D doctoral Candidates Board and the University Degree Commission (DI) In Germany

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1 FU memorandum on the doctoral degree regulations for the doctorate in political sciences (Dr. rer. pol. ) in the Political and Social Sciences Department at the Freie Universität Berlin. Terms of condition The regulations were confirmed on April 14, 2008 by the Senate department responsible for universities. Only the German version of the regulations is legally binding. Preamble: The following doctoral conferral regulations were adopted by the enlarged Political and Social Sciences Department s faculty council at the Freie Universität Berlin on February 6 and March 14, 2008 pursuant to Article 14 Section 1 no. 2 of part of the Freie Universität Berlin s constitutional regulations (TGO-test model) from October 27, 1998 (FU memorandum 24/1998) in connection with Article 70 Section 5 of the Berlin Universities Act (Berlin University Act BerlHG) as amended by the publication of an amendment from February 13, 2003 (Law and Ordinance Gazette GVBI p. 81), last legally amended on July 12, 2007 (Law and Ordinance Gazette p. 278). Contents 1 Doctorate course of study and doctoral degree description 2 2 Doctoral candidate admissions board 2 3 Admission Requirements 3 4 Admission Procedure 4 5 Registration for Doctoral Students 4 6 Dissertation project supervision, standard allotted completion time 5 7 Dissertation 6 8 Dissertation Evaluation 7 9 Doctoral Committee 7 10 Decisions about the dissertation and scheduling the oral examination 9 11 Oral Examination 9 12 Decisions about the oral examination and the conferral of a doctorate Publication of scholarly work (dissertation) and obligatory submittal Doctoral diploma Motion for reconsideration Honorary doctorate Revocation of the doctoral degree Dismissal from the programme, withdrawal, new doctoral examination procedure Enactment, annulment und interim regulations 14 1

2 1 Doctorate course of study and doctoral degree description (1) The Political and Social Sciences Department at the Freie Universität Berlin confers the academic degree of "Doctor of Political Science" (doctor rerum publicarum abbreviated: Dr. rer. pol.) or of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) based on a standard doctoral examination procedure following the regulations delineated below. (2) The conferral of a doctoral degree provides proof of exceptional scholarly qualification through the completion of individual research. This goes beyond the completion of a political science degree or a degree in another field that is relevant for the completion of a doctorate with a specialisation in economics and social sciences. The written doctoral work includes a scholarly work (dissertation) or several individual works (cumulative work) as well as an oral examination. In order to attain the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) one must provide evidence of the successful completion of a doctoral programme within the Dahlem Research School (DRS) or an equivalent programme by the submittal of a certificate and a transcript of records or equivalent proof. (3) An honorary doctoral degree in political science may be awarded for exceptional scholarly performance within the relevant doctoral subject (doctor rerum politicarum honoris causa, abbreviated: Dr. rer. pol. h. c.). (4) The degree discussed in para. 1 may be awarded only once within the chosen doctoral subject. (5) The regulations apply correspondingly for the conferral of a doctorate concerning those whose dissertation consists of several individual scholarly works. 2 Doctoral candidate admissions board (1) The faculty council appoints a doctoral candidate admissions board for the doctoral degree programme. Each faculty council appoints the members of the doctoral candidate admissions board at the beginning of its term. It consists of three full-time professors and one academic employee who has completed the doctorate degree. Every member of the board shall have an appointed substitute. (2) The doctoral candidate admissions board decides on the admission of candidates and their dissertation projects into the doctoral degree programme. It has a duty to advise the candidates. In the case of interdisciplinary dissertation projects, the doctoral candidate admissions board ensures that the other departments participate equally in the candidate assessment. The doctoral candidate admissions board is not open to the public. (3) The doctoral candidate admissions board may transfer decisions in individual cases or certain powers of authority in general to the chairperson. The doctoral candidate admissions board may retract this transferral at any time. (4) The doctoral candidate admissions board is accountable to the faculty council. It informs the faculty council of its decisions. (5) The presidium legal office shall be informed by the chairperson through the head of the department in the case of general questions regarding procedure. 2

