Doctorates
We are pleased that you would like to do your doctorate at the Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering. This website contains the most important information you will need to apply.
Table of contents
Requirements (Doctorate Regulations)
The requirements of the Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering for doctoral candidates are stated in the Article 6 of the doctorate regulations. The minimum requirement for admission is a diploma or master’s degree from a university or a state examination in an engineering, scientific or mathematical field. Additional admission criteria can be found in Article 6 of the doctoral degree regulations.
You also need a supervisor (professor or young investigator at the Faculty of Science) who agrees to take the responsibility for the academic supervision of your doctorate.
Promovendus
All official procedures relating to your doctoral degree (e.g. acceptance as a doctoral candidate) are done via the online system Promovendus.
You will need a ZIH user account to log into Promovendus. Enroled students as well as employees of TU Dresden automatically receive ZIH login details. If you have not yet received ZIH login details, you can file an application for a guest login which your supervisor has to sign. You can find the application for a ZIH user account on the website of the ZIH. Please contact the Service Desk of TU Dresden 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 doctoral board of the Faculty according to Article 8 of the doctorate regulations. The doctoral board will verify whether all admission requirements are met. The acceptance as a doctoral candidate implies the intention to complete the doctorate at the Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering within 6 years.
Applicable regulations and bodies
- Doctorate Regulations dated 22.3.2018 (applicable from 26.4.2018). PLEASE NOTE: information on the new Doctorate Regulations
- Doctorate Regulations from 1.7.2001 (applicable to all doctoral candidates accepted up to 25.4.2018)
- Members of the doctoral board
- Doctoral board meetings for the current calendar year
Admission
Promovendus will generate an application document for you which you will have to hand in to the Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering:
© Michael Kretzschmar
Caroline Meißner, B. A.
Send encrypted email via the SecureMail portal (for TUD external users only).
Visiting address:
Zeuner-Bau, Raum 213 George-Bähr-Strasse 3c
01069 Dresden
Postal address:
TUD Dresden University of Technology Fakultät Maschinenwesen
01062 Dresden
Parcel address:
TUD Dresden University of Technology Fakultät Maschinenwesen Helmholtzstraße 10
01069 Dresden
Office hours:
- Tuesday:
- 09:00 - 11:30
- 13:00 - 17:00
- Thursday:
- 09:00 - 11:30
- 13:00 - 15:30
Wednesday: Closed/arrangement by appointment
Please note that, together with the application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate, you will need to hand in the following documents:
- supervision agreement with responsible professor/young investigator at the Faculty (you can find a template on the website of the Graduate Academy)
- Certified copy and, if applicable, translation in German or English of the graduation certificate and subject overviews of the study degree relevant for admission
- Certified copy and, if applicable, translation in German or English of all other study graduation certificates
- Simple copy of the university entrance qualification certificate (f.ex. A-levels) and, if applicable, translation in German or English
- Curriculum vitae (C.V.) including scientific career, publications, if applicable, and signature as well as certified confirmation of fulfillment of additional studies or examinations
- Confirmation (receipt) of application for a clearance certificate (Führungszeugnis)
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 which have not been 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 will be sent to the International Office of the TU Dresden to verify the equivalence of your degree.
Enrolment
Enrolment as a doctoral student is voluntary and I not a requirement for opening the doctorate proceedings at the Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering. However, enrolment is only possible once the doctoral candidate has been accepted as a doctoral candidate by the doctoral board. Further information can be found on the website of the enrolment office.
Additional requirements
Acceptance as a doctoral candidate can be combined with the requirement to complete additional examinations. 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 three years after acceptance as a doctoral candidate (Article 9 of the doctorate regulations).
Doctorate Proceedings
Status Talk
Before the opening of the doctorate proceedings, the applicant must give a status talk of the current state of research in his/her field (status talk) followed by a technical discussion in German or English. (Article 10 of the doctorate regulations)
Opening of the doctorate proceedings
The application for opening the doctorate proceedings is made via Promovendus. Promovendus will generate an application document for opening the doctorate proceedings that you must submit to the doctoral office in the Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering.
