The following doctoral degrees are awarded at the Department of Medicine of the University of Lübeck (UzL):
- Dr med. | doctor medicinae | Doctor of Medicine
- Dr med. dent. |doctor medicinae dentariae | Doctor of Dental Medicine
- Dr rer. hum. biol. | doctor rerum humanae biologiae | doctor of human biology
Information on the admission requirements and the doctoral procedure can be found in the current doctoral regulations of the UzL's Department of Medicine. Further documents can be found on our Forms and Statutes page. The Doctoral Commission of the Department of Medicine is responsible for the doctoral procedure.
In April 2021, the "structured doctorate" in medicine was introduced as a compulsory program at the UzL. Unlike the traditional model, the structured doctorate offers you a customisable curriculum and supervision by a two-person team.
Compared to the "individual doctorate", it primarily strengthens the professional and social integration of doctoral candidates in the process of scientific work. The core elements of the structured doctorate at UzL are regular supervision meetings (see 7.) and participation in continuing education programs (see 8.).
- Joint determination of a topic, a specific research question and a rough time plan for the preparation of the doctoral thesis (realistic estimate taking into account examinations, semesters off, etc.)
- Search for a co-supervisor:
First and co-supervisors may not come from the same institution.If the desired co-supervisor is not habilitated, additional requirements apply (see §4 of the doctoral regulations for medicine). 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 completed and signed registration form must be submitted by email to ssc.promotionmedizin@uni-luebeck.de at the Central Examination Office. Your application will then be presented at the next possible meeting of the doctoral committee, which will accept or reject the supervision constellation. You will receive notification of this from the Central Examination Office and, if accepted, a written confirmation.
All doctoral researchers must enroll as doctoral researcher at the University of Lübeck (UzL), unless they are already enrolled elsewhere (e.g. studying at the UzL or at another university and simultaneously doing a doctorate at the UzL). In this case, enrollment must take place as soon as possible (e.g. after completion of the degree program). This enrollment must be extended until the dissertation procedure has been completed by passing the oral examination. Enrollment takes place at the Student Service Centre.
There are no costs for enrollment as a doctoral researcher if you were already enrolled as a student at UzL. Otherwise, a one-off, small administrative fee will be charged. You can apply for enrollment for two semesters at once (please note this on the application form). The documents to be submitted for initial enrollment can be found here.
You can register online here.
Registration with the CDSL is NOT enrollment and also NOT the registration of the doctoral project. Enrollment and registration of the doctoral project must be completed before registration.
The signed supervision agreement must be submitted to CDSL. This can be done either by post or preferably by email to cdsl.service@uni-luebeck.de.
Template for the supervision agreement.
Instructions for completing the supervision agreement from the Doctoral Council.
Further helpful information can be found in the PhD Council's Moodle PhD forum.
At the beginning of the doctorate, the doctoral researcher must prepare an exposé outlining the main content, preparatory work and objectives of the intended doctoral thesis (as long as necessary, as concise as possible) and containing a checklist. The template can be found here.
The following points should be addressed in the exposé:
- Preliminary work
- Objective
- Concrete question(s)
- Approach | Methods
- Literature
During the course of the doctorate, the supervisor, doctoral researcher and co-supervisor should hold structured supervision meetings at least every six months (curriculum component).
- The contents of these supervision meetings (e.g. progress of the doctoral project, further goals, planning) must be documented by the doctoral researcher in a protocol (template) .
- The minutes remain with the doctoral researcher for the time being and are signed by all participants at the end of the doctorate and submitted to the CDSL for documentation in the Transcript of Records (ToR).
- The doctoral researcher will promptly report back to the CDSL via an online form that the interviews have taken place. If the supervision interview cannot take place, a notification will also be made, stating valid reasons (e.g. pregnancy/parental leave, clinical traineeship abroad, holiday semester, etc.).
During the course of the doctorate, all doctoral researchers should complete a structured continuing education program.
At least 6 credit points must be earned. The smallest credit point unit is 0.25. This corresponds to 7.5 hours. In the case of events with an active contribution, the amount of time that can be credited is made up of attendance time and time spent on the contribution (e.g. active retreat, 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 compulsory components and flexible, customizable content. External events can also be credited. Courses for which the time is specified in work units (WU) can be recognized and the WU converted into credit points.
Further below the contents and required minimum components of the curriculum for a structured doctorate in medicine are shown.
If there is no certificate of attendance for an event, you can use this template for the certificate.
In addition to the regular course offerings, there is a self-study course on Good Scientific Practice that Lübeck University of Applied Sciences has made available to the CDSL. This basic course is worth 0.5 credit points. You can create a user account with your UzL email address.
