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Faculty of Management and Economics

Procedure and documents PO 2023

The following information is intended to provide assistance with doctoral projects at the Faculty of Management and Economics and only describes the requirements and procedures in general and in abbreviated form. The German version of the doctoral degree regulations of the faculty of Management and Economics dated 22 November 2023 and the framework doctoral degree regulations of the University of Würzburg (as amended on 27 April 2022) are binding. 

Preparation of the doctoral procedure

The first step before embarking on a doctoral project is to carefully study the current doctoral regulations of the Faculty of Management and Economics and the framework doctoral regulations of the University of Würzburg (as amended on 27 April 2022). This will familiarise you with the requirements and framework conditions of a doctoral degree programme.

The first step in the doctoral procedure is to choose a research area and a supervisor (‘Doktorvater’, ‘Doktormutter’). In principle, you can choose from all research areas available at the faculty and the corresponding professors. There is no obligation to supervise specific topics or specific doctoral candidates.

It is generally possible to complete an external doctoral thesis that is not predominantly completed at a chair in the Faculty of Management and Economics. Interested candidates can apply to suitable potential professors for supervision by submitting specific tasks and documents relevant to the decision.

Of course, foreign applicants can also be admitted to doctoral studies if they fulfil the admission requirements. Applicants from China, Vietnam or Mongolia must also have the APS certificate.

Please refer to the following websites for further information:

Start of the doctoral procedure

  1. After consultation with the supervisor, it will be determined which other supervisor will be involved in the specialised mentoring for the scientific monitoring of the research. The specialist mentor advises the doctoral candidate in specialist matters, promotes his/her academic development and monitors the progress of the doctoral procedure.
  2. The framework for the doctoral project is documented in the supervision agreement, a template for which can be found in the appendix to the doctoral degree regulations (§4 of the doctoral degree regulations). It is essential to include a brief description containing information on the timetable, including a planned completion date. The supervision agreement may be updated during the course of the qualification project in accordance with Section 6 (3) of the Framework Doctoral Degree Regulations. This update is made by means of supplements to the original supervision agreement in the form of separate documents. The updates must contain information on which supervision agreement for qualification projects they refer to and in which section changes are made. They must be signed by the candidate and the supervisor and submitted directly to the Office of the Dean.
  3. After all parties have signed the supervision agreement, the application for admissionmust be submitted (§5); the supervision agreement only becomes effective upon admission to the doctorate. The following documents must be submitted with the application for admission:
  • Certificates and transcripts as certified copies in accordance with Section 5 (1) to (3) in conjunction with Section 5 PromO (if applicable)
  • Personally signed supervision agreement in accordance with § 4 para. 3 PromO
  • Personally signed curriculum vitae with a description of the educational background
  • The Office of the Dean checks the documents and decides on the examination result.

Admission must be revoked if the doctoral procedure has not been successfully completed within six years.

4. Enrolment for the doctoral programme must take place immediately after admission (§6 PromO or §7 Framework Doctoral Degree Regulations) and the faculty must be notified immediately, stating the matriculation number. Enrolment takes place within the usual enrolment deadlines at the Student Affairs Office. Enrolment for doctoral studies is possible for the processing period stipulated in the supervision agreement. An extension of the doctoral programme is possible upon application if there are important reasons. 

  • If a dissertation is written neither in German nor in English, this must be requested from the doctoral committee (§ 8 para. 2 PromO)
  • An independent monograph that has already been published can be accepted as a dissertation upon application to the doctoral committee if it is of particular scientific importance and is not older than three years (§ 8 para. 3 PromO).
  • The preparation of a cumulative dissertation is permitted, but is subject to special regulations (Section 8 (4) PromO). Particular attention must be paid to the independence of the reviewers. In the case of publications with co-authors, the share of all authors must be confirmed by mutual agreement by signature. Declaration of publication shares.

During the doctoral degree

  1. The guidelines  stipulate that six-monthly progress reports must be prepared.
  2. The required achievements must be completed as part of the qualification programme. The courses offered can be found in the guidelines.
  3. There should be a constant exchange through regular meetings between the doctoral candidate and the specialist mentor.
  4. The supervision agreement should be updated and adapted to the current progress of the doctoral project in consultation between the doctoral candidate and the mentor.

Progress reports

The guidelines of the Faculty of Management and Economics specify the framework regulations for doctoral degrees at the University of Würzburg (Version of the amended statutes dated 27 April 2022) and stipulate that half-yearly, standardised progress reports must be prepared in accordance with the template in the guidelines.

According to the doctoral degree regulations of the Faculty of Management and Economics (§7 (2).3), the preparation of progress reports is a prerequisite for admission to the doctoral examination.

  • The progress reports must be submitted once a year in digital form to the Office of the Dean, where they will be included in the doctoral file.
  • In terms of content (see template in the guidelines), the progress reports should report in detail on the current status of the project, in particular on the course and progress since the last progress report, for example with regard to progress, successes, examinations taken, but also obstacles or thematic changes. A brief explanation of the time schedule must also be provided.
  • The recording of further information relevant to the progress of the doctorate, such as agreements made, comments and next steps, is recommended.
  • Furthermore, the signature of the doctoral candidate and the first supervisor is required in order to document the accuracy of the progress report drawn up in consultation between the candidate and the supervisor. As soon as other persons are actively involved in the supervision of the doctoral project, they should also sign the progress report. This does not mean that the second supervisor must necessarily be known or named in the first progress report. Furthermore, the person who takes on this function can be changed.

Admission to the doctoral examination

After completion of the dissertation and successful completion of the qualification programme, the application for admission to the doctoral examination can be submitted (§ 7 PromO). The following documents must be enclosed with the application for admission to the doctoral examination:

Further documents may need to be submitted:

The documents are reviewed by the Office of the Dean. As a rule, the Chair of the Doctoral Committee decides on the basis of the documents submitted.

Doctoral examination

Immediately after admission, the Chair of the Doctoral Committee appoints two reviewers (three in the case of Section 3 (4)) and forwards the dissertation to them for review. The reviews should be received by the Office of the Dean no later than six months later.

Once the reviews have been received by the Office of the Dean, the dissertation shall be made available to the members of the Doctoral Committee for four weeks.

 

The first assessor is responsible for setting the date of the oral examination, selecting the other university lecturer and the secretary and determining the examination room. The doctoral candidate should be consulted before the date of the examination is set. The oral examination can only take place after the display has been completed and at the earliest two weeks after notification of the examination modalities to the Office of the Dean.

All persons involved in the oral examination will be invited by the Office of the Dean at least one week in advance.

The candidate's presentation on the central theses of the dissertation should not last longer than 30 minutes and the oral defence should not last longer than 90 minutes in total.

Completion of the doctoral degree

The candidate will be notified in writing that he/she has passed the doctoral examination.

Certificate

Once the thesis has been published, the candidate must submit the University Library's confirmation of successful publication to the Office of the Dean. The Office of the Dean will arrange for the certificate to be issued. The date of issue is the date of submission to the University Library.

After approximately four weeks, the certificate can be collected from the Office of the Dean in person or on presentation of a power of attorney.