3 3 Admission Requirements (1) Admission requirements for the doctoral degree programme are the following: a successful completion of a degree programme in political science or another relevant field with a focus on economics and social sciences from a university with the authorization to award doctoral degrees within the scope of constitutional law through the completion of: a Master s examination requiring a total of 300 graduate credits, including the previously completed degree course a diploma examination or a first scholarly state examination for secondary school teachers at general or vocational schools or for school teachers with scholarly training in two fields; with at least an overall score of good respectively. One may be admitted after the completion of a Bachelor s examination in one of the relevant courses of study if the degree is awarded with the highest score attainable within the grading scale corresponding to the individual examination regulations and if an entrance examination given by two full-time university professors from one of the departments related to the doctoral field is successfully completed. The doctoral candidate admissions board decides on the form of the entrance examination. (2) If the applicant has a final degree other than those delineated in para. 1, she or he may be admitted to the doctoral studies programme if her or his qualifications for the programme are proven. The doctoral candidate admissions board may admit the applicant to the doctoral programme with the requirement to provide certificates of course completion within a specific amount of time, where the completion of such courses is the standard procedure in the university degree programme discussed in para. 1 or is required as an addition to knowledge proven by the applicant for the desired doctoral course of study. (3) Pursuant to para. 1 an equivalent examination at a university outside of the scope of the constitutional law is also acceptable. If the degree is not included in the general equivalencies provided by the central office for foreign education at the Secretariat of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education of the States in the Federal Republic of Germany, it is necessary to obtain an equivalency confirmation from that office. In the case that no scoring classification of the foreign university degree is provided by the central office for foreign education, the responsible department representative of the doctoral candidate admissions board verifies that the university degree score is equivalent to an overall score of at least good. If an equivalency cannot be determined, the doctoral candidate admissions board verifies if it is possible to establish equivalence after the fulfilment of the requirements pursuant to para. 2. (4) If the degree was obtained at a university of applied sciences, it is necessary to provide proof of the corresponding qualifications. This may be accomplished by a final examination in one of the relevant fields for the doctorate studies at a university of applied sciences with the best possible overall scoring according to the individual examination regulations. The doctoral candidate admissions board decides whether they should proceed in individual cases according to para. 1 sentence 2 and 3 or according to para. 2. 3

4 4 Admission Procedure (1) Admission applications for the doctoral degree course of study should be sent to the doctoral candidate admissions board with the following documents: a) Documents which are required pursuant to para. 3, particularly references and proof of qualification, b) A tabulation of the activities and experience relevant to the intended dissertation project, c) A statement as to whether or not the applicant has previously made a dissertation proposal or if a dissertation project is being conducted at another university or department, in which case it must be accompanied by complete documentation, d) An assertion that the applicable doctoral degree regulations are familiar to the applicant, e) If the doctoral studies are to be conducted in German and the candidate is not a native speaker with a degree from a foreign university or an equivalent institution and the candidate wants to conduct the doctoral programme in German, the candidate should provide proof of proficiency in German with a German language examination for university admission certificate (DSH) or another of equal value corresponding to the Freie Universität Berlin s regulations for the German language examination for university admission for foreign applicants, f) if the doctoral studies are to be conducted in English or, upon request, in another academic language, the candidate should provide proof of their knowledge of English or the other academic language with a level of C1 from the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) or equivalent proof of knowledge. The acceptance of an academic language other than English is only possible when supervision, assessment and scoring are guaranteed in that language. (2) The application for admission should include a presentation of the dissertation project s goals and methods. The dissertation project must be endorsed by at least one full-time professor from the department. The doctoral candidate proposes an adviser. The proposed adviser must confirm her/his acceptance of this function. (3) The doctoral candidate admissions board normally makes decisions about the admission applications within one month, a rejection must be received in writing. (4) The application for doctoral studies will be denied if: a) The requirements listed in 3 are not fulfilled; b) The documents required in 4 para. 1 and 2 are not provided; c) A doctorate has already been successfully completed in the applied for department; d) a doctorate is in the process of being completed in the applied for department. The application for doctoral studies can be denied due to a lack of specialty within the department pursuant to 4 para Registration for Doctoral Students 4

5 (1) Doctoral students who are not already members of a department at the Freie Universität Berlin because of employment or enrolment must register for doctoral studies or enrol themselves as a student at the Freie Universität Berlin. (2) Admission to the doctoral programme will expire if the student does not register within the given deadline or the renewal period allowed for admission to the doctoral program. A renewed application for admission to the doctoral programme will not be excluded for that reason. 6 Dissertation project supervision, standard allotted completion time (1) Once the doctoral student is admitted to the program, the department is obligated to supervise and later assess the dissertation project. (2) Dissertation supervisors are generally university professors from the department. The dissertation supervisor is permanently obligated to supervise the dissertation project and the supervision may not be delegated. (3) Notwithstanding para. 2, directors, research group leaders and leaders of trainee programmes and other equivalent extra-mural research facilities and educational establishment employees to whom the FU has provided the right within the framework of cooperation agreements with the department to participate in the doctoral programme as supervisors, reviewers and as examiners in the department s doctoral conferral process, have the rights and duties of part-time professors. This also applies to trainee programme leaders financed by third-parties who are in the service of the Freie Universität Berlin and whose right to mentor doctoral students is recognized by a contract in consultation with the department. (4) In well-founded cases, the doctoral candidate admissions board may choose professors who do not belong to the department. The doctoral candidate admissions board appoints a full-time professor from the department as a support to the external adviser. Even if the adviser s work is predominantly conducted outside of Berlin, she or he must provide sound supervision and must especially take care that personal contact with the doctoral student is maintained. (5) The dissertation project may be freely chosen, however the choice must be agreed upon by the adviser. The dissertation should, as a rule, be submitted after three years and the process should be completed after four years (standard processing time). (6) Pursuant to para. 5, if the doctoral student should exceed the standard processing time, she or he must present an attestation from the candidate admissions board to the Student Administration Office in which the status of the dissertation and the anticipated necessary time for completion must be explicitly documented. Participation in the doctoral programme will be terminated if the requested attestation is not submitted by the doctoral student within three months, other than in cases where it is beyond the student s control. (7) The adviser has an obligation by written declaration to the doctoral student and the department to supervise the dissertation project for a period of up to three years. Upon request, the candidate admissions board decides on an extended period of advising in cooperation with the adviser. If the adviser or the doctoral student sees serious reasons to cease the advising relationship in the course of the work, they are required to immediately inform the head of the candidate admissions board and to present their reasons. 5

6 (8) If the adviser ceases to be a member of the Freie Universität Berlin, he or she has the right to continue the supervision of an already begun dissertation and to retain her or his position on the doctoral committee as well as the right to vote, for three years. The time limit does not apply to former full-time Freie Universität Berlin professors whose authority to teach and to administer examinations is still in effect. 7 Dissertation (1) The written doctoral work must demonstrate the ability to perform independent and advanced scholarly work and to contribute to scientific progress. (2) The written doctoral work, which should be written in German, English or upon request in another academic language, can be submitted as: a) a work which is unpublished or published in part or entirely that must include a self-contained presentation of the research and its results. Previously printed publications are only acceptable when there is a mutual understanding between the doctoral student and her or his adviser. or b) a cumulative work made up of published and/or unpublished individual works which must in its entirety present an equal amount of dissertation work as detailed under a). Individual published works must be published in scholarly journals with a review system; unpublished works in such journals must be accepted after an assessment according to review system standards. A cumulative work must have a general title and consists, in addition to the particulars provided in 7 para. 5, of a list with the titles of the individual works, an introduction and a text which connects the individual works and provides an overall interpretation, evaluation and discussion of them. (3) In the case of doctoral work corresponding to para. 2 which is performed in collaboration with other researchers, the doctoral student s contribution must be clearly definable and reviewable. The doctoral student is obligated to present her or his contribution in terms of conception, implementation and the report s composition in detail. (4) The doctoral student must present all forms of resources and aid received and assure that the work was completed independently on that basis. The thesis may not have been already accepted in the course of an earlier doctoral programme or have been previously judged as unsatisfactory. In any case of doubt, works from the earlier doctoral programmes must be presented for comparison. (5) The title page must contain the name of the author, the department s name and the submittal year. The Freie Universität Berlin must be designated as the institution to which the dissertation is submitted. A page must also be provided for the names of the reviewers. An appendix must be included with a summary of its results in German and English as well as a list of publications which have been published in the course of the preparation of this dissertation. Upon approval by the doctoral student, a short curriculum vitae may also be included. (6) Three exemplars of the dissertation must be submitted in each case. Each reviewer receives one exemplar, one exemplar remains in the department and is archived. If there are previously-printed published parts of the thesis, they should be reprinted and submitted in triplicate. 6

