner. The publication takes place via the library and information system of the Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg. For inquiries regarding the publication of the dissertation or the submission of deposit copies to BIS please use the following functional e-mail address: [email protected].

Further details on publication are regulated in Section 16 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations. For the final version of the dissertation, a title page in according to the sample given in the appendix of the Joint Doctoral Degree Regulations must be used. 

The doctorate is only completed with the issuance of the doctoral certificate and thus the doctoral candidate is entitled to use the degree of a doctor.