Course of Examination for Doctoral Studies Version for Readers 1

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1 Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät Course of Examination for Doctoral Studies Version for Readers 1 of the School of Economics and Business Administration at Friedrich Schiller University Jena of 07 February 2001 (Official Gazette of TKM/TMWFK 2001, pp. 408), first amended on 06 May 2009 (GVBl. pp. 238). Doctoral degree 1 (1) Friedrich Schiller University Jena through the School of Economics and Business Administration awards the degree of doctor rerum politicarum (Dr. rer. pol.); in case of honorary doctorates, it is conferred with the addendum honoris causa (h.c.). Alternatively, the Faculty Council may decide upon opening of the doctoral examination procedure to confer the degree of a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). (2) The conferment of a doctoral degree shall serve as evidence of the competence to perform in-depth scientific work in a subject within the area of business or economics. Except in case of an honorary doctorate in accordance with Section 17, such evidence shall be provided in the form of a written scientific dissertation under Section 7 and overall performance in oral examinations (disputation) under Section 8. Admission requirements for doctoral programmes 2 (1) Admission as doctoral candidate under normal circumstances requires a Diplom, Magister degree, state examination, or Master s degree completed - with qualified mark (final mark: good or better) - at a university with research-oriented teaching profile in economics or business studies. (2) Deviations from paragraph 1 shall require the approval of a majority of all members of the Faculty Council holding a doctoral degree if evidence of an equivalent educational background is furnished. In addition to the requirements of paragraph 3, the Faculty Council may also require additional studies and examinations to be completed within two semesters in no more than two examination subjects in accordance with Section 2 (3a). Such requirements shall be included in the notification regarding acceptance as a doctoral student in accordance with Section 3 (3). Applicants must meet such requirements by the time the doctoral examination procedure is opened. (3) In addition to the evidence of admission requirements under paragraph 1 or 2, applicants shall be required to present three performance records until the opening of the doctoral examination procedure, which at the applicant s discretion may be obtained as follows: a) Successful completion of oral examinations of not less than thirty minutes in a 1 For information only and without responsibility.

2 subject, which is represented in the School of Economics and Business Administration by a chair; only one oral examination per subject and examiner shall be permitted; b) Successful participation in subject-specific or interdisciplinary doctoral seminars, which have been announced publicly within the University; c) Publications in scientifically recognised journals or magazines; the Faculty Council shall decide on their recognition upon request by the candidate and based on a comment by his/her scientific advisor or by another professor of the Faculty; d) Participation in high-class conferences, by making an independent presentation after a peer-reviewed selection process; the Faculty Council shall decide on their recognition based on an opinion by his/her scientific advisor. No more than two of the three performance records may have been obtained from the dissertation s scientific advisor. In general, performance records shall also be obtained by the successful completion of a recognised programme of structured doctoral programme recognised by the Graduate Academy and supported by professors, university or private lecturers or the heads of junior research groups of this Faculty. (4) Applicants shall submit an informal written statement by a professor, university or private lecturer or head of a junior research group of the Faculty, which confirms scientific contact in the intended doctoral field and which furthermore confirms supervision of the project. (5) Particularly qualified graduates of Bachelor courses at universities with researchoriented teaching profile shall be admitted to doctoral programmes in the same way as graduates of Diplom, Magister, state examination, or Master s courses. In this case, the following admission requirements shall apply: a) Completed economics or business degree with a final mark of very good (up to 1.5); b) As the case may be, the completion of additional studies and examinations requirements, which may be obtained within two semesters. The following requirements shall be specified upon individual review by the Faculty Council: c) Credits as specified in paragraph 3; d) A written statement as specified in paragraph 4. Admission as a doctoral student 3 (1) Any person that meets the admission requirements under Section 2 and intends to write a dissertation shall apply to the School of Economics and Business Administration, stating the proposed topic of such dissertation, to be accepted as doctoral applicant. As evidence of the admission requirements, the written requests shall be submitted, including certified copies of degrees and graduation certificates as well as a written statement in accordance with Section 2 (4). 2

