General remarks on doctoral degrees

The faculty 4 - Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Economics and Computer Science - of the University of Hildesheim awards three different doctoral degrees.

The degree awarded primarily depends on the subject of the thesis:

  • Dr. rer. nat.: doctoral degree in Natural Sciences, from latin doctor rerum naturalium
    This degree requires a thesis subject within the areas of Mathematics, Natural Sciences (in Hildesheim currently Biology, Chemistry, Geography, Physics, Environmental Sciences), Computer Science (Informatics) or Technology (Education).
  • Dr. rer. pol.: doctoral degree in Economics, from latin doctor rerum politicarum
    This degree requires a thesis subject within the area of Economics. The area of Economics particularly comprises Microeconomics (Business Economics, Business Administration), Macroeconomics (Political Economics, National Economics) and (Business) Information Systems (Business Informatics). Additionally, the doctoral candidate's previous academic achievements should also lie mainly within Economics.
  • Dr. phil.: doctoral degree in philosophy, from latin doctor philosophiae
    This degree is awarded when the subject of the thesis focuses on Educational Science, Social Sciences or the Humanities in general. The core subject area of the thesis should be within Mathematics, Natural Sciences (in Hildesheim currently Biology, Chemistry, Geography, Physics, Environmental Science), Computer Science (Informatics) or Technology (Education) or the didactics of these subjects.

In German, the awarding of a doctoral degree is called "Promotion", in English it is commonly called "awarding a PhD". All three doctoral degrees listed above are ISCED 2011 level 8 (844) degrees and compare to a PhD in Natural Sciences, Economics or the Humanities, respecively.

Some background information: PhD or Ph. D. is an abbreviation of philosophiae doctor, i.e. a different short form of doctor philosophiae - Dr. phil.
A PhD is commonly the highest academic degree for many scientific disciplines in english speaking countries - usually including economics and natural sciences - but it is limited to scientific disciplines close(r) to "philosophy" / humanities - e.g. social sciences, education - in Germany. Most other sciences use different forms of docotoral degrees like Dr. rer. nat. for natural sciences. Another common example is M.D. in english speaking countries vs. Dr. med. in Germany, both meaning Medicinae Doctor / Doctor Medicinae, i.e. a medical doctoral degree. 

To begin persuing a doctoral degree at the faculty 4, you must apply for admission as a doctoral candidate. Please refer to the information below for details.

Current version of the doctoral degree regulations

On 29 August 2024, new doctoral degree regulations came into force at Faculty 4. These apply to all three doctoral degrees awarded by Faculty 4: Doctorate in Natural Sciences (Dr rer. nat.), Doctorate in Philosophy (Dr phil.) and Doctorate in Economics (Dr rer. pol.)

For all doctoral candidates who submit their application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate from this date onwards, these doctoral regulations apply exclusively.

The previously doctoral regulations date from 8 February 2016 and only apply to doctoral candidates who submitted their application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate before 29 August 2024. All previous versions of the doctoral regulations are no longer valid.

Step 1 (at the beginning): Acceptance as a doctoral candidate

At the beginning of a doctoral procedure, an application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate at the faculty must be submitted to the Dean of Faculty 4. This application can be submitted by post or in person on paper or by email. The subsequent acceptance letter by the department is valid for six years. Important: Please allow sufficient time for this step. Depending on the circumstances - e.g. foreign degrees or the necessity of a decision by the faculty council - acceptance may take longer.

The letter of acceptance from the Dean's Office is a prerequisite for enrolment as a doctoral student. Important: Enrolment as a doctoral student is not sufficient to be able to pursue a doctorate at Faculty 4 (and is also not possible).

Step 2 (upon submission of the dissertation): Admission to doctoral studies

When submitting your doctoral thesis (dissertation), an application for admission to doctoral studies must be submitted to the Dean of Faculty 4. This application must be submitted on paper in person to the Dean's Office, as the submission of the application requires affidavits. In addition, you must submit the originals (or certified copies) of your degree certificates/certificates/transcripts to the Dean's Office by now at the latest, unless you have already done so at an earlier date.
If you are unable to hand in the documents in person, please contact the Dean's Office in advance.

Please make an appointment with the dean's office assistant to hand in your documents.

  • Checklist of documents required for admission to doctoral studies - these can be found below in the section ‘Earlier versions of the doctoral degree regulations’ that corresponds to your doctoral degree

Step 3: Publication of the dissertation

After submitting your doctoral thesis, reviews of the work will be obtained and an oral examination (disputation) will be scheduled. You will be informed about these steps directly by the Dean's Office.

After passing the examination, your dissertation must be published. To do this, you need a publication release, which is usually (but not always) granted directly after the oral examination.

You can either publish

  1. in electronic form on the publication server of the University Library (HilPub) or
  2. in a scientific journal or
  3. in a commercial publishing house that handles distribution via the book trade.

In addition, you must provide the University Library with two printed copies of the doctoral thesis free of charge. If there are any discrepancies between the examination copies and the published version, the Dean's Office will also require another printed copy.

Please send the proof of publication to the dean's assistant. In the case of HilPub, you will receive an e-mail with the DOI as proof. In the case of journal or publisher publications, you will need proof of publication (e.g. author's copies, ISBN, publication contract).
You will receive proof from the University Library that you have submitted deposit copies to the library.

Once you have provided proof of publication, you will receive your doctoral certificates (in German and English) either in person at the Dean's Office or by registered mail, depending on your preference. In addition, you will receive an invitation to the University of Hildesheim's annual graduation ceremony well in advance.

You may only use your doctoral degree once you have received your certificates. Please note: Proof of publication must be received by the Dean's Office within one year of your defence date! Extensions to this deadline are only possible for good cause and must be applied for before the end of the one-year period!

If you have any questions, please contact the dean's office.

Previous versions of the doctoral regulations

Prior to 29 August 2024, there were separate doctoral degree regulations for each doctoral degree at Faculty 4. These can be found on the German version of this site.

Only the doctoral regulations from 8 February 2016 are still valid for doctoral candidates who submitted their application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate before 29 August 2024. When applying for admission to doctoral studies, you must declare whether you wish to continue your doctoral studies in accordance with the previously valid regulations (dated 8 February 2016) or the current regulations (dated 29 August 2024). Doctoral candidates who have already submitted their thesis (i.e. have applied for or received admission to doctoral studies) will continue their doctoral procedure in accordance with the regulations previously applicable to them in any case.

All previous regulations (prior to 8 February 2016) are no longer in force.

The previous versions are available in German only and can be found in the "Frühere Fassungen der Promotionsordnungen" section of the German version of this page.

 

Additional helpful information

Helpful information:

If conflicts arise during doctoral studies the mediation body of the University of Hildesheim is available to students, staff and supervisors. If problems arise regarding good scientific practice, please contact the ombudsperson for good scientific practice of the University of Hildesheim:

Occasionally problems arise when scientists from abroad are considered to take part in doctoral studies or the examination of the thesis due to different understandings of scientific staff in different countries. This mostly applies to Post-Doc-, "Pre-Prefessor"-positions. The following two publications are helpful in judging eligibility of scientific staff to examine theses: "She Figures" (EU commission) lists staff categories. A more detailed comparison, albeit for different countries, is listed in "Zwischen Promotion und Professur".

Please do not hesitate to contact the Dean's Office of the Faculty 4 for all further questions: