FAQ – The Doctoral Procedure in the Department of Informatics

Before you can apply for official admission to the doctoral procedures you need to find a supervisor from our department. Interested parties can find these in different ways. If you have not yet had any contact with our research groups, it is best to take a look at them on our website as a first step. You can then contact the professors of your fields of interest directly and, if desired or necessary, also apply for a position as a research assistant.

The subject doctoral committee recommends to apply for official admission within the first six months and not later than nine months after you started working as a research assistant / on your research project. 

Admission is initially valid for four years (Section 5 subsect. 5 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations MIN Faculty (2018)). Please note that your admission must be valid until the day of your oral defence (therewith until the end of the examination process). Information about when and how to request for an extension, if required, can be found in section 4 of these FAQ. 

As part of the application process, you must submit the following documents via Docata-MIN::

• Application form (from Docata-MIN, see section 1 below) 
• Completed and fully signed supervision agreement: Please use this form only.
• Completed and fully signed research project outline: Please use this form only.
• Scans of your degree certificates (e.g. bachelor’s and master’s degree): certificate of academic degree, transcript of records, diploma supplement (if issued and already available). Please submit certified translations in case the original language is not German or English.
• Scan of certificate of higher education entrance eligibility (secondary school leaving certificate: dt. Abitur/Reifezeugnis)
• Curriculum vitae and, if available, publication list
• Scan of identification document (e.g. ID card, passport, visa)
• If applicable: Statement attesting that you have previously applied for a doctorate at another higher education institution, in another faculty of Universität Hamburg or in another department of the MIN Faculty of Universität Hamburg (including details on the application).

The online application is done through Docata-MIN and includes two sections: 

Section 1
1. Register in Docata-MIN: Create user account and set password
2. Log in to Docata-MIN with the login data of the user account and fill in the Application for admission to doctoral procedures.
3. Complete the first section of the online application and download the PDF application file Application for admission to doctoral procedures: tick the applicable declarations in the PDF application file, sign it and have it signed by the other persons/entities listed in the application. Scanned and electronic signatures are allowed.

Section 2
Log in to Docata-MIN and complete the second section of the online application: upload the fully signed Application for admission to doctoral procedures and the remaining application documents (see above) in ONE PDF file (max. size 30 MB) to Docata-MIN and submit via Docata-MIN. 
Please note that we can only process complete applications. If documents or signatures are missing, you will have to repeat the entire application process!

In the guidelines for the online application for admission to doctoral procedures, you will find all information about the application process with screenshots for all sections. Please make sure to read them before you start the online application process.

Together with your application for admission you need to hand in a research project outline. Please use this form only.
For reasons of space you may attach your outline text on separate pages. Please ensure to put all pages together to one single PDF document before starting the application process in Docata. 

The outline text should be no longer than two pages including title and references.
Please apply the following structure:

• State your topic and put it into context
• Describe the state-of-the-art of the science/technology of your topic and name the most important publications in the field
• Put down a project plan explaining how you plan to proceed and name the necessary preliminary work that needs to be carried out
• Specify the research questions that you want to address during your work

Doctoral candidates must be formally enrolled at Universität Hamburg as doctoral students until they have concluded their doctoral procedure. This also applies to doctoral dissertation projects carried out externally.

You must complete the enrollment procedure with the Uni Hamburg Campus Center no later than by the end of the semester following your admission (further information is given in your admission letter).  If doctoral students do not enroll, their admission will be  withdrawn. (Section 6 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations MIN Faculty (2018)).

Admission is initially valid for four years (Section 5 subsect. 5 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations MIN Faculty (2018)), but can be extended upon request for reasons of technical as well as personal nature (e.g. maternity leave, childcare, care of relatives, illness).  You must submit your application for an extension by email at least three months before your admission period expires. (Please send to promotion.inf"AT"uni-hamburg.de). 

Please use the designated application form for your request and read the document carefully,  as it contains all the required information.   

