Faculty of Biology and Psychology

During your PhD

You have to be enrolled for the entire duration of your doctoral studies and pay semester fees, incl. the doctoral defence (examination).

During your doctoral studies you will meet regularly with your TAC; you will also acquire 22 credits.

Hold Thesis Committee Meetings (TAC)

  • At least three TAC meetings and progress reports are mandatory. The first report must be provided within the first six months, the following at least once a year.
  • The reports signed by the TAC members must be certified in the checklist for PhD students submitted with your thesis.

A handout/information and the template form are deposited on the GAUSS website.

Achieve 22 credits

According to the regulations of the programme you have to acquire 22 ECTS-Credits. The achievements should be certified in the checklist for PhD students.

  • P.Biodiv.01 Scientific project management (3 C)

    Regular participation in the department or institute seminar throughout the semester, including a presentation of one's own work.

  • P.Biodiv.02 Advanced scientific qualification in theory and practice (6 C)

    Regular participation in two seminars and/or lectures or one method course throughout the semester. Certificates: exam, seminar talk, lab report or protocol.

  • P.Biodiv.03 Scientific teaching (3 C)

    • Independent conductance of a method/practical course, a seminar or tutorial OR
    • Supervision of two bachelor theses OR
    • Supervision of one master thesis

  • P.Biodiv.04 Scientific presentation and communication (4 C)

    Two talks and / or poster presentations at national/international conferences

  • P.Biodiv.05 Key qualifications (6 C)

Write your thesis

The dissertation will be written in English. Justified exceptions to this rule have to be requested from the Programme Committee.
Please be also aware that it is mandatory to use the cover pages listed in the doctoral regulations. A sample cover page as well as more information on the format of the thesis and a guide "How to write a PhD thesis (by Prof. Reinhard Jahn)" can be found on the GAUSS website.
You may also want to request an internal review from your supervisor before submitting your thesis. Also, check your thesis with plagiarism checking software to avoid unwanted plagiarism.

Declaration of AI use

If AI has been used, this has to be declared in the doctoral thesis according to the rules of Good Scientific Practice (honesty & transparency). It should be mentioned specifically where, what for and to what extent AI was used. This can be done, e.g., by using the Guiding Questions as a paragraph in the Material and Methods section or by using the AI Usage Cards.
You can find further information here: GAUSS – Declaration of AI use.

Complete your PhD

Around six months before the planned submission of the doctoral thesis, the final stages of the PhD – thesis submission, thesis defence and thesis publication – need to be organised. Find out more here.