Doctorate in the Department of Medicine

• 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.

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.