The main goal of the extension application is to stimulate a discussion between you and your supervisor about the progress of the dissertation. We would like to support you in achieving the qualification goal of a doctorate in a reasonable time. Correct applications, which are jointly supported by the doctoral candidate and his/her supervisor, are generally approved. 

Please note: For reasons of data protection we ask our doctoral students to communicate with us via a Uni Hamburg email address (e.g. uni.hamburg.de, studium.uni-hamburg.de, informatik.uni-hamburg.de).  
You can change your correspondence email address on your own at any time after logging into Docata-MIN. You will find instructions on how to do this in the MIN-FAQ.

Simultaneously with the submission of your dissertation, you formally propose the reviewers and members of your examination committee and request the opening of the doctoral examination procedure.

Please prepare the following application documents in electronic form and submit them in the framework of the application process via Docata-MIN:

• Application form (to be generated in Docata, see below)
• Current enrollment certificate (= semester certificate)
• If not already submitted during the application process for admission to doctoral procedures: Scan of identification document (e.g. ID card, passport, visa).
• If applicable: Proof of name change after admission to the doctorate proceedings (e.g. marriage certificate) 
• If applicable: Proof of interruptions of your doctorate 

The online application is done through Docata-MIN and includes two sections:

Section 1
1. Log in to Docata-MIN with the login data of your user account (see MIN-FAQ for further information) and fill in the online Application to open the doctorate proceedings.
2. Complete the first section of the online application and download the PDF application file Application to open the doctorate proceedings: tick the applicable declarations in the PDF application file, sign it and have it signed by the other persons/entities listed in the application. Scanned and electronic signatures are allowed.
3. Upload your dissertation in Docata according to the instructions (including signed Eidesstattliche Versicherung (affidavit) in German language)

Section 2
Log in to Docata-MIN and complete the second section of the online application: upload the fully signed Application to open the doctorate proceedings and the remaining application documents (see above) in ONE PDF file (max. size 10 MB) to Docata-MIN and submit via Docata-MIN.
Please note that we can only process complete applications. If documents or signatures are missing, you will have to repeat the entire application process!

In addition you must submit 1 bound print copy of your dissertation to the Studienbüro for archiving purposes. The printed copy must include the signed Eidesstattliche Versicherung (affidavit) in German language as well as a CD or USB-stick with the electronic version of your thesis.

You will find all information about the application process with screenshots for all sections in the MIN-FAQ for the online application to open the doctorate proceedings linked here. Please make sure to read them before you start the online application process.

The examination copy of your dissertation needs to have a cover page, an affidavit (Eidesstattliche Versicherung) and several attachments. The different aspects will be explained in more detail below:

• Cover page
  The cover page needs to contain the following information:
  • Name of the author
  • Faculty and department
  • The specification „an der Universität Hamburg eingereichte Dissertation“
  • Year of submission
• Names of the reviwers
  Please note that your reviewers may not yet be named in the dissertation at the time of submission as they will only be appointed by the subject doctoral committee after the examination process was started.
• Attachment
  The attachment must contain:
  • Summary of the results in English and in German. The contents of the summaries must be largely identical. The subject doctoral committee recommends for the summary a scope of 1-2 pages.
  • List of publications that resulted from the dissertation project. In case of publications with several authors, the subject doctoral committee recommends that the contribution of the doctoral student is specified.
  • The attachment can also be at placed at the beginning of the dissertation.
• Affidavit
  Please use the following German wording for your affidavit (also see Section 8 subsect. 4 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations MIN Faculty (2018)). The English translation will be given here soon for your information.: „Hiermit erkläre ich an Eides statt, dass ich die vorliegende Dissertationsschrift selbst verfasst und keine anderen als die angegebenen Quellen und Hilfsmittel benutzt habe. Sofern im Zuge der Erstellung der vorliegenden Dissertationsschrift generative Künstliche Intelligenz (gKI) basierte elektronische Hilfsmittel verwendet wurden, versichere ich, dass meine eigene Leistung im Vordergrund stand und dass eine vollständige Dokumentation aller verwendeten Hilfsmittel gemäß der Guten wissenschaftlichen Praxis vorliegt. Ich trage die Verantwortung für eventuell durch die gKI generierte fehlerhafte oder verzerrte Inhalte, fehlerhafte Referenzen, Verstöße gegen das Datenschutz- und Urheberrecht oder Plagiate".

