Information for doctoral projects registered as of 01.04.2021 (NEW: Structured Doctorate)
Procedure of the doctoral process according to the new doctoral regulations:
On 01.04.2021, the new doctoral regulations (Promotionsordnung) of the Section of Medicine at the University of Lübeck (UzL) came into force. With this, the "Structured Doctorate" in medicine was introduced in a binding manner. Unlike the traditional model, the structured doctorate offers you an individually designed curriculum as well as supervision by a two-person team. Compared to the "individual doctorate", it primarily strengthens the professional and social integration of the doctoral candidates in the process of scientific work. Core elements of the structured doctorate at the UzL are regular supervision meetings (see 7.) and participation in continuing education courses (see 8.).
The following points are to be observed:
1. Agreement between candidate and doctoral supervisor
- Mutual agreement on a topic, a concrete question, and a rough time schedule for the preparation of the doctoral thesis (realistic estimate taking into account examinations, semester off, etc.)
- Search for a Co-Supervisor:
Initial and Co-Supervisor should be from different institutes/clinics. The Co-Supervisor does not always have to be habilitated (see §4 of the Promotionsordnung Medizin). The Co-Supervisor will be confirmed or rejected in writing by the doctoral committee after receipt of the doctoral application (see "Registration of the doctoral project").
The following steps must be completed now:
2. Registration of the doctoral project at the Zentrales Prüfungsamt
The completed registration form must be submitted to the Zentrales Prüfungsamt. This can be done either by mail or by sending an e-mail to ssc.promotionmedizin(at)uni-luebeck(dot)de.
3. Enrolment as a doctoral student
All doctoral students must enrol as doctoral students at the University of Lübeck, unless they are already enroled elsewhere (e.g. studying at the UzL or at another university and simultaneously doing their doctorate at the UzL). In this case, enrolment must take place as soon as possible (e.g. after graduation). This enrolment must be extended until the dissertation procedure is completed by passing the oral examination. Enrolment takes place at the Studierenden-Service-Center.
There are no costs for enrolment as a doctoral student if you were already enroled as a student at UzL. Otherwise, a one-time, small administrative fee will be charged.
4. Registration at the CDSL
Registration is done online here.
Registration with the CDSL is NOT the enrolment, and NOT the registration of the doctoral project.
5. Conclusion of the Supervision Agreement
The signed supervision agreement must be submitted to the CDSL. This can be done either by mail or by email to cdsl.service(at)uni-luebeck(dot)de. All persons involved will receive a copy of the completed supervision agreement. Template Supervision Agreement.
(Instructions for completing the supervision agreement from the PhD Council. Further helpful information can be found in the Moodle PhD-Forum of the PhD Council).
6. Preparation of an Exposé on the doctoral project/Summary of the doctoral thesis.
At the beginning of the doctorate, the doctoral candidate must prepare an exposé which presents the essential contents, preliminary work and objectives of the intended doctoral thesis (approx. 300 words) and includes a checklist. A template for this can be found here. The following points should be addressed in the exposé:
- Preliminary work
- Objective
- Specific research question(s)
- Approach | Methods
- Literature
This exposé should be prepared by the first structured supervision meeting approximately two months after the start of the PhD at the latest. It will be agreed upon with the supervision team during the first supervision meeting and must be signed by all participants and submitted to the CDSL. This can be done either by mail or by email to cdsl.service(at)uni-luebeck(dot)de (curriculum component).
7. Structured supervision meetings
During the course of the doctorate, the supervisor, the doctoral candidate and the co-supervisor should hold structured supervision meetings at least every six months (part of the curriculum).
- The contents of these supervision meetings (e.g. progress of the doctoral project, further goals, planning) are to be documented by the doctoral candidate in minutes (Protokoll; template).
- The minutes remain with the doctoral candidate for the time being and are signed by all parties involved at the end of the doctorate and submitted to the CDSL for documentation in the Transcript of Records (ToR).
- The completion of the interviews will be reported back to the CDSL as soon as possible by the doctoral student using an online form. If the supervision meeting cannot take place, a report must also be made, stating valid reasons (e.g. pregnancy/parental leave, time abroad, etc.).
8. Participation in the structured education program
During the course of their doctorate, all doctoral candidates are expected to complete a structured education program.
At least 6 credit points are to be earned. The smallest CP unit is 0.25. This corresponds to a temporal extent of 7.5 hours. In the case of events with own active contribution, the creditable time extent is composed of attendance times and effort for the contribution (e.g. active retreat or conference or workshop participation, institute seminar, doctoral seminar, journal club with own presentation). In this case, the creditable time is doubled. The curriculum is characterized by a combination of clearly defined mandatory components and flexible, individual content. External events can also be credited.
Below are the contents and required minimum components of the curriculum for a structured doctorate in medicine.
If there is no certificate of attendance for an event, you can use this template for the certificate.
9. Confirmation of the CDSL about the curricular achievements
At the end of the doctoral project, the doctoral student receives a Transcript of Records (ToR) from the CDSL about the curricular achievements. For this purpose, evidence of curricular achievements must be submitted to the CDSL. This includes:
- Exposé
- Minutes of the structured supervision meetings
- various certificates of attendance (e.g. for seminars, colloquia, workshops, conferences)
- if applicable, further documents (e.g. DOI of a publication)
This can be done either by mail or by email to cdsl.service(at)uni-luebeck(dot)de.
10. Other
Discontinuation of doctoral studies
If a doctorate is discontinued by the doctoral candidate or terminated by the supervisor before the doctoral project has been completed, the doctoral candidate must report back to the CDSL (see supervision agreement).
The doctoral candidate's achievements up to that point can be credited when starting a new doctoral project.
We wish all doctoral candidates at the University of Lübeck every success.
If you have any questions, please refer to the respective C o n t a c t:
Curriculum for a structured doctorate in medicine:
For the contents of the curricular components and the application of the credit points (CP), the instructions of the information sheet (Merkblatt zum Curriculum) for the structured doctorate in medicine apply in addition.
| | CP | Remarks |
| Mandatory components: [2 CP] | 2 | |
| Project Exposé | 0,5 | |
| Structured supervision meetings (semiannual) | 1 | one time 1 CP |
| Good Scientific Practice | 0,5* | |
| Individual components: [at least 4 CP] | 4 | |
| ProWiSP I ** | 1 | |
| Institute Seminar or Doctoral Seminar (e.g. 10 x 90 min/5 x 90 min) ** | 1/0,5 | max. 2 CP |
Journal Club with own presentation (e.g. 10 x 90 min/5 x 90 min) ** | 1/0,5 | max. 2 CP |
| Active retreat participation | 0,5* | max. 2 CP |
| Subject-specific workshop | 0,5* | e.g. Biostatistics, Animal welfare etc. |
| Interdisciplinary training /Soft Skill workshop | 0,5* | e.g. Scientific Writing, Time Management, Project Management, Communication training, max. 2 CP |
| Ethics in Science or Theory of Science | 0,5* | |
| Lecture/Module with exam | 1 ECTS = 1 CP | |
| Publication as first author
| 2 | |
| Publication as co-author | 0,5 | |
| Active conference participation (active= with own contribution - poster or presentation) | 1 | max. 2 CP |
| Organization Conference/Symposium | 2 | |
* Consists of an attendance time of 7.5 h and a self-study
/preparation time of 7.5 h.
** At least one component is recommended.
1: The course Well prepared towards a doctorate (Gut vorbereitet zum Doktortitel) is being planned yet.
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