Administrative Steps Required to Become a Member Certificate / Transcript of Records Question Which administrative steps do I have to take to become a member and while I am a member? 1. As this are the FAQs for PhD candidates who have entered their names in the doctoral candidacy list before 01/2014, we imply that your registration on this list is already done. 2. Fill out the supervision agreement (see links & downloads) together with your primary examiner and both of you sign the agreement. If you already have a mentor, have him/her sign it as well. If you are still looking for one, he/she can sign later. (Deadlines etc.: see Mentor) 3. Send the agreement to gzw@wzw.tum.de or by inhouse mail to the GZW. 4. We will examine your supervision agreement, make further inquiries if necessary, and approve the agreement upon completion. 5. You will then receive a welcome email from us confirming your membership in the TUM-GS und GZW. 6. You will initiate the midterm evaluation on your own ca. halfway through your planned dissertation. As a rule, that will happen before you begin international scientific activities, since a successful midterm evaluation is a prerequisite for international funding. 7. We will examine your midterm evaluation and send you confirmation. 8. The path is now cleared for your international scientific activities! For advance payments and final billing go to overseas 9. After your oral examination (defence), hand in all your documents to the GZW. 10. The TUM-GS will then issue a certificate and send it to you. Which of my achievements are listed in the supplement to the certificate? All achievements that you produced during the period of your doctorate and want to have credited are listed in the Transcript of Records. Possibly, this document will be a great help for your applications later on. As the certificate expresses your overall achievement during the doctoral thesis, you can (and should!) have all qualification elements acknowledged, as well, that you do not need any longer to reach the minimum requirements. You can also have elements credited that did not pass through the GZW/TUM-GS.
Duration of Doctorate Final Seminar Financing Funding of International Scientific Activitiess The TUM-GS targets three years for the length of a doctorate. What if I need longer? Although you can do a lot to complete your doctorate within three years, it cannot be ruled out that the work on it takes longer. Therefore, the target of three years is to be seen as a non-binding benchmark. Question So far, a final seminar has been part of the TUM-GS program. Is that still the case? As changes in TUM-GS regulations are pending, the final seminar does not belong to the mandatory program any more. Accordingly, final seminars have no longer been conducted since May 2013. As a substitute, various seminars around the topic of professional development will be offered in the future, including aspects of the final seminar. In what time frame can I make use of the funding possibilities of the TUM- GS? You can use the funding for seminars as of the beginning of your membership, international funding, as a rule, after the successful midterm evaluation. All funding is available for three months after your oral examination. See: international scientific activities: Financing International Scientific Activities: Billing How is the billing for my journey abroad done? What is the maximum amount of financial aid? First of all, a successful midterm evaluation must exist (with justified exceptions) to be admitted to the so-called international research phase. Before you plan and undertake your journey abroad: please do not fail to consider the information leaflet in our download section! Then you depart on your journey abroad and subsequently hand in your bills. You will be reimbursed, for instance, for travel costs, contributions to conferences, overnight stays, expendable materials, laboratory with restrictions. As a rule, small amounts, such as the cost of food, are not reimbursable.
It is also possible for you to receive an advance payment on your expenses. You can claim a maximum of 1.600,- in financial aid (If you do not belong to the group of external PhD-Candidates). If you wish to spend the entire amount on a single conference, you will need a letter of your supervisor explaining how the rest of your stay abroad is to be financed/organized. International Scientific Activities: Financing for external PhD candidates Is the funding of international scientific activities also possible for external PhD candidates in the context of their TUM-GS membership? We are only able to give financial aid for time spent abroad to PhD candidates with a TUM working contract, and under certain conditions to scholarship holders and self-financing persons. Sorry that we cannot fund persons with a working contract from an external company or organization. Please as us in individual cases. International Scientific Activities: Financing for Other Measures International Scientific Activities: Fundable Activities International Scientific Activities: Industry I got involved in a sufficient number of chargeable activities abroad before joining the GZW. As I don't need the available funds any longer: Can I use them for other qualification measures instead? No. Funds can only be approved for a distinct purpose. Unfortunately, the rededication of funds is not possible. For what kind of activities abroad can I use my budget? - International conferences (a presentation of your own at the conference is not required) - Conferences in Germany of a predominantly international nature - Summer Schools of a predominantly international nature, abroad or inland, e.g. organized by us at the WZW - Inviting a visiting researcher. Several PhD candidates may share one visiting researcher - Your own research period abroad Can I also make use of the international funding if my research abroad is done in industry? Yes, if you work in a research/development laboratory and apply /learn to
apply methods of your specific academic field. The results do not necessarily have to be integrated in your doctoral thesis, although that would, of course, be the most meaningful thing to do. International Scientific Activities: Point in Time 1) When can I begin my international project? 2) Can I also move my stay abroad forward, e.g. to learn important methods at the beginning of my doctorate? 3) Can I also do my international project at a later time, e.g. between the time I submit my doctoral thesis and the time I do my oral examination? Or after my oral examination? 1) As a rule, you can begin your international project, when you have successfully completed your midterm evaluation. 2) Yes. In well-founded cases, you can already go abroad after six months of membership at the suggestion of your primary examiner. 3) Yes. Till three months after your oral examination, with funding potentially still available. International Scientific Activities: Retroactive Funding International Scientific Activities: Visiting Researcher Can I receive financial aid for activities abroad that have been conducted before my TUM-GS membership strated? No. Unfortunately, financial aid cannot be given retroactively for activities abroad. However, it is possible to include in your TUM-GS certificate activities abroad completed in the context of your doctorate but before the beginning of your membership. As an alternative to a trip abroad, I would like to use the financial aid for a project with a visiting researcher at my research institute. Must my visiting researcher be in the country for six weeks? No. The visiting researcher's stay here is one element that can be added to other elements cumulatively.
