Doctorate Studies

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+++

Enactment of the new doctorate regulations dated 2023/04/21

Please note that our Faculty enacted new doctorate regulations on 2023/04/21.

All future or already accepted doctorates will be carried out according to the new regulations. All doctoral candidates who have already been accepted based on the previous doctorate regulations will remain accepted doctoral candidates of our Faculty.

Solely those doctoral candidates who have already opened their doctorate proceedings can complete the doctorate based on the previous doctorate regulation.

All doctoral candidates who have been accepted but not yet opened their doctorate proceedings need to obey the following changes:

If you hand in an application for the opening of the doctorate proceedings within six months after the official announcement of the new doctoral regulations, you can also apply for your doctorate to be carried out based on the previous doctorate regulations. The doctoral board will decide about the opening of the proceedings as well as the underlying doctorate regulations.

In all other cases, the new doctorate regulations apply. Please consider the following changes in particular:

The Statutes for Ensuring Good Scientific Practice, Avoiding Scientific Misconduct, and Handling Violations apply to all (associate) members of TU Dresden and is, thus, also binding for you as a doctoral candidate. You are now obliged to complete at least one training on the topic of good scientific practice, either in digital form or as a presence event. Detailed information can be found in our new doctorate regulations. A proof has to be handed in once you submit the application for the opening of the doctorate proceedings to your doctoral office. Trainings are offered by the Graduate Academy, for instance.
In addition, your dissertation must be assessed by at least one external, full-time assessor from outside TU Dresden, who was not involved in the supervision of your dissertation and does not work in the same institute as your main supervisor. Detailed information can be found in our new doctorate regulations.

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.

You will also need a valid ZIH user account to login to Promovendus. Enrolled students as well as employees of TU Dresden automatically receive a ZIH login. If you do not have a ZIH login yet, you can file an application for a guest login, which your supervisor has to sign. Please contact the Service Desk in case of any questions or problems with the ZIH user account.

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 – Q ⇒ 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:

R – 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:

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

You can only enroll as doctorate student if the faculty’s doctoral board 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.

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. Otherwise, enrolment is voluntary. The regulations for enrolment can be found in the enrolment regulations (German). To apply for enrolment, please use the website of the admission office.

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.