Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - School of Business and Economics

Doctoral candidates are required to enrol at the HU.

Exception: If you have an employment contract with the HU, a 'registration' (without the benefits of student status) with the SSC is sufficient. In this case, enrollment is optional. However, if your employment contract ends and you would still like to continue your doctorate, enrollment as a doctoral student is required in any case from the end of the employment contract.

The responsible office is the Enrollment office for PhD students at the Student Service Center (SSC). Further information can be found on its website.

IMPORTANT: After enrollment, please send a certificate of enrollment to the Graduate Office.

Yes, an application for an extension of the doctoral period can be submitted after consultation with the supervisor. Please complete it, let it sign by your supervisor and then send it by e-mail to the Graduate Office.

The Graduate Office then forwards the application directly to the SSC after it has been signed by the chairperson of the Doctoral Degree Board. You will get a notification.

In case of individual doctorate: Please write an (informal) letter signed by you and your supervisor in which you declare that you wish to terminate the supervisory relationship by mutual agreement, and send the letter to the Graduate Office. If mutual agreement is not possible, please contact one of the School's ombudspersons, who will endeavor to resolve the conflict.

In case of structured doctoral program: Please contact the office of your doctoral program with your concern.

In case of individual doctorate: Please conclude a supervision agreement with the second supervisor or add a supplementary agreement to the existing supervision agreement with the first supervisor. Inform the Graduate Office by enclosing a copy of the new supervision agreement.

In case of structured doctoral program: Please contact the office of your doctoral program with your request.

If you do not wish to move with your supervisor to her/his new institution to continue your doctorate there, the following applies:

Departing supervisors have the right to continue to supervise doctoral projects that have been started for up to 3 years after their departure and to participate in these doctoral procedures as faculty-internal reviewers. If you decide to continue your doctorate at our School, you must complete your doctoral project within 3 years (the date of submission of the dissertation is decisive). The same applies if your supervisor retires. An extension of the 3-year period is only possible in justified exceptional cases by resolution of the Doctoral Degree Board.

If you have a second supervisor who is an active member of our School, the doctoral project can be continued at the School even after the 3-year period has expired - with only one supervisor. If you want to appoint the former supervisor as an “external reviewer” at a later date, a resolution of the Doctoral Degree Board is required.

Please inform the Graduate office of your decision as to when you would like to discontinue your doctorate at our School.

 

Please use the following procedure as a basis for your planning:

• if applicable, in advance: application for admission of external reviewers (by the doctoral candidate)
  
  • approval of external reviewers (by the Doctoral Degree Board)
• application for admission to the doctoral examination (by the doctoral candidate)
  
  • admission to the doctoral examination, instruction to the reviewers (by the Graduate Office, 2-3 days)
  • preparation of the reviews (max. 4 months)
  • initiation of the display period (by the Graduate Office, after receipt of all reviews, 2-3 days)
  • display period (2-4 weeks)
• registration of the colloquium (by the doctoral candidate, at least 15 days before the colloquium date)
  
  • assignment of the Doctoral Committee, invitations to the colloquium to the committee members and to the doctoral candidate, internal HU announcement (by the Graduate Office)
• preparation and dispatch of the thesis paper (by the doctoral candidate, up to 10 days before the colloquium)
• key date: colloquium
  • preparation of the interim certificate (by the Graduate Office, 3-7 days)
• publication of the dissertation (by the doctoral candidate, within one year from the colloquium)
  
  • preparation of the doctoral certificate (by the Graduate Office, after receipt of the confirmation of publication, duration: approx. 4 weeks)

As soon as you have decided on an external reviewer, please submit an informal 'application for admission of an external reviewer' to the Graduate Office by email as soon as possible, enclosing a current curriculum vitae of the nominated person.

The application must be submitted before the dissertation is submitted. 

Usually, a resolution of the Doctoral Degree Board (DDB) is required. Therefore, the application should be received at least 10 days before its next meeting. The website of the DDB provides information about the upcoming meeting dates. The Graduate Office will ask your supervisor for a statement. (In the case of participation in the BSoE program, a DDB resolution might be waived in certain cases).

To avoid losing time, you can submit your dissertation to the Graduate Office in parallel, so that the document check can already take place.

As soon as you have almost completed your dissertation, compile all documents required for submission and contact the Graduate Office by email. You will then receive an upload link (HU box). Please upload your pre-final dissertation and all required documents for a pre-check, and then inform the Graduate Office by email that the document upload is completed.

The Graduate Office will check the documents (within 1-2 days) and give you feedback. Afterwards you can go ahead and print your dissertation for submission.

In addition to the dissertation, the following documents must be submitted:

• application for admission to the doctoral examination
• current curriculum vitae
• proof of current enrollment as a doctoral student
• informal confirmation from the supervisor that the seminar presentation has taken place
• if applicable: proof of fulfillment of conditions imposed upon admission to the doctorate (usually successfully completed courses)

The dissertation must be submitted in 5 bound printed copies and as a digital pdf file.

The printed copies will be passed on to the reviewers and committee members by the Graduate Office and will remain with them. A simple adhesive binding with a cardboard base and transparent film is sufficient (no ring binding please!)

Please include the following templates in your dissertation:

• Template 1: title page
• Template 2: declaration on aids and resources
• Template 3: in case of cumulative dissertation: declaration to own contribution and publication status

After the title page (template 1), please include an abstract in German and an English of no more than one page each. Here we suggest already to follow the guidelines of the HU edoc server. (You may use this server for a later publication of your dissertation.)

Please attach templates 2 and 3 at the end of the dissertation. 

Template 2 must be signed by hand in all 5 printed copies when submitting the dissertation.

There are no further formal requirements (layout, double/single-sided). If in doubt, please contact your supervisor.