Generally, the Doctoral Degree Regulations MIN Faculty (2018) offer the possibility to submit a cumulative dissertation (see Section 8 subsect. 2). Whether a cumulative dissertation is appropriate to present the research results depends on individual conditions, especially the subject area, the coherence of the subject and the publication performance.

Non-cumulatively dissertations enable the overall presentation of research effort in a coherent way. They enable a high level of detail and also the representation of negative results. Cumulative dissertations normally need less time for the writing of the dissertation itself. Thus they could allow the pursuit of additional, potentially higher ranked publications.

We recommend to talk to your supervisor one year before submission of the dissertation at the latest to judge the pros and contras individually.

Requirements

According to Section 8 subsect. 2 b of the Doctoral Degree Regulations MIN Faculty (2018), the subject doctoral committee determines the requirements for cumulative dissertations. For Informatics the following applies:

• At least three publications have to exist which can be related clearly to the doctoral topic with regard to contents. In particular, well-argued cases, the doctoral student can apply for an exception with the subject doctoral committee.
• The doctoral student should be first author or equal-contributing first author of the publications and be involved significantly in the published research results.
• The publications should appear in approved, international journals or proceedings of international conferences which pursue a strict peer-review.
• All listed publications must be accepted at the time of submission of the dissertation.

Note that your examination commission decides about the acceptance of the dissertation according to the recommendation of the reviewers (see Section 11). We therefore strongly recommend to discuss a cumulative dissertation closely and in detail with your supervisor.

Formal Standards

Section 8 subsect. 5  of the Doctoral Degree Regulations (2018) regulates the formal standards. In addition, the subject doctoral committee recommends to include the specification "cumulative dissertation" on the title page.

Arrangement

Further provisions are set out in section 8 subsect. 2 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations (2018). The dissertation must have a complete title, an introduction, the single publications and also a coherent text, which in a comprehensive way interpretes, evaluates and discusses the single publications. In addition, the subject doctoral committee recommends the following:

• The single publications should be clearly separated and be visible as entities in the dissertation. You should integrate the single publications preferably in same form as they were published. Each single publication should be introduced with a cover page, which includes the complete reference and a single identification within the cumulative dissertation
• A list of the individual publications should be included in the appendix – best in front of the individual publications. The specific contribution of the doctoral student and all co‐authors should be described in a short paragraph (see Section 8 subsect. 3). We strongly recommend to synchronise this demarcation of the contributions with all co‐authors and to obtain written approval from them.
• Publications in journals and conference proceedings are often very limited with regard to the page numbers. Thus details cannot be explained in a sufficient manner. If a single publication has a textual „Supplementary Material“ this should be specified in the cumulative dissertation. Please use the possibility to write chapters or appendices to include more details like extensive results, methods and their parametrisation or alternatives on the route to the published end result.

Publication

In addition to the rules for the publication of dissertations (see Section 14 Doctoral Degree Regulations MIN Faculty (2018)), special attention needs to be turned to copyrights. The subject doctoral committee recommends to aim at a publication of the cumulative dissertation as a coherent document with the included publications. The necessary rights have to be obtained from the journal publisher or conference organiser. In case that the rights for the publication of an article in the framework of the dissertation are not available the article has to be removed before publication and be replaced in an appropriate form with the complete reference.

