Doctorate at the Faculty of Civil Engineering

We are happy that you plan  your doctorate at the Faculty of Civil Engineering. At this website you will find all important information:

1. Application requirements

The requirements of the Faculty of Civil Engineering for doctorate degree candidates are stated in the § 6 of the doctorate regulations dated 19.12.2015. The minimum requirement for admission is

• a Diploma, Master's or Magister degree at a university or a passed state examination, respectively, in an engineering  study programme completed with the overall and thesis grades at least "good" or
• a Diploma, Master's or Magister degree at a university or a passed state examination, respectively, in a specific civil engineering, mathematics,  natural science or economy study programme completed  with the overall and thesis grades at least "good" and additionally a positive result of the eligibility check.

You also need a supervisor (professor or young investigator at the Faculty of Civil Engineering) who agrees to take the responsibility for the academic supervision of your doctorate.

2. Application for admission as a doctoral candidate

The application for admission as a doctoral candidate can be submitted to the doctoral board of the Faculty according to § 7 of the doctorate regulations dated 19.12.2015. The doctoral board  checks whether all admission requirements are met.

• You can find all valid regulations and committees here:
• Doctorate regulations (19.12.2015), including the amendments as of July 16, 2020
• Regulations on the Processing of Personal Data at the TU Dresden (2022)
• Members of the doctoral board (Promotionsausschuss)

Please use the online system Promovendus  to apply for the admission as a doctoral candidate. You can access Promovendus via internet at any time. You  need a valid ZIH user account to login to Promovendus.
Enrolled students as well as employees of TU Dresden automatically receive their ZIH login details. If you have not received your ZIH login details yet, you can apply for a guest login.   You can find the application for a ZIH user account on the website of the ZIH. Your supervisor has to sign it. Please contact the Service Desk of TU Dresden in case of any questions or problems with the ZIH user account.

Promovendus will generate an application document for you, which you  have to submit to the Faculty of Civil Engineering either by post:

Technische Universität Dresden
Fakultät Bauingenieurwesen
Promotionsausschuss
01062 Dresden

or at the visiting address:

August-Bebel-Straße 30, Zimmer 03-034
Frau Rehfeld
01219 Dresden
phone: 0351 46334279
E-Mail: dekanat.biw@tu-dresden.de

Please note that, together with the application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate, you will need to submit the following documents:

• Certified copy and, if applicable, translation in German or English of the graduation certificate of the study degree relevant for admission
• Certified copy and, if applicable, translation in German or English of the overviews of subjects and grades of the study degree relevant for admission
• Certified copy and, if applicable, translation in German or English of all other study graduation certificates and overviews of subjects
• Simple copy of the university entrance qualification certificates (e.g. A-levels)
• Curriculum vitae (C.V.) including scientific career and signature
• Confirmation (receipt) of application for a clearance certificate (Führungszeugnis), see Certificate of good conduct

You can find further information on certified copies of certificates, which have not been issued by TU Dresden, on the website of the office of certified documentation of TU Dresden.

3. verification of equivalence of foreign university degrees

If you graduated outside of Germany or if you have a foreign citizenship, your documents will be sent to the International Office of the TU Dresden to verify the equivalence of your degree. You can use the online database www.anabin.de for a preliminary check of the equivalence of your degree.

4. Enrollment

You can only enroll as a PhD student if the doctoral board of the Faculty has accepted you as doctoral candidate and put you on the doctoral list of the Faculty. You can find further information on the website of the admission office. To apply for the enrollment, please use the website of the admission office.

The Enrollment as a PhD student is voluntary. The regulations for the enrollment can be found here.

5. Additional requirements

The admission as a doctoral candidate may be subjected to additional conditions and examinations. The doctoral board will specify these requirements and inform the doctoral candidate together with the admission confirmation. The additional requirements must be fulfilled within two years after the admission as a doctoral candidate according to the doctorate regulations dated 19.12.2015.

6. Opening of the doctorate procedure

To apply for the opening of the doctorate procedure, please use the online system Promovendus.
You can access Promovendus via the internet at any time. You  need a valid ZIH user account to login to Promovendus.

Promovendus will generate an application document for you, which you will have to submit  to the Faculty of Civil Engineering either
by post:

Technische Universität Dresden
Fakultät Bauingenieurwesen
Dekanat / Promotionsangelegenheiten
01062 Dresden

or at the visiting address:

August-Bebel-Straße 30,
room 03-034
Frau Rehfeld
01219 Dresden
Telefon: 0351 46334279
E-Mail:

Please note that, together with the application for the opening of the doctorate procedure, you will need to submit the following documents:

• 7 hard cover copies of the dissertation, usually in German or English as well as one electronic copy
• 7 short versions of the dissertation in German or English as well as one electronic copy
• Curriculum vitae (C.V.) including scientific career and signature
• List of scientific publications
• Proof of the fulfillment of additional requirements set upon acceptance as a doctoral candidate, if applicable
• Confirmation (receipt) of application for a clearance certificate (Führungszeugnis), see Certificate of good conduct
• "Schriftliche Erklärungen zur Eröffnung des Promotionsverfahrens (siehe Anlage zur Promotionsordnung)" - written declarations related to the opening of the doctorate procedure (see Annex of the doctorate regulations dated 19.12.2015.)

The thesis as well as its defense can be in German or English language. You can find all further details in the doctorate regulations dated 19.12.2015.

7. cumulative dissertations

Cumulative dissertations must have at least three professional articles listed on the Web of Science and at least two of them must have been written in English (Faculty Council resolution of 11/25/2020).

8. Certificate of good conduct

For  the admission as a doctoral candidate as well as for the opening of the doctorate procedure, you  need a confirmation (receipt) of the application for a  Certificate of good conduct (“Führungszeugnis”). This confirmation should be sent to the Faculty of Civil Engineering in compliance with Section 30 Paragraph 5 “Bundeszentralregistergesetz” (Federal Central Register Law).

The Certificate of good conduct is valid for about 3 months and can be requested on the day of the submisson of your application for the admission  as a doctorate candidate or for the opening of the doctorate procedure.
When requesting this certificate at the responsible authority (for example at the Registration Office, Theaterstraße 11, 01067 Dresden) the following address should be given:

Technische Universität Dresden
Fakultät Bauingenieurwesen
Dekanat / Promotionsangelegenheiten
01062 Dresden

9. Completed doctorates and alumni network

You can view all doctorates which have been completed since 1994 in the doctorate archive. You can register for the alumni network of former junior researchers in Promovendus. If you do not have a valid ZIH user account, you can also use the alumni sheet. Registration is voluntary.
We would also like to draw your attention to the general alumni network of TU Dresden.