Doctorate

Before starting to work for the doctoral dissertation the candidate must make an application to the Graduation Office for admission to the doctorate. (Comment: This application can be made in English).

Application for the admission to the doctorate (pdf)

(Recommendation: To ensure that the form works properly please save the form locally.)

The application shall be appended with the following documents:

1. graduation certificates
2. a CV in tabular form

If the application is brought to the Graduation Office in person, the original graduation certificates shall be shown at the office and a photocopy of the documents shall be left there. In case the documents are not presented in person, notary certified copies of the documents are required to be left at the Graduation Office. 

The Graduation Office checks if the admission conditions are fulfilled according to the regulations of  the faculty, then the professors being members of the faculty board decide at a meeting chaired by the Dean, if additional exams are to be passed before admission.

Within one year, an agreement between Doctoral candidate, a Member of the thesis review board, the Dean and the doctoral thesis supervisor (Betreuungsvereinbarung) has to be submitted to the Graduation office:

• Template "Betreuungsvereinbarung" (retrievable within the LUH network)

Since the modification of the University Law of the State of Lower Saxony (NHG) on January 1st, 2007 it is required, that Doctoral Candidates register as Doctoral Students at the University. The registration takes place at the Matriculation Office of Leibniz University Hannover. Among other things, the University Graduation Certificates are to be presented, and a written confirmation of the supervising professor is to be submitted to the graduation office at the faculty. In return you will receive a letter by the Dean which has to be submitted by the candidate to the Matriculation Office. Subsequently the registration has to be made for the study course

• Bauingenieurwesen (Civil Engineering / Water Ressources etc.) or
• Geodäsie (Geodetic Science)

For the process of enrolment, please refer to the following website under the item "Admission and Enrolment": https://www.uni-hannover.de/en/forschung/wissenschaftlicher-nachwuchs/promotion

Please note that the doctorate is obtained according to the Ministry approved regulations of the Faculty, and that the registration with the Matriculation office does not imply that admission into the degree has to be granted.

In due time an application for the start of the doctoral exam must be made at the Graduation Office. 

• Application for the opening of the doctoral procedure for Dr.-Ing. (pdf)
  (Recommendation: To ensure that the form works properly please save the form locally.)
• Statement of Authorship (pdf)

The application shall be appended with the following documents:

1. one copy of the dissertation
2. a summary of the thesis in German and in English
3. a CV in tabular form
4. proposal of planned examiners (if external professors, add address and E-Mail)
5. a copy of the agreement between Doctoral candidate, a Member of the thesis review board, the Dean and the doctoral thesis supervisor (Betreuungsvereinbarung).

Another copy of the CV, a summary of the thesis in German and English, and the declaration that the thesis has been made independently must be bound together with the text of the dissertation.

It is recommended to the candidate, that he/she supplies additional copies of the dissertation to each member of the thesis review board.

The Dean submits the application to the faculty board at the next possible meeting. The group of professors and junior professors belonging to the faculty board open the doctoral procedure by appointing the doctoral commission.

Once the doctoral procedure has been opened, the Dean invites the members of the doctoral committee to the examination and informs them that the doctoral candidate will be responsible for further organisation (scheduling).

It is then the doctoral candidate's responsibility to arrange an examination date with all members of the doctoral committee. This date must also be agreed with the Graduation Office, as several doctorates may not take place at the same time.

Once this date has been found, the doctoral candidate must ensure that the reports/evaluations are received by the Graduation Office in good time three weeks (and one day) before the date of the oral examination. The dean shall allow the professors belonging to the faculty to inspect the reports for a period of two weeks.

No later than eight days before the date of the presentation and subsequent oral examination, the doctoral candidate must inform the Graduation Office of the room in which the presentation will be held so that the Dean can send out the invitation in good time.

The examination consists of a 30-minute oral presentation on the dissertation. The presentation is open to the public. It is followed by a one-hour oral examination. Based on the subject matter of the dissertation, it covers the subject areas concerned. Only the members of the doctoral committee and any interested professorial faculty members take part in the oral examination.

After the oral examination, the doctoral candidate is informed which conditions still need to be fulfilled before the dissertation can be printed. A doctoral diploma will only be issued after the candidate and the Graduation Office receive the permission of the thesis supervisor to print the thesis.

Before the doctoral diploma is handed out to the candidate by the Graduation Office, the candidate must procure an attestation by the University Library, that he/she has delivered the required number of printed dissertation copies. The Graduation Office also receives one additional printed copy by the candidate.