Thesis Submission, Defence and Thesis Publication

Assemble your examination board - 6 months before submission

The examination board consists of six members, including the two reviewers, all of whom must be accredited for examination (general or individual examination accredidation). You may discuss with your main supervisor the composition of the examination board.
Please follow the rules for composition very carefully – mistakes are often made here! Rules for the composition of the examination board

Prove your credit achievements and TAC reports - 5-6 months before submission

Check that you have completed all the required credits and TAC meetings and documented them in the checklist for PhD students. The completed checklist including all signatures and certificates (as one single PDF file!) has to be reviewed and signed by the programme coordination office. The confirmed checklist must be uploaded when you submit your thesis.

Arrange your thesis defence - 6-7 weeks before submission

• After you submit your thesis, reviewers normally have 4 weeks to assess your dissertation. If a shorter period is needed, both reviewers must agree and send the approval to the Coordination Office.
• Arrange the date, time and place of the disputation with your examination board. The defence should, as a general rule, take place no later than 6-8 weeks after submission of the thesis.
• The defence will be conducted in English. In justified exceptional cases, the defence may also be conducted in German.

Inform yourself in the Final Sprint Meeting about thesis submission, the examination (defence), and thesis publication - every second Monday.

Submit your thesis - Date of submission

The actual submission of the dissertation consists of two parts/steps:

• A. Submission of your thesis, including supporting documents
  • Final version of your thesis as PDF file*
  • Signed “Promovierendenerklärung / Doctoral student's declaration”
  • Approval of performance records (check list for PhD students; Programme speaker and/or coordination office)
  • CV with signature and date
  • Optionally: Copies of publications in connection with your dissertation (especially when you have published with both reviewers), consent to video publication (if applicable).

  * Please make sure that the title pages 1 and 2 comply with the GAUSS guidelines, including indication of which doctoral degree (Ph.D. or Dr. rer. nat.) you wish to obtain. Check with your reviewers to see if they would like a hard copy/printed version of the dissertation.

  See also GAUSS – PhD Thesis Submission - for further information.

• B. Application for Admission to the doctoral examination (defence of the thesis)

  After uploading the documents, GAUSS generates a document titled “Application for Doctoral Examination” (PrmPrf-xxxx) – this form has to be completed and signed by the doctoral candidate before the deadline of submission, and sent to the coordination office.

  The Coordination Office/ Programme Speaker reviews the information, signs the application, and forwards it to GAUSS and the two reviewers—GAUSS then officially initiates the admission to the doctoral examination:

  1. The reviewers are given a deadline for submitting their reports, and the examination board will be informed regarding their appointment
  2. The doctoral candidate receives information regarding the Admission to the doctoral examination and invitation to the graduation ceremony (attendance is encouraged and expected – award of the provisional certificate).

Both steps are completed via an online form. The online form is accessed via eCampus (login with your student ID and password).
Please note that the process has to be done in a single step, the data in the form cannot be saved temporarily.

Defend your thesis (Oral examination) - Approx. 6 weeks after submission

• At least four members of the examination board (including the two reviewers) have to attend the oral examination.
• If one member cannot be present he/she can participate online, provided you agree to this procedure at least in text form.
• The disputation should take place in person but may be in a hybrid or online format, provided you agree to this procedure at least in text form

Get a preliminary certificate and exmatriculate - After thesis defence until awarding of degree

• Should you not be able to attend the graduation ceremony for receiving the preliminary certificate, you may contact GAUSS Office for a document.
• You can exmatriculate/de-register the day after the defence – enrolment as a student is not necessary for the thesis publication.

Publish your thesis - One year after thesis defence

Thesis publication is mandatory - only thereafter the PhD is fully completed: Use of your title (PhD or Dr. rer. nat) and award of the official doctoral certificate.

1. Your supervisor signs the Revision certificate (can be found here) on behalf of the members of your doctoral thesis committee
2. Send publication confirmation to GAUSS office:
   • Via eDiss at the SUB Göttingen: The confirmation is sent to GAUSS office directly by the SUB
   • Publication elsewhere: Confirmation from the publisher sent by you to GAUSS office

Be aware: If you miss the deadline, you lose all rights to the conferral of the doctoral degree and to receive the doctoral diploma! Upon request to your examination board, this deadline may be extended once by one year.

See also GAUSS - Publication