Please contact your reviewers yourself and ask them to send in their reviews earlier. Please note, however, that you are not entitled to this.

The regular deadline for submitting reviews is 4 weeks. Once this deadline has expired, the Graduate Office will start a reminder process.

The display period is 14 days during the lecture period and 28 days during the lecture-free period. The display period is determined by the Graduate Office after receipt of all reviews. 

If the periods overlap, the display period is calculated proportionally.

Christmas holidays are considered lecture-free periods and extend the display period accordingly.

Enrolment as a doctoral student or registration as a doctoral candidate is required until the day of the doctoral colloquium. After that, you can apply for exmatriculation if you wish. However, you can remain enrolled until your dissertation is published.

If further re-registration as a doctoral student is required after submission of the dissertation, please ask the Graduate Office to briefly confirm to the Student Service Center that you have already submitted the dissertation.

case A: all reviewers are members of the School
- all reviewers
- 1 additional professor of the School (who will act as chair of the committee)
- 1 postdoc of the School (with PhD title, but not yet a professor)

case B: 1 reviewer is external to the School
- all reviewers
- 2 additional professors from the School (one of them will act as chair of the committee)
- 1 postdoc of the School (with PhD title, but not yet a professor)

case C: 2 reviewers are external to the School
- all reviewers
- 3 additional professors from the School (one of them will act as chair of the committee)
- 1 postdoc of the School (with PhD title, but not yet a professor)

Please note:

• Visiting professors may be appointed to the committee as professorial members.
• The committee members (except external reviewers) must be active members of the School at the time of the colloquium.

The colloquium can take place at the earliest 2 days after the end of the display period.

In addition, there is a public announcement period of two weeks. This means that the doctoral colloquium must be registered at the Graduate Office at least 15 days before the colloquium date.

Room 112 at SPA 1 is usually reserved for doctoral colloquia. The room is suitable for video conferences. Please check availability with the Graduate Office in advance before registering the colloquium.

The colloquium can also take place in other rooms of the School by aggreement.

In addition to the doctoral committee members, all active HU members are allowed to participate in the colloquium - i.e. also members of other HU schools are allowed, but not members of other universities or external persons.

The public announcement is made 14 days before the colloquium on the website and in the newsletter of the School.

Yes, you can request the exclusion of the public in justified cases when registering for the doctoral colloquium. This means that only the members of the committee are allowed to attend. In this case, no public announcement will be made.

Yes, you can request the participation of individual committee members via video conference when registering for the doctoral colloquium. The following criteria must be met:

• Both the committee chair and the doctoral candidate must be present in person.
• At least 50% of the committee members must be present in person.

The final decision is the responsibility of the committee chairperson, whose task it is to set up and conduct the video conference.

Technical support can be requested from the School's IT Service Center (ESC). 

Further information can be found in the information sheet guidelines for video conferences.

The chairperson of the committee appoints a person to take the minutes. As a rule, this task is assigned to the PhD member of the committee. However, the minutes can also be taken by any other person as long as the she*he fulfills the following conditions:

• active academic member of the School on the day of the colloquium (e.g. postdoc, doctoral candidate, visiting professor)
• at least a Master's degree
• relevant knowledge in the specific subject area

As a doctoral candidate, you may suggest a suitable person to the chair of the committee.

As soon as the committee members, date, time and venue have been determined, the colloquium can be registered by e-mail at the Graduate Office using the form registration of the doctoral colloquium

In preparation for the colloquium you are requested to provide a thesis paper. This paper contains the most important theses to be discussed in the colloquium.

The thesis paper must be sent by e-mail to all committee members and to the Graduate Office (cc:) no later than 10 days before the colloquium date.

The thesis paper has no formal requirements. A maximum of 1-2 pages is recommended, on which the theses are listed in bullet points. Footnotes and references can be omitted.

If a committee member falls ill, the chairperson of the committee and the Graduate Office must be informed. The possibility of holding the colloquium via video conference can be considered. The decision on this is up to the chair of the committee.

If the illness is already known in good time, the affected committee member can be replaced in consultation with the committee chair. In any case, the replacement must be reported to the Graduate Office up to 3 days before the colloquium date so that the new committee member can be formally appointed.

In all other cases, the colloquium must be postponed and the procedure (scheduling, registration, invitations) must be repeated.

If you are unable to attend the colloquium due to illness, you must immediately inform the chair of the committee and the Graduate Office. In this case, the colloquium must be postponed and the procedure (scheduling, registration, invitations) must be repeated. Please submit a medical certificate to the Graduate Office afterwards.

Yes, the Graduate Office will issue an interim certificate within 7 days.

After passing the doctoral colloquium, you must publish your dissertation within twelve months. Please contact the Theses Collection Point of the HU library (Hochschulschulschriftenstelle).

The Graduate Ooffice will be informed automatically by the university library after publication.

The doctoral degree may only be used after publication, and after the doctoral certificate has been handed over to you. The date of your signed confirmation of receipt of the doctoral certificate applies.

The unauthorized use of a doctoral title is a punishable offense.

You have the following publication options:

• 80 copies in book or photo print,
• 3 copies if the publication is in a scientific journal,
• 3 copies if a commercial publisher is responsible for distribution via the book trade, a minimum print run of 150 copies is proven and the publication is identified as a 'HU dissertation',
• 3 copies in copyable typescript together with the master copy and 40 further copies in the form of microfiches (for further provisions please see the Doctoral Degree Regulations),
• one copy printed on age-resistant, wood- and acid-free paper as well as an electronic version (according to the amendment resolution of the Doctoral Degree Board of 17.11.2021; for further provisions please see the Doctoral Degree Regulations)

 

Promotion certificate