3 (2) The Dean shall decide within one month on the applicant s request. No legal claim to opening a doctoral examination procedure may be derived from acceptance as doctoral student. (3) The applicant shall be notified in written form about his/her acceptance or rejection as a doctoral student. The acceptance notice shall specify the topic as well as the academic scientific advisor of the dissertation, and any requirements in accordance with Section 2. Any rejection shall be justified, including instructions on rights to appeal. (4) The Scientific advisor and the doctoral student shall enter into a supervision agreement. Based on a work and time schedule to be submitted by the doctoral student, deadlines shall be set for reports about the progress of the dissertation and, as the case may be, an agreement regarding a publication-based dissertation in accordance with Section 7 (2). Opening of the doctoral examination procedure 4 (1) The application requesting opening of the doctoral examination procedure shall be addressed in written form to the Dean of the School of Economics and Business Administration. The following documents shall be attached to such application: 1. Letter regarding the acceptance as a doctoral student in accordance with Section 3 (3) and evidence of the completion of any requirements; 2. Four copies of the dissertation; 3. One declaration, stating 3.1. that the applicant is familiar with the current Course of Examination for Doctoral Applicants; 3.2. that the applicant has composed and written the dissertation him- /herself, that no passages of text have been taken from third parties or own exam papers without having been identified as such and that all tools, personal notifications, and sources used by the applicant have been indicated in the dissertation; 3.3. the persons, who have supported the applicant in selecting and analysing the material and preparing the manuscript; 3.4. that the applicant has not enlisted the assistance of a doctoral consultant and that no third parties have received either direct or indirect monetary benefits from the doctoral candidate for work related to the contents of the submitted dissertation; 3.5. that the applicant has not already submitted the dissertation as an examination paper for state or other academic examinations; 3.6. whether he/she has submitted the same, a substantially similar or any different paper to another university or to another faculty as a dissertation and if so, with what result; 3

4 4. An official certificate of good conduct if the applicant has been exmatriculated for more than three months and is not working in public service; 5. Evidence of the payment of doctoral examination fees for doctoral programmes; 6. A curriculum vitae, providing information about education and academic development; 7. A list of academic presentations and if applicable, academic publications. (2) Under normal circumstances, any person who already applied elsewhere for conferment of a doctoral degree in the same discipline or whose doctoral examination procedure has been suspended or who has failed in a doctoral examination procedure, may not be admitted to a doctoral programme. 5 (1) Following the receipt of the application the Council of the School of Economics and Business Administration shall decide upon opening the doctoral examination procedure during its next meeting with simple majority of the votes of all present members holding doctoral degrees. (2) The applicant shall be notified in written form by the Dean about the opening of the doctoral examination procedure. (3) In case of refusal by the Faculty Council, the procedure shall be in accordance with Section 16 of these regulations. (4) The application for the opening of the doctoral examination procedure may be withdrawn unless a date has been set for the disputation or if the procedure has been terminated because of the rejection of the dissertation. Doctoral committee 6 (1) The Council of the School of Economics and Business Administration shall appoint a Doctoral Committee to execute the doctoral examination procedure. Such Committee shall generally be comprised of five professors: A chairperson, two reviewers, as well as two additional members. The chairperson and one reviewer as well as the additional members must be Faculty members. The Faculty Council may appoint a third reviewer, who shall be a member of the Doctoral Committee. Participation rights of university teachers in doctorate proceedings shall not be affected by their retirement. The same shall apply to the scientific advisor s participation rights in case of moving to a different institution. (2) The Doctoral Committee shall decide in a closed meeting and on the basis of written evaluations regarding the acceptance and grading of a dissertation. It shall organise the disputation as an oral examination, grade the performance during this oral examination and issue a recommendation for the final mark. The Doctoral Commission shall decide with a majority of votes. 4

5 (3) Records of all decisions taken by the Doctoral Commission shall be kept in minutes. Dissertation 7 (1) With the dissertation the applicant shall demonstrate his/her ability to independently solve scientific problems whose solutions serve the development of the discipline in which the dissertation was completed. (2) Upon request by the applicant, the Council of the School of Economics and Business Administration may permit a publication-based dissertation if a relevant agreement has been reached with the academic advisor as part of the supervision agreement in accordance with Section 3 (4). The selected articles shall be preceded by a comprehensive explanation, including a critical classification of the research topics and major insights of the publications in the context of the scientific literature regarding the topic as well as an appraisal of the individual own contribution and of the contribution of other authors to the relevant publications (3) Upon consultation with the scientific advisor, the dissertation shall be written in German or in English and shall be printed and bound. In justified cases, the Faculty Council may also permit a different language. Dissertations in foreign languages shall be submitted together with a German summary. The dissertation shall include a title page in accordance with Appendix 1 as well as a short curriculum vitae outlining the applicant s scientific educational background. (4) The Dean shall send the dissertation to the reviewers appointed in accordance with Section 6 (1), requesting an opinion to be submitted within a reasonable period of time in accordance with paragraph 6. (5) The reviewers appointed in accordance with Section 6 (1) shall exhaustively and independently from one another evaluate whether the submitted dissertation can be accepted as a doctoral thesis. In their written evaluations they shall assess the academic performance of the thesis to be accepted and shall award one of the following marks: summa cum laude magna cum laude cum laude rite (outstanding) (very good) (good) (sufficient) (6) The evaluations should be submitted to the Dean not later than two months after the opening of the doctoral examination procedure. Failure to observe this time limit must be justified. If a reviewer is unable to submit the evaluation within a reasonable period of time, the Faculty Council may appoint a new reviewer. (7) The Dean shall notify the university teachers as well as all Faculty members with post-doctoral qualifications that the dissertation, including evaluations is available for inspection in the Dean s office for a period of two weeks. During this period, Faculty members shall be entitled to comment on the dissertation in expert comments and opinions. Such additional opinions shall be included in the decision on the acceptance 5