International Scientific Activities: Voluntariness and Funding To date, international scientific activities (or several cumulative activities abroad) of six weeks' duration were a mandatory part of TUM-GS membership. Meanwhile, I've heard that this is no longer mandatory for me but just optional. However, I would still like to use the financial aid to gain international experience can I do so? Yes, you can. Currently, you do not have to do an international project, but you may do one, and it will be funded (as long as your are not an external PhD candidate) Kick-off Seminar: D2-PhD candidates Frage: I am a D2-PhD candidate. What are the temporary regulations here regarding the kick-off seminar? Antwort: If you are a D2-PhD candidate, you are free either to attend the kick-off seminar anyway or to replace it with three additional interdisciplinary seminars (of 1 2 days each). These additional seminars will be supported in the same manner. Kick-off Seminar: Duration Kick-off Seminar: Journey to site The kick-off seminar takes four successive days. It is difficult for me to have that time recognized by my professor as working time. The extended TUM presidium decided on 08.06.2011 that participation in the kick-off seminar of the TUM-GS was included in the working time of PhD candidates employed at the TUM. This means you do not have to compensate for working time with holiday or leisure time. How do I get to the seminars? The TUM-GS organizes the bus trip from Munich for all members. The trip on this bus is free of charge. Costs for other ways of traveling are not accepted. Please sign on for the bus with the seminar registration under: http://www.gs.tum.de/ => Kick-off seminar
Kick-off Seminar: When Mentor: Group of People Mentor: How to find one Mentor: Tasks When should I attend the kick-off seminar? We recommend you attend the kick-off seminar during the first six months of your membership. To give just two reasons: Firstly, you get the opportunity to acquire knowledge that will be very useful for the organization and development of your work. Secondly, by attending the kick-off seminar, you will lay the foundation for a network that might benefit you a lot! 1) What group of people can the mentor basically come from? 2) Can my post-doctoral research group leader be my mentor? 3) Can my second examiner be my mentor? 1) The mentor must simply have a doctorate. He/she does not need to have obtained it in the same field. He/she can have a job in business. 2) Yes. However, you should consider how relevant it is for you to have a mentor who can give you an additional point of view from an entirely different field. 3) Yes. However, you should carefully consider here, as well, to what extent this would be meaningful for you and what the consequences might be. How do I go about finding support in my search for a mentor? For the time being, the following procedure applies to the GZW: 1. You inquire at the GZW informally about support for your mentor search. (gzw@wzw.tum.de) 2. We bundle your queries and pass them on to TUM Mentoring, our mediation partner for finding a mentor. 3. You receive an e-mail with all infos about the application procedure. 4. Based on the e-mail, you go to an application tool in the net. There, you upload a half-page text: who am I, what are my preferences? 6. TUM Mentoring then approaches you and suggests a mentor. What supervisory tasks does a mentor have to perform? Where is that defined?