At the end of the doctoral project, the doctoral researcher receives a Transcript of Records (ToR) from the CDSL for the curricular work completed. Proof of the work completed 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);
- other documents (e.g. DOI of a publication); please see table below.
Please submit your supporting documents by e-mail to cdsl.service@uni-luebeck.de.
By submitting the completed dissertation, you are applying for admission to the doctoral procedure. You can find templates and important information on submission in the checklist for the submission of dissertations of the Medical Section.
Cancellation of doctorates
If a doctorate is cancelled by the doctoral researcher or terminated by the supervisor before the doctoral project has been completed, feedback must be provided to the CDSL and the Examination Office (see supervision agreement). The doctoral researcher's achievements up to that point can be credited when starting a new doctoral project.
A good exposé is important for your promotion. First and foremost, you should think about quality and not quantity. The exposé should present your research project clearly and concisely. The principle of "as long as necessary, as concise as possible" applies.
You can still find all the necessary information on the website, with three minor modifications:
- You may not need to provide details of a co-supervisor. If you have registered ex-officio co-supervision, you can indicate this instead and do not need to obtain a signature.
- The main text of the project exposé can be replaced by the summary of the dissertation. Continue to use the current template!
- Only 1.0 CP instead of the 4.0 CP of individual components specified in the curriculum table must be covered.
During the course of the doctorate, the supervisor, doctoral candidate and co-supervisor should hold structured supervision meetings at least every six months (curriculum component). If the co-supervision is carried out by an official co-supervisor, the latter does not have to take part in the supervision meetings.
The first structured supervision meeting should take place approximately two months after the start of the doctorate.
Yes, emeritus members of the teaching staff of the University of Lübeck can continue to supervise the doctorate as first supervisor for an unlimited period of time.
No, you must actively re-enroll each semester in order to remain enrolled.
Yes, according to the statutes, you must enroll as a doctoral researcher at the UzL in the Student Service Centre (SSC). Enrollment as a doctoral candidate is not tied to semester times, but is possible at any time. International doctoral researchers should enroll via the International Office.
Yes, according to the doctoral regulations, registration at the CDSL is mandatory.
Yes, according to the doctoral regulations you must submit a supervision agreement to the CDSL.
For a structured doctorate in medicine, you need co-supervision. First and co-supervision must come from different institutes/clinics. Further details are regulated in the doctoral degree regulations for medicine. These can be found under Forms and Statutes.
In the MINT sections, a second supervisor is required if you are doing a structured doctorate and/or the first supervisor does not belong to a MINT section(affiliation is possible).
You will receive your access data by letter. If you have not received a letter, please contact the ITSC as an employee of the university or academic staff of the UKSH. They will then check why you have not received a letter.
If you are a doctoral candidate without an employment contract at the UzL, please contact the SSC to check your registered postal address.
Double enrollment is not possible; you cannot be enrolled at UzL and another university at the same time. If you are still studying at another university and are doing your doctorate at UzL, you will no longer be enrolled as a doctoral student at UzL, which means that you will no longer have automatic accident insurance cover on campus and other benefits (such as the semester ticket). It is important that you take out your own accident insurance in such a case.
In principle, yes. It is important that the course/workshop has a time limit or credit points.
You will find many workshops and courses on the UzL/CDSL continuing education program that can be credited towards your structured doctorate. In addition to the compulsory components, there are individual components where you are very free in your choice of workshops and courses. Here you can choose according to your interests, subject-specific and interdisciplinary. For the CDSL courses, the credit points are already specified; for the other UzL courses, the units of work (TU) can be converted into credit points. This conversion is carried out by the CDSL. It does not matter whether you complete the course in classroom format or online, in German or English. To be able to take courses free of charge via the CDSL, you must be registered with the CDSL.
There is also a self-study course for good scientific practice, which the Technische Hochschule Lübeck makes available to the CDSL. The basic course is recognized with 0.5 credit points. You can create a user account with your UzL e-mail address.
In principle, you can receive credit for courses from outside the UzL, provided that they are appropriate in terms of content, equivalent in value and time. In addition, they must not have been part of a previous qualification (e.g. compulsory/elective course for a Bachelor's or Master's degree). The corresponding examination takes place in the CDSL.
The information sheet on the curriculum for the structured doctorate in medicine is also relevant.
Please write an email to the CDSL(cdsl.service@uni-luebeck.de) in which you briefly explain the reasons for the cancellation. Your first supervisor should be included in the email.
If the new (expected) submission date differs significantly from the previous date, please send an email to the CDSL(cdsl.service@uni-luebeck.de) informing us of the new date. Your first supervisor should be in the mail in the Cc.