7 8 Dissertation Evaluation (1) Pursuant to 9, after the submittal of the dissertation, the doctoral candidate admissions board appoints the dissertation reviewers and the dissertation commission without delay. (2) As a matter of principle, the dissertation adviser must be appointed as the dissertation reviewer. The doctoral candidate admissions board appoints an additional reviewer in collaboration with the doctoral student. At least one of the reviewers must be a full-time professor in the department. At least one of the reviewers must belong to the field of the dissertation. If aspects of the dissertation allude substantially in a methodological or factual manner to a field which is principally part of another department, the additional reviewer should belong to this department. 6 para. 3 remains unaffected. (3) The reviews must be written independently and submitted within six weeks after they have been requested. Any failure to observe the deadline must be justified in writing to the doctoral candidate admissions board. The members of the doctoral candidate admissions board and the doctoral committee must keep the reviews confidential. The reviews must evaluate the dissertation and its results within a larger context and describe any possible faults. If a review considers there to be faults with the work whose correction appears to be possible and necessary, she or he must identify these clearly in the review. In such a case, she or he can recommend a revision of the dissertation, for which details must be given. In the overall assessment each reviewer must either accept the dissertation and provide a score following specifications laid out in 10, reject it, or must return the dissertation in order for the student to remove specific faults and recommend resubmission. If a review does not clearly provide the required assessment, the doctoral candidate admissions board must return the review to be revised. (4) If the review assessments differ from each other by more than one point then the doctoral candidate admissions board appoints an additional reviewer. (5) After the review has been closed, the dissertation along with the reviewers proposed scores will be displayed for two weeks, and for four weeks outside of term-time. All professors and graduated members of the department may see the dissertation and the proposed scores and may submit a written comment which will be included among the documents related to the doctoral work. The doctoral candidate admissions board must inform this group about the public displaying of the dissertation in a suitable way. In addition, the members of the doctoral candidate admissions board and of the respective doctoral committee also have the right to see the reviews during this display period. If there are comments given during this display period, an additional external reviewer can be appointed by the doctoral candidate admissions board. 9 Doctoral Committee (1) The doctoral candidate admissions board forms a doctoral committee for the planned doctoral procedure and appoints a chairperson and a vice-chairperson who must be, respectively, full-time university professors in the department. (2) The doctoral committee is composed of the reviewers and at least two other professors of whom at least three must be from the department, and one graduated academic employee who is employed at the Freie Universität Berlin or who is associated with one of the department members. The doctoral 7

8 committee must not consist of more than one professor who is either released from responsibility or retired. 6 para. 3 remains unaffected. (3) For those members of the doctoral committee who retire or who are obligatorily prevented from performing their duties, the doctoral candidate admissions board expands the doctoral committee according to the guidelines stipulated in para. 2. (4) The doctoral committee s responsibilities are: a) The evaluation of the dissertation based on existing reviews and potentially comments in accordance with 8 para. 5, b) Scheduling and execution of the oral examination c) Evaluation of the oral examination d) Determining the overall score which incorporates the individual evaluations of the dissertation and the oral examination, following 11, 12. (5) The doctoral committee does not meet publicly. (6) The doctoral committee makes decisions according to a majority reached by its members who are entitled to vote. All performance assessment voting is public within the committee, abstention is not permitted. 8