Please note that the following documents must be submitted together with your application for opening the doctorate proceedings (Article 11 of the Doctorate Regulations):
- Curriculum vitae (C.V.) including scientific career and signature
- Original confirmation of acceptance as doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering and certified certificate stating the fulfillment of additional requirements as well as certified confirmation of successfully fulfilled status talk and the successfully fulfilled early Rigorosum
- 5 hard-cover copies of the dissertation in German or English language and one electronic version, 15 printed copies and one electronic version of the theses in German language
- List of scientific publications, talks and patents
- Written declaration by the doctoral candidate for the opening of the doctorate proceedings (Annex 2 of the doctorate regulations)
- Confirmation (receipt) of application for a clearance certificate (Führungszeugnis)
The dissertation must be written in either German or English. The Rigorosum/oral examination and defense of the dissertation must be conducted in German. The candidates may apply to the doctoral board for their Rigorosum and defense of the dissertation to be held in English. Additional information can be found in the doctorate regulations.
Rigorosum and replacement of Rigorosum
Once the dissertation has been accepted, the doctoral candidate must demonstrate his/her knowledge and/or deeper knowledge of their specialist field and dissertation in an oral examination discussion (Rigorosum). The Rigorosum is an oral examination of knowledge in the specialist field upon which the dissertation is based (primary subject) and in a related field (secondary subject). (Article 13 Doctorate Regulations)
The Rigorosum can be replaced. For this purpose, the doctoral candidate must either:
- acquire additional qualifications of at least twelve credit points from at least two subjects that were not already part of their university degree, suitability examination or other completed studies, or
- demonstrate successful participation in a training programme at a graduate school upon application for opening the doctorate proceedings. (Article 14 Doctorate Regulations)
Mandatory deposit copies/Publication of the dissertation
After successful completion of the doctorate proceedings, the dissertation accepted by the doctoral board must be made available to the scientific public within one year after the final oral examination (usually the defense). If the doctoral board has imposed additional conditions to the dissertation, the a revised version of the dissertation must be reviewed and acknowledged by the responsible professor. Evidence about fulfilment of these requirements must be submitted to the doctoral office.
Applicants have the following options for fulfilling this requirement:
- Submission of six printed and bound copies to the State Library of Saxony – State and University Library Dresden (SLUB) and a copy to the supervisor as well as electronic publication online via Qucosa according to the SLUB guidelines;
- Submission of six copies (produced and sold by a commercial publisher) to the SLUB as well as submission of one copy to the supervisor. The number of copies produced has to be at least 150 and there has to be an indication, at a minimum on the rear of the title page, that the contents of the publication correspond to the dissertation by stating the dissertation title along with the location and the date when the doctorate was conferred;
- Submission of ten printed and bound copies to the SLUB and one copy to the supervisor.
Please note the guidelines for the dissertation and the notes on publication.
Clearance Certificate
In order to apply for acceptance as a doctoral candidate, and in order to openthe doctorate proceedings, you will require a written evidence (receipt) that you have applied for a clearance certificate to be sent to the Faculty according to Article 30 Section 5 of the Federal Central Registry Act from your local authority or from the Federal Office of Justice.
The clearance certificate is valid for around 3 months and can be applied for on the same day you submit your application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate or for opening the doctorate proceedings. When applying for the clearance certificate (e.g. at the local citizens’ office, Theaterstraße 11, 01067 Dresden), the following address must be given as the recipient:
Technische Universität Dresden
Fakultät Maschinenwesen
Promotionsamt
01062 Dresden
You can register with the Alumni Network specially for junior researchers at any time via Promovendus. If you no longer have a valid ZIH user account, then you can use the alumni sheet. Registration is entirely voluntary.
We would also like to draw your attention to the general TU Dresden alumni network.