Dates of the meetings of the FBR can be found on following web page: http://www.informatik.uni-kl.de/organisation/ausschuesse/fbr.

Acceptance as a PhD Candidate

Applications for acceptance as a PhD candidate based on the PhD regulations from 1982 cannot be accepted, anymore. Please, consider the description of the PhD procedure based on the new PhD regulations from 2011.

Admission for PhD

Only students who have already been accepted as PhD candidates before Mai 5th, 2011, can get admission for PhD based on the PhD regulations from 1982. For all other candidates, the new regulations from 2011 apply.

Application proceedings for a PhD to the Council of the Faculty (FBR) are described in §7 of the PhD regulations.

Checklist: The following documents should be submitted for application
(This list is only to assist you, PhD regulations are binding).

• An informal letter addressed to the Dean of the faculty containing the subject of the thesis and the desired academic title (Dr. rer. nat. or Dr.-Ing). The applicant may also make a suggestion regarding the two referees of the thesis and the chair of the PhD committee (this is regulated in § 9 of the PhD regulations).
• A hand-written C.V including the educational background. Please include a photo.
• Proof of sufficient computer science background such as a university diploma in computer science, natural science or engineering technology - or from the graduate phase of the department’s PhD–program, respectively.
• Three bound copies of the thesis. Two copies are for the two referees and one copy for the examination file. If possible there should be a further copy for the chair of the PhD committee and if there are more than two referees additional copies for them. The thesis can be written in either English or German.
  An example of the cover page can be found here.
• A statement, that the thesis has been written by the applicant personally and has not been submitted to any other university (sentences 4.1 to 4.3 of §7 (3) of the PhD regulations).
• A clearance certificate is necessary for employees of the DFKI or IESE and candidates who are not in the civil service. Employees of the university or registered students do not need this certificate.
• A receipt of payment of the requested fee (currently Euro 170) from the paying office of the university in building 47-1014 .

Procedure of the PhD and time limits

• The formal procedure of the PhD is opened in the meeting of the faculty’s council (FBR) following the meeting after the application is submitted.
• If any member of the council wants more detailed information the formal procedure may be postponed until the next meeting.
• After the admittance for PhD the PhD thesis is sent to the two referees with the request to send their professional opinion within 4 months. Sometimes it takes longer especially when external referees are involved.
• When all opinions have been received, the Dean’s office sends a statement to all faculties and the members of the faculty of Computer Science that the PhD thesis and the professional opinions of the referees may be inspected within a fortnight of the announcement.
  During the period between winter and summer term as well as after summer term until end of August that inspection is not possible. The procedure extends for that time.
• If there are no objections within this time the chair of the PhD committee will set a date for the oral examination (defence of the theses). According to experience it is helpful if the applicant or the chair of the PhD committee helps to find a suitable date for the examination. The date of the oral examination is to be announced 2 weeks before the examination.
• The examinee is informed about the result directly after the examination.
• The printing and signing of the PhD certificate takes about four weeks. The PhD certificate will be handed over by the Dean of the faculty, as soon as the requested number of copies of the PhD thesis is handed in. According to the PhD regulations the copies have to be delivered within one year of the oral examination.

Date and Location of the Defence

• Usually, the defence will be on Friday afternoon (3:30 p.m.). In exceptional cases which have to be reasoned, other dates may be possible.
• For the Friday time slot mentioned above, the department has reserved lecture room 42-110. That room has a fixed-mounted beamer. In case that you don't have access to a remote control for that beamer (many professors have such remote controls), you can borrow one from the dean's office.
• During the period between winter and summer term as well as after summer term until end of August no defence is possible. The conference month September should not be used, too.

Alternatives of Publishing

According to the PhD regulations the PhD thesis has to be published within one year after the oral examination - there are the following alternatives:
An example of the cover page can be found here.