Bauhaus-Universität Weimar: Completing a Doctorate

Pursuing a doctorate at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism

An overview of the doctoral programmes/opportunities at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar is available at www.uni-weimar.de/en/university/research-and-art/young-researchers/doctorate/

Step 1 - Establishing a Research Topic

If you are interested in doing a doctorate at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, you should send a detailed research proposal for the envisaged doctoral thesis topic to a professor of our faculty, who might be interests in supervising the thesis. The topic of the doctoral thesis should comply with the overall profile of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism.

Please note: Neither the Dean's Office nor the Ph.D. coordinator will establish contacts between you and possible academic supervisors at our faculty. Due to the high number of enquiries addressed to our professors, your enquiry may be answered late. As our professors already supervise many doctoral students, not every qualified request can be answered positively either.

Step 2 - Registration as a doctoral candidate

Once a professor of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar has agreed to supervise your doctoral thesis and has signed the advisory agreement (see below), you can apply for being registered as a doctoral candidate. Please submit your full application (cover letter and all supporting documents listed below) to Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Ph.D. committee, 99421 Weimar, Germany:

1. A cover letter addressed to the head of the Ph.D. Committee Professor Dr.-Ing. Japser Cepl. In this letter you express that you would like to be registered as a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism. The application must specify which degree you would like to obtain: Dr.-Ing. (Doctor of Engineering) or Dr. phil. (Doctor of Philosophy).

2. An Advisory Agreement completed by you, and signed by you and your supervisor. The advisory agreement also includes the data collection sheet that needs to be completed and signed by you.

3. A one-page outline of your planned doctoral project (your research question, main ideas / hypotheses, methods you want to apply etc.)

4. A detailed research proposal (about 6 to 10 pages)

5. A letter of motivation describing why you would like to pursue a doctorate (one page)

6. Proof of eligibility for doctoral candidacy:

- A certified copy of your Diploma, Master’s or equivalent degree certificate which includes the marks (grades). If the document is not issued in German or English, please also attach a certified translation (either into German or English, not both).

- A certified copy of other university degrees you might have obtained, e.g. a Bachelor degree which includes the marks (grades). If the documents are not issued in German or English, please also attach certified translations (either into German or English, not both).

- A certified copy of your school leaver's certificate (high school or equivalent) which includes the marks (grades). If the document is not issued in German or English, please also attach a certified translation (either into German or English, not both).

7. A curriculum vita (CV, resumé)

Please scan the cover letter and all supporting documents listed above and merge them into one PDF. Then send it by e-mail to the Coordinator of Ph.D. and Postdoctoral Affairs, Dr. Bernhard Stratmann: bernhard.stratmann[at]uni-weimar.de.
Also send the cover letter and all supporting documents to the postal address mentioned above.

If the cover letter and all supporting documents listed above are submitted in full, a decision on registration as a doctoral candidate will be made at the next meeting of the Ph.D. committee and a written notification will then be sent to the applicant.

Please do not register via the university’s student application portal at this stage. You can only do this, once the Ph.D. committee has approved of your application.

Step 3 - Enrolment as a doctoral student (not mandatory)

If you receive a written notification that you have been registered as a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, you can enrol as a doctoral student at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar via the online application portal: https://weimar.gomovein.com/locallogin/5873933e547cd0744f8b4567/eng

Please note: Enrolment is not mandatory. If you decide not to enrol as a doctoral student, you are still registered as a doctoral candidate at our faculty, and you can submit your thesis, once it is completed.

Step 4 - Submitting the doctoral thesis

Please prepare and submit the following documents in order to start the process:

1. A cover letter (application) addressed to the chair of the Ph.D. committee, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jasper Cepl requesting the commencement of the doctoral procedure. In this letter you can also propose up to three reviewers for your thesis (Please enclose their full address and academic CV).

2. A completed application form for the commencement of the doctoral procedure

3. Four printed and bound copies of your Ph.D. thesis (a simple binding is fine, nothing expensive is required)

Please note: Each bound copy of your thesis must include a CV, which also includes a list of your publications (if you have any). Add one loose copy for review as well.

Additionally, each bound copy must include a statutory declaration at very last page of your thesis, and it has to be signed by yourself. The declaration should include the following, and could be worded like this:

“I hereby declare on my honour that I have prepared this thesis without the unauthorised assistance of third parties and without the use of aids other than those indicated. The data and concepts taken directly or indirectly from other sources are clearly marked with an indication of the source.
I have observed the rules of good scientific practice (in accordance with the guidelines for ensuring good scientific and artistic practice at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar).
In the selection and evaluation of the following material, the persons listed below have assisted me in the manner described in each case, against payment/unpaid:
1. ... 2. ... 3. ...
No other persons were involved in the preparation of the material content of this thesis. In particular, I did not make use of the paid assistance of intermediary or advisory services (doctoral advisors or other persons) for this purpose. No one has directly or indirectly received monetary benefits from me for work related to the content of the submitted dissertation.
The thesis has not been submitted to any other examination authority in the same or a similar form, either in Germany or abroad.
I declare on my honour that to the best of my knowledge I have told the whole truth and have not concealed anything.
Place, date
Signature"

4. A certified copy of your last (highest) university degree. If the document is not issued in German or English, please also attach a certified translation (either into German or English, not both).

5. A summary of the major propositions/ most salient findings of your thesis (about 6 pages). The summary should include the following aspects:
• Problems addressed and aims of the dissertation
• Relevant current research in the scientific field covered
• Methods applied
• Main results / outcomes
• Areas for potential further research

Please send the summary also to Bernhard.Stratmann[at]uni-weimar.de (as a PDF attached to the e-mail).

6. A USB stick, which includes an unprotected PDF of the entire Ph.D. thesis.

7. Proof of payment of the doctorate fees (e.g. a copy of that bank transfer).

The fees, which are currently 100 euros, have to be paid to:

Recipient: Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Bank: HELABA
Account Number: 300 4444 273
Bank identification number: 820 500 00
Reason of payment: 8914-11165-811100 / 51012-Promotionsgebühr
IBAN: DE 39 820 500 00 300 4444 273, SWIFT Code: HELA DE FF 820

Please send the copies of the thesis and all supporting documents/ materials to the following address:

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism
Dr. Bernhard Stratmann
Coordinator Ph.D. and Postdoctoral Affairs
Geschwister-Scholl-Str. 8
99421 Weimar
Germany

Once the copies of the thesis and the required supporting documents/ materials have arrived, the Ph.D. committee will consider your application at its meeting.

If the committee approves of the submitted material, the examination process can begin.

Step 5 - Thesis defence and completion of the doctoral examination procedure

Following a positive assessment of the doctoral thesis by at least two reviewers, the Ph.D. committee decides on the acceptance of the doctoral thesis.

Then, the examination commission and the date of the oral defence are set.

Right after the successful oral defence, the examination commission calculates the overall doctoral grade (the combined grade of the thesis and the defence) and informs the doctoral candidate about it.

The examination commission may request the candidate to revise the thesis, before it is published. For this purpose, the doctoral candidate submits the revised version of the doctoral thesis to the person who has been named to him/her as the “requirements examiner”. If the thesis is subsequently approved for publication, the doctoral candidate submits the required number of copies of the final version of the thesis to the university library. – If the doctoral candidate has not been asked to revise the thesis prior to its publication, the candidate can immediately start to prepare the publication. You can find out which options exist for publication and in what form and how the submission of the required copies actually takes place by checking the website of the Doctoral Thesis Office.

After the proper publication of the doctoral thesis, doctoral candidates receive the doctoral degree certificate and are entitled to use the doctoral title.