9 10 Decisions about the dissertation and scheduling the oral examination (1) At the end of the display period, the doctoral committee decides on the acceptance, rejection or return of the dissertation as well as the doctoral student s admission to the oral examination and the determination of a score for the dissertation. If the dissertation is accepted, the following scoring is possible: excellent (summa cum laude) very good (magna cum laude) good (cum laude) satisfactory (rite). The score summa cum laude may only be given for the dissertation if the thesis is scored by both of the reviewers as passing summa cum laude and if the dissertation had not been given back to the doctoral student before the final scoring with instruction to correct any faults and to resubmit. In the case that the dissertation is rejected, the doctoral committee announces without scheduling the oral examination that the student will not be conferred with a doctoral degree and explains the reasons for this decision. The head of the doctoral candidate admissions board must inform the doctoral student in writing of the rejection along with an explanation. (2) After the dissertation has been accepted, the doctoral candidate admissions board informs the doctoral student of the decision and schedules a date for the oral examination in cooperation with the student. It should take place within four months of receiving the last review. Upon request, the head of the doctoral candidate admissions board will decide on exceptions to this rule. The head of the doctoral candidate admissions board distributes invitations to the oral examination. (3) In the case that the dissertation is returned to the student, the oral examination will be scheduled after the submission and scoring of the revised dissertation and after the display period. (4) If the doctoral student declares her or his intention to forgo the taking of the oral examination, the conferral of the doctoral degree will not take place. The head of the doctoral candidate admissions board must inform the doctoral student of this decision in writing. 11 Oral Examination (1) The oral examination s purpose is to demonstrate the doctoral student s abilities in oral presentation and in the debating of scholarly issues. According to the doctoral student s wish, the oral examination is held in German, English or upon request in another academic language. The oral examination is open to the university public as long as the doctoral student does not express a wish for this to not be the case. All members of the doctoral committee must participate in the oral examination. (2) The oral examination begins with about a thirty-minute presentation in which the doctoral student presents and elucidates the results of the dissertation and its importance within a larger specialist context. Subsequently, the doctoral student defends the dissertation against criticism and answers 9

10 questions from the doctoral committee members. The questions should deal with the issues in the dissertation within a larger academic context. Afterwards, the head of the doctoral committee may allow questions from the public regarding topics of the oral examination. The discussion should last at least thirty minutes and a maximum of sixty minutes. 3) The head of the doctoral committee coordinates the academic discussion and decides on priority and, if necessary, legitimacy, of the questions. She or he may exclude the public, as long as this is necessary for an orderly examination. The graduate candidate admissions board is not considered to be a part of the public. (4) The doctoral committee members appoint one of their members as the keeper of the minutes. The minute s keeper keeps the minutes during the time of the oral examination. The minutes should be included among the doctorate documents. The minutes must contain the following information: Date/time/place of examination Doctoral committee attendance list Dissertation score Basic outline of the discussion contributions Oral examination score Total score according to 12 Special incidents The minutes must be signed by the minute keeper and the head of the doctoral committee. (5) If the doctoral student fails to appear without reason, the examination will be considered to have been failed. This must be communicated in writing to the doctoral student. 12 Decisions about the oral examination and the conferral of a doctorate (1) Following the oral examination, the doctoral committee scores the examination in private according to 10 para. 1. The discussion should receive more weight than the presentation. As far as the overall scoring is concerned, the dissertation should receive more weight than the oral examination. Then the doctoral committee uses the scoring system given in 10 para. 1. It informs the doctoral student of the individual scores for the dissertation and the oral examination as well as the overall score. The score excellent (summa cum laude) may only be given as an overall score if the dissertation received this scoring. (2) After the overall score has been determined by the doctoral committee, the student receives a temporary certificate including the title of the dissertation, the individual scores for the dissertation and the oral examination as well as the overall score. This temporary certificate does not allow the student to hold the title of doctor. (3) After the end of the doctoral studies, the entire doctoral process must still be handled confidentially; the graduate or the doctoral student has the right to access the doctoral studies file within one year. 10