General requirements 

The doctoral student is allowed to suggest reviewers. Even though supervisors are not allowed to suggest reviewers, the subject doctoral committee Informatics would like them to give a short statement about the reviewers suggested by the doctoral student. Regulations concerning the reviewing process can be found in Section 10 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations MIN Faculty (2018). Please note the following suggestions concerning the choice of reviewers:

• One of the supervisors is generally appointed to be a reviewer.
• The subject doctoral committee recommends that at least one of the reviewers does not have any joint publications with the doctoral student that have become part of the dissertation.
• If possible, all reviewers should also be members of the examination committee. In addition, two professorial members of the department must be proposed as chair and deputy chair of the examination commission. These must not be the supervisor.

The suggested reviewers and members of the examination commission are to be listed in the application to open the doctoral procedures, which is generated in Docata-MIN when handing in your dissertation. If possible, in addition please inform us a.s.a.p. via email (promotion.inf"AT"uni-hamburg.de) about which persons you are planning to suggest.  

Requirements in case of grade "summa cum laude"

In case the dissertation is graded with “summa cum laude” (with distinction) the Doctoral Degree Regulations request a third review by an external reviewer that can be suggested by the doctoral student. The external reviewer should fulfil the following criteria defined by the subject doctoral committee: 

• The person is an academic principal investigator with the right to supervise doctoral students at his/her home university. 
• The person has proven international visibility with regard to the topic of the dissertation. 
• The person has a proven h-Index score of > 15.
• There have been no joint projects or publications with the doctoral student within the last 5 years. 
• There have been no joint projects or publications with the supervisor/s within the last 5 years. (See also Doctoral Degree Regulations section 8 subject. 5).

Should one of the criteria be not fulfilled, it is possible to hand in a statement arguing why the quality requirements are nevertheless met. In case of doubt we recommend to suggest two external persons. Ideally the external reviewer should already by included in your suggestion lists when you hand in your dissertation and request to open the doctoral procedures.

As soon as your dissertation has been formally accepted by the examination commission you can register your oral defense. When planning the event, you need to coordinate the following with your examination commission:

• Date, time and room
• Type of oral defense (in person or partially digitally, if one or more persons would have to travel a long way),
• Form of participation by the university public (in person, by videoconference, or both).

Please note that you must officially register your oral defense at least 10 days before the date. You will receive the required registration form with the notification that your dissertation has been accepted. One week before the oral defense date, the person in charge of doctoral matters at the Studienbüro will send out the invitations to the examination commission and the university public. 

As to the oral defense itself, the subject doctoral committee recommends the following procedure (for legal provisions please see Section 12 of the Doctoral Degree Regulations MIN Faculty (2018)):

To start with, everyone is welcomed and the members of the examination commission as well as the doctoral student are introduced to the audience. The doctoral student is then invited to start his or her presentation which should last about 30 minutes. The following Q&A session may last from 30-90 minutes total. First, the members of the examination commission have the opportunity to ask further questions concerning the presentation or the wider scientific context of the problems discussed in the dissertation. After that, the Q&A session is also open for questions from other members of the university.

After the Q&A session, the examination commission consults and evaluates the oral defense according to Section 13 subsect. 1 and determines the final grade which it then tells the doctoral student (in private). 

General information:
https://www.min.uni-hamburg.de/en/forschung/promotion/verfahren.html

Code of best scientific practice:
https://www.uni-hamburg.de/fid/satzung-gute-wissenschaftliche-praxis-en.pdf

 Doctoral Degree Regulations MIN Faculty (2018):
https://www.promovieren.uni-hamburg.de/min/promotion/pdf-promotion/20180502-neuf-promo-min-en.pdf

Partiality guidelines by the DFG:
https://www.dfg.de/formulare/10_201/10_201_en.pdf

For questions please contact the academic office of the Department of Informatics via email (promotion.inf@uni-hamburg.de(promotion"AT"informatik.uni-hamburg.de)). For more far-reaching questions please contact the chairman of the subject doctoral committee Informatics, Prof. Dr. Matthias Rarey. Please write an email to rarey-office.zbh@uni-hamburg.de(rarey-office"AT"zbh.uni-hamburg.de) in order to make an appointment.