Programme
The thesis is supervised by two members of the faculty (external supervision may also be possible); interdisciplinary theses, are preferred. The duration of the Programme is three years. Each PhD student position is funded for the three years of study (regular employment contract with full social benefits).
Curriculum
The program has the following elements (1 credit = 1 ECTS)- Courses (fundamental and area courses, 36 credits in total)
- Thesis (162 credits)
- International publications (three)
- International review of the thesis
- Defense of the thesis (public examination)
- Stay abroad (at a cooperating university)
In addition, the exams (Course Exams, PhD proposal and the defense of the thesis) have to be passed.
Fundamental Courses:
The fundamental courses are intended to convey general skills and enable the students to obtain additional qualifications. Students must earn 12 credits from the fundamental courses.| Fundamental Courses |
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Area Courses:
Students must earn 24 credits from completed area modules; normally, a module has 6 credits. A module comprises of several courses, which may be predefined in the curriculum or - in other cases - may be freely chosen from a pool of courses.| Modules |
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Scientific Forums include ongoing Research Seminars, PhD Student Workshops and Doctoral Consortia.
Exams:
- Course Exams: Credits for courses require an exam (written/oral - to be announced with the course description)
- PhD Proposal: The student has to work out a short proposal (approx. 10 pages) at the beginning of the 2nd year. The proposal has to comprise the following information:
- Discussion of the state of the art in area of the thesis
- Proposal for the scientific contribution including the area of research, aims and used methods
- A work-plan
- References to the literature
- Student's list of publications
- Keywords
- Defense: After a positive evaluation of the thesis by the supervisors and the external reviewers the student must to defend the thesis in a public exam.