That is not codified anywhere. Mentor and mentee arrange freely what the supervision is to look like. The task of a mentor is not to solve problems for his/her mentee or to be responsible for them in any way. Also, he must not be primarily seen as another scientific supervisor - whom you have already got. And yet the mentor can be of great help: in that he/she advises you on the (independent) work you do to solve problems and tasks, gives you additional stimuli regarding perspectives and strategies, gives you encouragement and is there for you as a faithful discussion partner. He/she can also support you when you start your working life, regrardless of whether you do research or go into business. You can benefit from his/her overviews when you approach the question of a career and what your targeted professional fields look like concretely. Or he/she may be able to provide you with valuable contacts. Of course, you can also choose a mentor who knows your scientific field well and can give you additional perspectives and assistance with your research project. Our experience tells us that, particularly in this latter case, it is important to seek a good understanding with your doctorate supervisor about the choice of a mentor. Because the broad range of support possibilities, a mentor will never be able to cover everything. Moreover, his/her time is also valuable, so that the number of your meetings should be reasonable. Therefore, as a rule, it makes sense for you to consider carefully, beforehand, what you want your mentor to deal with and to limit your topics to a manageable number. Mentor: When Midterm Evaluation Must the mentor be certain when I hand in the supervision agreement? The mentor must co-sign the supervision agreement, but we give you up to half a year to find him/her and to have him/her sign the supervision agreement. How detailed must it be and what must it include? The midterm evaluation is done on the basis of a public lecture at the university (e.g. in the context of a chair colloquium) that summarizes your results to date. It can be replaced by an essay handed in for publication if it conveys the results extensively. What is supposed to emerge from the midterm evaluation is whether you are on the right path with your work and at the right speed and whether you will finish the doctoral project successfully (as far as that is forseeable). It is important that your first referee recommends the continuation of your work. The midterm evaluation is signed by yourself and your first referee.
You will find a template for generating the midterm evaluation easily and rapidly on our website under Links&Downloads. Midterm Evaluation: If Negative Midterm Evaluation: Public Lecture at the University PhD Candidates: D0, D1, D2 PhD Candidates: Graduate Council 1) Could I carry on with my doctorate and still finish it successfully even if my professor did not recommend its continuation in the midterm evaluation? 2) Would I have to pay back the funds provided by the TUM-GS so far? 1) Yes, of course! First of all, you should know that the doctoral examination procedure and the GZW/TUM-GS are strictly separate issues. The doctoral examination procedure remains unaffected by the TUM-GS. With a negative midterm evaluation, you would be excluded from the GZW and TUM-GS, but your doctorate would remain unaffected, because even with a negative midterm evaluation it would be possible for you to hand in a successful thesis. 2) No. Can this lecture also be given in the context of an institute seminar? Yes, if the seminar is basically accessible for guest auditors. What do these abbreviations mean? These abbreviations explain how far you have progressed with your doctoral project when you join the GZW: - D0: Presumably 3 years to go till the doctorate is obtained. - D1: 1 year is done, ca. 2 to go. - D2: 2 years are done, circa 1 to go. Depending on your status, you have a reduced program due to the current temporary regulations. Please see gzw@wzw.tum.de for more detailed information. What possibilities does the TUM-GS provide for PhD candidates to participate in decision-making? To date, PhD candidates have had no representatives on TUM panels. Introducing the TUM-GS is an indication of real progress for PhD-
candidate-participation, as they now have a seat in the TUM senate. This strengthens the position of PhD candidates considerably. Each graduate centre sends an elected representative as well as his/her deputy to the PhD-candidate graduate council, which then sends a representative to the TUM senate. Publication see Publication Publication: Authorship Publication: Date Publication: Identification Publication: Topic Can two PhD candidates publish something together? In principle yes after consulting the GZW. 1) Where time consuming experiments are concerned that produce results worthy of being published only near the end of the doctorate: Can the publication still be submitted later, e.g. after the oral examination? 2) I have already published, but it was done before I joined the GZW/TUM- GS. Can the paper be credited as a qualification element? 1) Yes. Moreover, the publication is not a prerequisite for the midterm evaluation or the international funding. 2) Yes. Your publication must only originate from your doctorate. Must every publication, every conference contribution show TUM-GS membership? Membership must be identified, particularly if TUM-GS funding was used to generate the work, e.g. for conference contributions, publications resulting from a (subsidized) stay abroad or research cooperations. The passage to be used according to the TUM is the following: The authors gratefully acknowledge the support by the Faculty Graduate Center Weihenstephan of TUM Graduate School at Technische Universität München, Germany. The sentence can also list other organizations etc. May the topic of the publication be drawn from the diploma thesis, or can a publication about my diploma/ma thesis be credited?
No. The publication must come from the doctoral thesis. Publication: What counts? Qualification Elements: Interdisciplinary Qualification Elements: Interdisciplinary, Funding What kinds of publication count as qualification elements? 1) To date, the main authorship has counted (and will continue to count) - of a paper in a journal working according to the peer review procedure. - of an abstract in conference proceedings. The conference must be international and work according to the peer review procedure. The language need not be English, but it needs to be an international Congress 2) What is new is that after consulting with the supervisors and the graduate centre, you can present your doctoral project in a discussion with the professional public. As the Faculty WZW must still decide which evaluation criteria are to apply for this purpose, you are currently on the safe side if you can fulfill either of the two points under 1). Are interdisciplinary seminars compulsory? Based on the entire length of your doctorate, three one-day or two-day seminars used to be compulsory. This is no longer the case, the interdisciplinary seminars are now optional. However, we recommend that you do at least three interdisciplinary seminars anyway, that fit in with your interests. In our opinion, the time and labour are worthwhile for you and your future, so much the more so as you can continue to get TUM-GS funding. Topics considered to be interdisciplinary are of a cross-sectional nature rather than specifically academic, e.g. communication and personality development trainings, general management concepts including project management, good scientific practice etc. All courses offered by internal providers, such as WiMes, ProLehre and Carl-von-Linde-Academy, are among the interdisciplinary courses and, therefore, fundable. 1) How much money is available for me for interdisciplinary courses and how are they invoiced? 2) I am interested in a course offered by an external provider who is expensive, however. What happens if I take part in an external course which is expensive? 3) If I use up less than EUR 160 per seminar, can I use the remaining
funds for other seminars? 4) Can I be reimbursed retroactively for seminars I attended before I joined the GZW/TUM-GS? 5) I have already used up my funding for three interdisciplinary courses, and I am interested in one or several other courses offered particularly for TUM-GS members. Can I take part? 1) You can have a maximum of three one-day or multiple-day seminars funded with EUR 160 each. Invoicing: You register for the courses, receive an invoice and pay it. You then hand in the invoice and course certificate at the TUM-GS, and your advanced money will be remitted from there. 2) You can also attend courses of external providers and get them credited. For the accounting, you hand in the invoice(s). The funding is also EUR 160 per seminar, a possible balance you take care of yourself. 3) Unfortunately, only three seminars can be funded. 4) Unfortunately, seminars attended before membership cannot be funded retroactively. This means you can only get a course funded when your membership has been confirmed by us. 5) Yes, you can take part in courses offered particularly for TUM-GS members. However, you have to pay for them yourself. Qualification Elements: Overall Time Investment Qualification Elements: Providing Evidence Question : How much time does one invest in the full TUM-GS program? To begin with: We speak of an investment in your future rather than an expense, because we are certain that, in the long term, you will benefit from your investment! Here are the concrete numbers related to the overall length of your doctorate: Kick-off Seminar 3 days Subject-specific Training 6 SWS Optional: Interdisciplinary Training 3 courses ( 1-2 days each) Additionally, there might be your international cooperation project (6 weeks, optional) and the preparation work on your publication. For many PhD candidates, this investment can be clearly reduced, as they can have standard activities of the respective institute credited, such as weekly seminars, scientific congresses and the like. In what manner does evidence have to be provided for subject-specific and interdisciplinary qualification elements? If there is a participation certificate, as there usually is for WiMes/CvL-
courses, hand in a copy of it. In all other cases, an informal confirmation by the professor conducting the course or your own professor will do. In each case, please state the title and content, date, time period, length in hours or SWS. Qualification Elements: Subjectspecific Regulations for the Award of Doctoral Degrees Semester-Hours per Week (SWS) Supervision Agreement: Valid Form To what extent is participation in qualification elements planned? What can be credited? Based on the entire length of your doctorate, you must do a total of 6 semester credit hours. Supposing you do your doctorate in three years, it is sufficient for you to complete 1 semester credit hour per semester. If your doctorate takes longer, you have to invest less time per semester accordingly. Many PhD candidates achieve the 6 semester credit hours just by attending their institute seminar. All events with subject-specific content can be credited if they have not been credited elsewhere, e.g. institute seminars, summer schools, specialist conferences, special lectures, journal clubs. You can also have subject-specific events from your study courses credited, provided they have not been submitted elsewhere. Events that have not been graded but are listed in the certificate can also be credited. Does my membership in the GS have any consequences regarding the regulations for the award of doctoral degrees? Not at all. Even when you become a member of the GZW/TUM-GS, your independent research work is the central issue. The valid regulations for the award of doctoral degrees are not affected. How do I translate the length of a block course into hours per week? Conversion factor 15 (15 hours result in one semester hour per week) In the supervision agreement, which can be downloaded from the GZW website, the already valid innovations (e.g. reduced mandatory qualification program) have not been listed yet. Can I use them anyway when I join? Yes, if you entered your name in the doctoral candidacy list in 2013 or earlier. New forms will only be available for PhD canidates who have their names put on the doctoral candidacy list as of 01.01.2014.
Supervision Agreement: Who signs? Temporary Regulations Who do I negotiate the supervision agreement with? Who signs it? You negotiate the supervision agreement with your doctorate supervisor (primary examiner). The mentor does not have to be involved in the negotiation, because, when you hand in the supervision agreement, he/she, in many cases, will not be certain yet. The mentor signs the supervision agreement when he/she has been decided on, before the six-month-deadline. What temporary regulations are there for PhD candidates who, when joining, have D1 or D2 status? If you have D1 or D2 status, please ask us directly about the temporary regulations (gzw@wzw.tum.de).