Aspirant status with a view to admission to the Doctoral School
Step 1:
Agreement with a supervisor on the supervision of the dissertation (personal discussion) and the dissertation topic (working title). Only members of the doctoral school can be supervisors. This informal preliminary agreement is intended to simplify the further process of doctoral studies.
Step 2
Writing an Exposé (description of the dissertation project), including:
- the objectives and research questions
- a detailed discussion of literature on the state of research
- the research methods
- the scientific value added and project implications
- a timetable (the duration of the doctoral program is at least 6 semesters)
- a comprehensive bibliography.
A stylesheet for the exposé can be downloaded as a Word file.
The exposé must convincingly depict the reasonableness and feasibility of the dissertation (this is a prerequisite for admission to the Doctoral School). The written exposé is to be submitted to academic members of the Doctoral School and presented by the student in a course by the Economic Institutes which takes place up to four times a year. (Timetable: sending at least three weeks before the selected submission date, presentation event about two weeks before the submission date).
The exposé requires the approval of the supervisor prior to submission. The supervisors sign the supervision agreement after approval of the exposé.
It is recommended to submit the exposé before/towards the end of the second semester and prior to the completion of the first part of the Rigorosum.
Step 3:
It is recommended to obtain the consent of a second reviewer regarding their availability for this function. A mentor must also be chosen. The mentor can be elected from the members of the Doctoral School who offer this as an additional service as well as from outside (other Faculty, other University). The mentor's task is to provide additional general and organizational advice as required.