Doctorate

The photo shows a small stack of books. A doctor's hat is standing on it. A diploma lies next to it.

We are happy that you plan to do your doctorate at the Faculty of Computer Science. On this web-site you will find all important information for this endeavour.

+++Current Information+++

First statutes amending the doctoral degree regulations

Please note that an amendment to the doctoral degree regulations came into force on 2025/06/17.

Application requirements

The requirements of the Faculty of Computer Science for doctorate degree candidates are stated in the §6 of the doctorate regulations. The minimum requirement for admission is a good to very good university degree (usually a master’s degree including a research oriented master’s thesis) which is equivalent to a German academic degree that qualifies to start a doctorate. You also need a supervisor (professor or young investigator at the Faculty of Computer Science) who agrees to take the responsibility for the academic supervision of your doctorate.

Promovendus

For all formal actions involved with doctorate proceedures (e.g., application for acceptance), please use the online system Promovendus.

To be able to log in to Promovendus, you need a valid ZIH user account. Employees or enrolled students automatically receive a ZIH user login. If you do not yet have a ZIH user login at TU Dresden, you can apply for a ZIH guest login via your supervising university professor who is supervising your doctoral project. Your central contact for all questions and problems with your ZIH user account is the TU Dresden Service Desk.

Acceptance as a doctoral candidate

The application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate can be filed with the faculty’s doctoral board according to §7 of the doctorate regulations. The doctoral board will verify whether all admission requirements are met. If you intend to acquire a ‘Ph.D.’ degree, the confirmation of acceptance as a doctoral candidate includes the request to enrol to the doctoral studies in Computer Science according to the academic regulations of study (cf. enrolment). With acceptance as a doctoral candidate, you agree to complete your doctorate at the Faculty of Computer Science within six years.

Admission

Promovendus will generate an application document for you, which you will have to hand in to the Faculty of Computer Science through:

A – K ⇒ First letter of the family name
Ms. Romy Jarschel
Andreas-Pfitzmann-Bau, room 3110
Nöthnitzer Str. 46
01187 Dresden

Telefon: +49 - 351 - 463 - 38263
E-Mail:

L – Z ⇒ First letter of the family name
Ms. Romy Thieme
Andreas-Pfitzmann-Bau, room 2005
Nöthnitzer Str. 46
01187 Dresden

Telefon: +49 - 351 - 463 - 39239
E-Mail:

Letterbox for doctorade matters
Andreas-Pfitzmann-Bau, room 2005

Please use the following address when sending the documents by post:
Technische Universität Dresden
Faculty of Computer Science
Deanship / Doctoral Affairs
Helmholtzstr. 10
01062 Dresden

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

certified copies and, if applicable, translations in German or English of the graduation certificates and of the overview of subjects and grades of the study degree relevant for admission (for degrees awarded by TU Dresden: free of charge copies can be acquired at TU Dresden’s certifying office),
certified copies and, if applicable, translations in German or English of all other study graduation certificates (for degrees awarded by TU Dresden: free of charge copies can be acquired at TU Dresden’s certifying office),
simple copy of the university entrance qualification certificate (e.g., A-levels),
original of the supervision agreement with the responsible professor/young investigator at the Faculty,
confirmation of removal from the register of students (ex-matriculation) in case of previous enrolment at a German university,
curriculum vitae (C.V.) including scientific career, publications and signature, and
confirmation (receipt) of application for a clearance certificate.

Certified copies and verification of equivalence of foreign university degrees

For the acceptance as a doctoral candidate, you need to hand in certified copies and, if applicable, certified translations of your graduation certificates and subject and grades overview. You can find further information on certified copies of certificates not issued by TU Dresden on the website of the office of certified documentation of TU Dresden.

If you completed one of your studies outside Germany, your documents are 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.

Enrolment at the TU Dresden

We strongly recommend that doctoral candidates enrol at TU Dresden. You can find out about the many benefits of enrolment (e.g. discounts on the Deutschlandticket, MOBIbike and student services) on the website of the Enrolment Office. You will also find the application for enrolment there.