11 (4) If the oral examination is not passed, the head of the doctoral candidate admissions board must communicate a well-founded decision in writing to the doctoral student within a period of two weeks. The oral examination may be repeated once; at the earliest three months afterwards and at the latest six months afterwards. (5) If the second oral examination is also not passed, the doctoral committee declares the doctoral degree to not have been passed and gives reasons for their decision. This will be communicated in writing to the doctoral student by the head of the doctoral candidate admissions board within two weeks. 13 Publication of scholarly work (dissertation) and obligatory submittal (1) The dissertation must be made appropriately available to the academic community through duplication and circulation. This occurs when the doctoral student, after the submission of the three required exemplars pursuant to 7 para. 6, submits the following to the university library free of charge: a) 40 exemplars in book or canvas print, b) Three original publications, if the entire dissertation is published in a journal, c) Three original exemplars, if a commercial publishing company takes on the distribution through the book-trade, and shows a minimum circulation of 150 exemplars, d) Three exemplars in copyable typescript together with the original copy and 50 further copies in microfiche or e) An electronic version whose data format and data medium is compatible must be accepted by the university library, as well as five printed exemplars. In the case of a), the university library is obligated to keep the extra exchange exemplars for four years in adequate number. In the case of b) and c), the publication must be declared to be a dissertation publication with the declaration of where the dissertation was written. In the case of a) and d), the doctoral student gives the Freie Universität Berlin the right to produce more copies of his or her dissertation and to diffuse them. (2) If a dissertation is distributed by a commercial publishing company and is granted a printing grant using public funds, then, as an exchange, an appropriate number of exemplars must be made available to the university for exchange. (3) The publication as well as the fulfilment of the delivery obligation must occur within one year after the date of the oral examination, pursuant to para. 1. The doctoral candidate admissions board makes a decision based upon a written and well-founded request from the doctoral student regarding an extension of the deadline. (4) For a thesis which is published in part or entirely and for published individual works of a cumulative work, there is no publication obligation within the context of the doctoral studies programme. 11

12 14 Doctoral diploma (1) A diploma for the doctoral degree will be issued in German or upon request in English. (2) The diploma must contain the following information: a) Name of the Freie Universität Berlin and the department, b) Name, birthdate and birthplace of the graduate, c) Conferred degree of Doctor, Doctor of Political Science (doctor rerum politicarum, abbreviated: Dr. rer. Pol) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), d) Dissertation title, e) Date of oral examination which acts as the date of graduation f) Dissertation and oral examination score, as well as the overall score for the degree, g) Names of the reviewers, h) Name and signature of the Dean i) Freie Universität Berlin official seal j) if applicable, the name of the successfully completed doctoral studies programme. (3) Doctoral students who satisfy the requirements in order to receive the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PHD) can upon request be instead conferred with the degree of Doctor of Political Science (Dr. rer. pol.). (4) If it becomes apparent before delivering the doctoral diploma, that 1. the applicant was dishonest about the basic requirements for receiving the doctoral degree or 2. the basic requirements for the conferral of the doctoral degree were wrongly supposed to be fulfilled, and if the case delineated under 1. does not apply, the doctoral diploma is presented to the student and the overall examination, if 1 through 12 is applicable, is declared to have been failed, unless the doctoral committee makes another decision. (5) The doctoral diploma must be delivered within six weeks after the fulfilment of the submittal requirements, pursuant to 13 para. 1 and 3. The doctoral diploma entitles the student to the doctoral degree. 15 Motion for reconsideration The motion for reconsideration must be explained in writing and addressed to the head of the doctoral candidate admissions board within three months after the announcement of the results. The head of the doctoral candidate admissions board is responsible for following the accepted principles for a motion for consideration. He or she hands over the motion for reconsideration to the doctoral committee members. The head of the doctoral committee communicates the committee s decision about the motion for reconsideration to the affected person. As a rule, the doctoral committee makes a decision on the motion for consideration within one month. The applicable scores and the applicable reasons 12