6 of the dissertation in accordance with paragraph 8. (8) If the reviewers recommend accepting the dissertation, the Doctoral Committee shall decide upon the final mark of the dissertation on the basis of their suggested marks. If the reviewers grades are identical, they shall constitute the final mark of the dissertation. If suggested marks differ by two or more grades, the best mark suggested may not be awarded. After deciding on the mark for the dissertation, the chairperson of the Doctoral Committee shall cause the doctoral examination procedure to be continued. (9) If at least one reviewer recommends the rejection of the dissertation, the Doctoral Committee shall decide on continuing with the doctoral examination procedure or shall recommend that the procedure failed. If the procedure is continued, an additional opinion shall be obtained with the Faculty Council s approval. The Faculty Council shall decide with simple majority of the votes of members holding doctoral degrees about the acceptance or rejection after renewed review upon recommendation by the Doctoral Committee, taking into account all suggested marks. (10) If two reviewers reject the dissertation, the Committee shall suggest to the Faculty Council that the doctoral examination procedure failed. If the dissertation has been rejected, only one further attempt at completing a doctoral degree may be made. (11) The doctoral student shall be notified in written form by the Dean about termination of the doctoral examination procedure. In that case, the doctoral student shall be allowed to view the files. One copy of the dissertation shall remain on file with the Faculty. Disputation 8 (1) After the dissertation has been accepted, it must be defended (disputation); the disputation may be attended by any members of the University. The date shall be set by the chairperson of the Doctoral Committee and shall be communicated to the candidate, the members of the Doctoral Committee and shall also be published within the University. The disputation shall take place not earlier than 14 days after the Doctoral Committee has decided to continue the procedure in accordance with Section 7. (2) The doctoral student may inspect the reviews once the deadline for the disputation has been set. (3) The public disputation includes a presentation of the main results of the dissertation in a thirty-minute lecture and a subsequent academic discussion, where the candidate is given an opportunity to defend the results of the dissertation. (4) The disputation shall be chaired by the chairperson of the Doctoral Committee. At least two other members of the Doctoral Committee shall participate in the disputation. (5) The chairperson of the Doctoral Committee shall record the disputation; which shall show the course of the disputation as well as all main questions raised during the discussion and the mark for the defence. Section 7 (5) shall apply with regard to the 6

7 mark. (6) A failed public disputation may be repeated once within six months. In case of repeated failure the doctoral procedure shall finally be deemed failed. Final mark of the doctoral degree 9 (1) The final mark for the doctorate degree shall be awarded in accordance with the grading scale in Section 7 (5). (2) The final mark shall be derived from the marks of the dissertation and of the defence. The mark for the dissertation shall be counted double. A final mark of summa cum laude may be awarded only if the dissertation was graded summa cum laude and if the defence was graded at least magna cum laude. (3) The chairperson of the Doctoral Committee shall notify the Faculty Council about the Committee s recommendation for the final mark to be awarded. Completion of doctoral examination procedures and certification 10 At the suggestion of the reviewers, the Doctoral Committee may require the removal of shortcomings for the publication of the dissertation. It is incumbent upon the Dean to assess the editing. 11 (1) The Council of the School of Economics and Business Administration shall decide on the final mark with a simple majority of the votes of members holding doctoral degrees based on the recommendation by the Doctoral Committee. (2) The Dean shall notify the applicant in written form about the decisions of the Doctoral Committee and the Faculty Council and if all examinations and theses have been passed successfully, the Dean shall advise the applicant of the obligation to publish the dissertation as well as of the provision regarding the completion of the doctoral examination procedure. 12 (1) After the successful completion of the disputation, the applicant shall be required to publish the dissertation within two years in a suitable way. The above period may be extended only with the consent of the Dean. (2) The obligation to publish the dissertation shall have been met if in addition to the four copies of the dissertation for the examination files, the following presentation copies have been provided to Thüringer Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek (ThULB): a) either 15 printed copies on ageing resistant, wood- and acid-free papers and 7