An applicant can only be enrolled as a doctoral student at the Faculty of Computer Science if he/she has been accepted as a doctoral candidate by the doctoral committee in the faculty's list of doctoral candidates. Further information can be found on the website of the Enrolment Office.

Applicants from abroad should also consult the website of the International Office of TU Dresden.

The enrolment regulations of TU Dresden can be found here.

Enrolment in the doctoral programme

If you intend to acquire a ‘Ph.D.’ degree, enrolment in the doctoral studies in Computer Science is mandatory. You must present a confirmation of enrolment within 3 months after acceptance as a doctoral candidate (§7 of the doctoral degree regulations). Otherwise, enrolment is voluntary.
Further information on the doctoral programme can be found in the study regulations.

Additional requirements

Acceptance as a doctoral candidate can be subject to additional requirements; e.g. the taking additional exams and passing with a mandatory minimum grade. The doctoral board will define these requirements and inform the doctoral candidate together with the confirmation of acceptance. The additional requirements must be fulfilled within two years after acceptance as a doctoral candidate (§8 of the doctorate regulations).

Doctorate proceedings

Status Talk

Prior to the opening of the doctorate proceedings – usually 1 year before the defense of the dissertation – the doctoral candidate needs to give a status talk in German or English (§9 of the doctorate regulations).

Opening the doctorate proceedings

The application for opening of the doctorate proceedings must be submitted through Promovendus, which will generate an application document that you must hand in at the Faculty of Computer Science.

Please note that, together with the application for the opening of the doctorate proceedings, you will need to hand in the following documents (§10 of the doctorate regulations):

one hard-cover copy of the dissertation,
dissertation as PDF-document,
short version (extended abstract; ca. 1-2 pages) as a PDF-document,
curriculum vitae (C.V.) including scientific career and signature,
list of scientific publications,
original confirmation of acceptance as doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Computer Science and certified certificate stating the fulfilment of additional requirements,
original confirmation of the status talk, and
confirmation (receipt) of application for a clearance certificate.

The dissertation as well as the defense of dissertation can be in the German or English. You can find all further details in the doctorate regulations.

Mandatory Deposit Copies

After having successfully completed the doctorate proceedings, the doctoral candidate is obliged to make the dissertation available for the general scientific public. Therefore, the dissertation that has to be published within one year after the date of the final oral exam (in general, the defense). If the doctoral committee has imposed additional conditions to the dissertation, the a revised version of the dissertation must be reviewed and acknowledged by the responsible professor. The corresponding confirmation must be submitted to the doctoral office.

The Saxon State Library (Sächsischen Landesbibliothek - Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden; SLUB) requires:

one electronic version in PDF/A format (verified error-free through Preflight) submitted via Qucosa.

Please pay attention to SLUB's general guidlines for dissertations as well as the guidelines for submission.

Further acceptable forms of submission can be taken from § 14 of the doctorate regulations.

Clearance Certificate (Criminal Record Certificate)

For application of acceptance as a doctoral candidate as well as the opening of the doctorate procedures, you will need a confirmation (receipt) of application for a clearance certificate (criminal record certificate; ‘Führungszeugnis’) to be sent to the Faculty of Computer Science in compliance with §30 (5) BZRG. The clearance certificate is valid for about 3 months and can be requested on the day that the application for acceptance as a doctorate candidate or opening of the doctorate proceedings is submitted. When requesting this certificate (e.g., at the records department, Theaterstr. 11, 01067 Dresden) the following recipient should be given:

Technische Universität Dresden
Fakultät Informatik
Dekanat/Promotionsangelegenheiten
01062 Dresden

Completed doctorates and alumni network

You can register for the alumni network for former junior researchers in Promovendus. If you do not have a ZIH login, 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.

A list of doctorates successfully concluded between 2013 and 2017 (up until 24-11-2017) can be found here.