You will find various courses of varying scope on Good Scientific Practice in our continuing education program. Courses are offered in both German and English, online and face-to-face. In addition to the regular courses on offer, there is also a self-study course provided to the CDSL by Lübeck University of Applied Sciences. This basic course is recognized with 0.5 credit points. You can create a user account with your UzL e-mail address.
A doctoral project in medicine is registered at the Central Examination Office for Medicine(form). The Doctoral Committee of the Medical Section decides on its acceptance. Doctoral projects in the MINT sections require a prior admission check by the MINT Office.
As a rule, the first supervisor can only be a full-time member of the University of Lübeck as a professor, junior professor, habilitated research assistant or through another selection process of equal rank. For doctorates in medicine, the first supervisor must be a member of the Medical Section; for doctorates in the STEM sections, the first supervisor must be a member of a STEM section. The exact regulations can be found in the current doctoral degree regulations of the STEM and Medicine sections.
Yes, but please note that in the case of publication-based dissertations, it must be ensured that the written doctoral thesis is equivalent in its entirety to a classic monograph (based on a position paper of the German Council of Science and Humanities "Structuring the doctorate in the German science system" [2023]).
Please also see §11 of the MINT doctoral regulations
In principle, publication-based dissertations must also make a new, substantial, scientific contribution of their own that goes beyond the work already published. A purely additive form of publication is excluded. Materials and texts that have already been published can be included verbatim in the dissertation, but must be placed in an overall academic context and form a coherent document. In the case of publications with several authors, you must explain in detail what your own contribution to the dissertation is.
The assessment of whether the conditions for a publication-based dissertation are met should be carried out in consultation with the supervisor. The final decision is the responsibility of the examination board.
No, there is no official list. You can check the individual institute pages to see who is most likely to fit your thesis topic.
There are different types of police clearance certificates. The required certificate of good conduct is called: Police certificate of good conduct for submission to an authority (according to § 30 para. 5 BZRG). It will not be handed over to you, but sent to us.
Please ensure that the citizens' office/registration centre marks the FZ with "Promotion - MINT". Please have it sent to this address: Geschäftsstelle der MINT-Sektionen, Universität zu Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, attn. Mrs Britta Schulz.
It must not be older than six months when the doctoral procedure is initiated.
You can also apply for the FZ online: Apply for a certificate of good conduct online - quickly and easily from home
A supervision agreement is concluded with the supervisor at the beginning of a doctoral project. If this supervisor is not a professor in the STEM departments of the UoC, a second supervisor from the STEM departments must be ensured and recorded in the supervision agreement.
At a later point in time, when the doctoral procedure is to be opened with the submission of the dissertation by the SA-MINT, an examination committee must be proposed by the first supervisor, consisting of the first examiner, second examiner and chair. It is important to ensure that only one of the above-mentioned supervisors in the supervision agreement is allowed to sit on this committee, which is usually the first supervisor.
These two copies are the publication copies that are placed in the library. The difference to the four previously printed copies is that you now enter the information on the second page. The four examination copies remain with the three examiners and one in your file at the MINT office.
- Registration, admission and submission of the doctorate: ssc.promotionmedizin@uni-luebeck.de
- Co-supervision: Doctoral Commission k.klotz@uni-luebeck.de
- Supervision agreement, registration at CDSL, crediting of CP, transcript of records: cdsl.service@uni-luebeck.de
- Enrolment: Student Service Centre
- Further contact persons within or outside the university: Contacts & Counselling
- Conflicts:
- Communication problems between supervisors and doctoral candidates:
inga.oberpichler@uni-luebeck.de (CDSL); phone: 0451-3101-2300 - Process of the doctorate: k.klotz@uni-luebeck.de
- Anti-discrimination office of the University of Lübeck
- Investigation committee on good scientific practice at the University of Lübeck
- Communication problems between supervisors and doctoral candidates:
Curriculum for the structured doctorate in the Department of Medicine
With regard to the content of the curricular components and the application of credit points (CP), the information in the information sheet on the curriculum for the structured doctorate in medicine also applies.
credit points (CP) | notes | |
Compulsory components: [2 CP] | ||
Project exposé | 0.5 | |
Structured supervision meetings (every six months) | 1 | once 1 CP |
0.5* | In addition to the regular courses, a self-study course is available for GSP. | |
Individual components: [at least 4 CP] | ||
ProWiSP ** | 1 | |
Institute seminar, doctoral seminar, 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 course, scientific writing, etc. |
Interdisciplinary further education/soft skills workshop | 0.5* | e.g. time management, project management, communication training, max. 2 CPs |
Ethics in science | 0.5* | |
Lecture/module with examination | 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 |
Organisation of conference/symposium | 2 |