13 for the scores should here be reviewed. The results of this review including the scoring must be explained in writing. 16 Joint doctoral proceedings with educational institutions abroad or an equivalent educucational or research institution The doctoral studies programme may be accomplished together with a foreign university or an equivalent educational or research institution if a) The candidate satisfies the requirements for acceptance to the department s doctoral studies programme at the Freie Universität Berlin and b) The foreign institution holds the right to confer doctoral degrees according to their national law and the degree attainable by this institution is recognized by the area of application of basic law. (2) A combined doctoral studies programme must be regulated by a contract. The contractual regulations apply in addition to the specifications of this set of doctoral studies regulations. In this agreement the rules of these doctoral studies regulations are to be accounted for regarding the requirements and the process of confirming the equivalency of the institution. There must be mutual agreement as to which doctoral studies regulations should be followed. If necessary, the foreign doctoral studies regulations must be made available in German or English translation in order to be able to determine if they are equivalent to the requirements and procedures of the department s doctoral studies regulations. If the foreign doctoral studies regulations apply for the programme, it must be confirmed that the essential rules of the doctoral studies regulations for the department at the Freie Universität Berlin are likewise guaranteed. (3) The doctoral student must have been admitted to the participating institutions. (4) The thesis can be written in German or English and if necessary there must be a summary written in the third language, in addition to the German and English summary. (5) The doctoral committee will be made up in equal measure of two university professors from each of the participating universities or equivalent research or educational institutions as well as a graduated academic representative of the department. Both reviewers are members of the committee. Upon request, the committee may be expanded by up to two additional university professors, whereas the equal distribution must be maintained. It must be assured that the doctoral committee members have a command of the examination language. (6) If the two countries use differing scoring systems, an agreement must be reached on how the combined scores will be named and uniformly documented. The ECTS scoring scale (European Credit Transfer System) will be taken as a basis: A = excellent = summa cum laude, B = very good = magna cum laude, C = good = cum laude, D = satisfactory = rite, F = failed = non rite. (7) In collaboration with one another, both universities will produce a bilingual doctoral diploma according to the exemplar designed by the German Rector s Conference (HRK- 13

14 Hochschulrektorenkonferenz). In this way, the doctoral student has the right to hold the doctoral title in the German or the foreign format. Only one doctoral degree will be conferred however. 17 Honorary doctorate The faculty council may confer an honorary doctoral degree in political science (Dr. rer. pol. h. c.) on the request of the Dean, the research committee or at least three full-time university professors from the department in the case of excellent academic performance which is significant for one of the doctoral studies departments. A doctoral committee, following the regulations laid out in 9, must be appointed by the doctoral candidate admissions board in order to evaluate this performance. This committee then presents a recommendation to the faculty council and takes into account two external reviews. The faculty council s decision requires a majority agreement from the faculty council members who hold doctoral degrees. 18 Revocation of the doctoral degree The revocation of the doctoral degree pursuant to 1 complies with the legal specifications. 19 Dismissal from the programme, withdrawal, new doctoral examination procedure If more than six years have passed since admission to the doctoral studies programme, the doctoral candidate admissions board may dismiss the student from the programme after having heard the doctoral student and after written agreement and statements submitted by the adviser have been considered. The order of dismissal must be founded. It is effected in written form by the head of the doctoral candidate admissions board. A renewed application for admission to the doctoral programme will not be excluded for that reason. (2) The doctoral student has the right to withdrawal up to the receipt of the first detailed review. After the withdrawal, the previous work accomplished towards the doctoral degree does not count as a doctoral programme. (3) If the entire doctoral studies programme is not successfully completed, admission to a new doctoral studies programme may be applied for and the new dissertation may be submitted one year afterwards at the earliest. 20 Enactment, annulment und interim regulations (1) This set of doctoral studies regulations comes into effect on the day after its publication in the memorandum (Freie Universität Berlin official register). The set of doctoral studies regulations for the Dr. rer. pol. at the Freie Universität Berlin from June 2, 1993 (FU-Memorandum 07/1994) expire simultaneously. (2) Doctoral students who are working on a dissertation at the time of the coming into effect of these regulations and who have been admitted to the doctoral programme pursuant to 3, 4 under the set of regulations from June 2, 1993, may complete their doctoral studies according to the previous regulations as long as a transitional period of four years after the coming into effect of this set of regulations is not exceeded. 13 of this set of regulations is also applicable to all who have not yet completed their degrees according to the previously effective regulations. 14