8 durably bound; or b) ten printed copies if the entire dissertation has been published in a journal or a scientific written series; or c) ten printed copies if a commercial publisher is taking over the publication through the book trade, if a minimum edition of 150 copies is evidenced and if the publication is identified on the back of the cover page as a dissertation; or d) five printed copies and one electronic copy, with the data format and data carrier to be agreed on with the ThULB. In case a) and d) the doctoral student transfers the right to produce and distribute further copies of the dissertation to Friedrich Schiller University. 13 (1) Once the requirements set forth in Section 10 have been met and the obligation to publish the dissertation under Sec. 12 has been satisfied, the doctoral degree shall be conferred by the delivery of a certificate signed by the Rector and the Dean. The date of the doctoral degree shall be the date of the defence (disputation). (2) The right of the doctoral candidate to use the title shall begin upon the delivery of the certificate. (3) The Dean may prior to delivery of the doctoral certificate provide the applicant with a preliminary certificate about the successful completion of the doctoral examination procedure. Inspection, fraud and revocation of the doctoral degree, appeal of decisions in the course of the doctoral examination procedure 14 The applicant shall be entitled after the completion of the doctoral examination procedure to inspect the relevant documents. Section 8 (2) shall remain unaffected. 15 (1) Conferment of a doctoral degree shall be revoked in case the applicant practised deceit when providing evidence of admission requirements of the doctoral examinations or in case facts become known which would have precluded conferral of a doctoral degree. Decisions shall be made by the Faculty Council with a majority of votes of its members holding doctoral degrees upon hearing the defendant. (2) If the requirements for the admission to a doctoral programme were not met, but the applicant did not attempt and intent to lie and cheat about their satisfaction, and this only becomes known after delivery of the doctoral certificate, such defect shall be considered remedied through the successful completion of the doctoral examination. (3) Otherwise, the statutory provisions shall apply to revocation of a doctoral degree. 8

9 16 (1) The applicant shall be notified in written form about decisions regarding the admission to apply to a doctoral examination procedure, the acceptance or rejection of the dissertation and the evaluation of oral examinations. Any notice of incrimination by the Faculty Council and/or by the Doctoral Committee must be justified, including instructions on rights to appeal. (2) The person concerned may within one month from such a notification file a written appeal with the Rector of Friedrich Schiller University. Upon obtaining a statement by the University s legal department, the Council of School of Economics and Business Administration shall decide on such an appeal with a majority of votes of its members holding doctoral degrees. The Rector shall issue the ruling on the appeal after having obtained the Dean s counter-signature. Honorary doctorates and anniversaries 17 (1) In recognition of excellent scientific achievements or other special merits, Friedrich-Schiller-University may through the School of Economics and Business Administration confer honorary doctorates as a special honour for their subjects. (2) Each professor, university or private lecturer of the Faculty shall be entitled to confer the degree of a Dr. rer. pol. h. c. on a distinguished personality. With the consent of the Faculty Council, the Dean shall appoint two reviewers to appraise the achievements of the person to be honoured. (3) Taking into account the submitted opinions, the Faculty Council shall decide on the nomination for conferral of an honorary doctorate with three quarters of the votes of its members holding doctoral degrees. Prior to such a decision by the Faculty Council, the Senate shall be given the opportunity to comment. (4) Rector and Dean shall under normal circumstances confer the honorary doctorate in an event to which the members of the Senate and of the Faculty Council have been invited, by presenting a certificate, in which the achievements of the honoured person are recognised. 18 (1) The doctoral certificate may be renewed on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the date of its initial conferral if this is deemed expedient in light of the scientific merits or the close ties of the recipient with Friedrich Schiller University. (2) The anniversary certificate shall be conferred upon the proposal of the Dean and the approval of the competent Faculty Council. The certificate bears the signature of the Rector and of the Dean. 9

10 Transitional provisions 19 (1) In case of applicants, who have been accepted or supervised as doctoral students at another university, and whose scientific advisor has recently been appointed to a position at Friedrich Schiller University, the requirements for admission to apply to a doctoral examination procedure and to open doctoral examination procedures of the original university shall also apply at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The doctoral examination procedure shall be executed taking into account clause 1, however, as a matter of principle in accordance with the Course of Examination for Doctoral Studies of the School of Economics and Business Administration. (2) [ ] Appendix 1 The cover page of the dissertation must be structured as follows (Information in italics is included for reference purposes only and must be deleted): Title. (enter text here) Dissertation in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree doctor rerum politicarum (Dr. rer. pol.) submitted to the Council of the School of Economics and Business Administration at Friedrich Schiller University Jena on... (enter date of the session) by:.. (academic degree, first name, surname) born on: in: 10