Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Doctoral Degree Regulations
Based on § 17, Para. 1 section 1 of the Provisional Constitution of the Humboldt-Universität zu Ber- lin (Official Bulletin of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin No. 05/2005), on the 12 June, 2005, the extended Faculty Council of the Faculty of Agricul- ture and Horticulture has issued the following altered PhD-Regulations:1,
§ 1 General
§ 2 PhD-Performance
§ 3 Acceptance as Doctoral Candidate
§ 4 Rights and Duties of the Doctoral Candi- date
§ 5 Preconditions for Admission
§ 6 Opening of the Procedure
§ 7 Dissertation
§ 8 Doctoral Commission
§ 9 Assessment of Achievements
§ 10 Appraisal of the Dissertation
§ 11 Acceptance of the Dissertation and Deter- mination of Disputation
§ 12 Disputation
§ 13 Decision upon Disputation and Graduation
§ 14 Withdrawal, Repetition
§ 15 Depositary Copies and Types of Publication
§ 16 Doctoral Certificate
§ 17 Honorary Doctorate
§ 18 Remedies
§ 19 Intermediate Rules
§ 20 Commencement 3 annexes
§ 1 General
(1) The Faculty of Agriculture and Horticul- ture of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin awards the academic degree of a Doctor of Agricultural Sciences (doctor rerum agriculturarum, abbrevi- ated Dr. rer. agr.) and, respectively, of a Doctor of Horticultural Sciences (doctor rerum horticultura- rum, abbreviated Dr. rer. hort.) based on a doc- toral examination procedure following these rules.
(2) The Academic Degree of a Doctor in Agricul- tural Sciences, respectively in Horticultural Sci-
ences, can – with the exception of an Honorary Degree – only be awarded once.
§ 2 PhD-Performance
The Doctoral Degree is an achievement, which exceeds the completion of studies at a university and is acknowledged as a higher scientific qualifi- cation. Precondition for the award of the degree is the proof of the ability to do scientific work in an independent manner. This proof is executed by the submission of a written scientific work (disser- tation) as well as by the successful oral disputa- tion.
§ 3 Acceptance as Doctoral Candidate
(1) Applicants, who fulfil the preconditions according to § 5 and who want to receive the doc- toral degree from the Faculty, may be accepted as a doctoral candidate by the Faculty. The applica- tion form has to include:
1. A description of the prospective dissertation (preliminary title or working title, problem) and statement about the aspired doctoral de- gree,
2. a work schedule and timetable with possible suggestions for advisors and departments, for which advisors need to be found and
3. documents according to § 6, Para. 2 sections 2,4,5,6 and 7.
(2) The Dean of the Faculty veryfies the pre- conditions and decides on the application after he has checked all possible institutions suitable to act as advisors.
(3) The acceptance as doctoral candidate is possi- ble, if the dean states:
1. that the subject area of an important part of the dissertation in the Faculty is represented by a professor or an associate professor und that he is willing to be the advisor and
2. that the personnel situation and the technical equipment are available to carry out the intended dissertation.
1 These regulations were acknowledged by the Senatorial Administration for Science, Research and Culture on 4.5.2005.
(4) Reasons which make the fulfilment of the preconditions for the promotion appear unrealis- tic, and which the candidate can be held respon- sible for, can, after expiration of the acknowledged timetable or in exceptional cases, lead to a retrac- tion from the acceptance of the candidate by the Faculty Council. The right to apply for admission to the doctoral procedure (§ 6) remains unaf- fected.
§ 4 Rights and Duties of the Doctoral Candi- date
(1) Applicants, who have been accepted as a doc- toral candidate, are eligible for adequate advice and support by the Faculty in the framework of the given personnel and technical resources.
(2) Doctoral candidates can be matriculated as students at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin at any time.
(3) The candidate is obliged to fulfil conditions concerning study and exam results imposed by the Faculty Council.
§ 5 Preconditions for Admission
(1) Precondition for admission to the doctoral procedure is a final Masters’ or Diploma degree at a university within the Framework Act for Higher Education with a final grade of at least “Good”.
(2) The dissertation can only be carried out in a subject area, which is represented by a professor or associate professor of the Faculty. It is a pre- condition, that the dissertation or major parts of it have never before been part of a doctoral proce- dure. The applicant has to explicitly declare this.
(3) Alumni of Universities of Applied Sciences with a final Masters’ or Diploma degree of “Very Good”
may be accepted as Doctoral Candidates, if their qualification for the intended doctoral subject is ensured. The candidate has to undergo an exam which testifies the candidate’s knowledge and ability to take up the doctoral qualification. Fur- ther exams are not required.
(4) If the applicant is an alumnus of a foreign university, the Faculty Council may require an expert opinion by a professor of the foreign uni- versity in order to state the equality of the degree, compared with a German degree. If the degree is not in the fields of agriculture and horticulture, the Faculty Council can decide, whether to request
additional exams in these fields or to decline the application.
§ 6 Opening of the Procedure
(1) The written application for opening of the pro- cedure has to be handed in to the Faculty of Agri- culture and Horticulture.
(2) The following documents need to be attached to the application:
1. five printed copies of the dissertation,
2. one CV in German language, which especially refers to the scientific background of the ap- plicant,
3. an affirmation, that the dissertation has been carried out single-handedly and without illegal help and that the dissertation has not been part of a doctoral procedure before,
4. a declaration about whether the candidate has already applied for a doctoral program or is already a holder of a doctoral degree, 5. a declaration, that the candidate is informed
about the PhD-regulations,
6. a list of publications of the candidate (scien- tific papers and presentations),
7. testimonials and certificates of universities attended (originals or certified copies) and, 8. if applicable, suggestions for assessors of the
dissertation.
(3) As a rule, within six weeks the Faculty Council decides about the application after the submission of the complete documents referring to Para. 2.
Disaffirmation has to be substantiated in written form. An instruction on right to appeal has to be added. If all preconditions are fulfilled, the Faculty Council starts the doctoral procedure by appoint- ing the doctoral commission.
§ 7 Dissertation
(1) The dissertation is a scientific paper, which was carried out by the applicant in single-handed scientific work. Its contents must represent a progress in scientific findings.
(2) The dissertation can be based on several single papers or on a joint research paper with a third party.
(3) Forms of dissertations are:
1. an unpublished thesis,
2. a fully or partly published thesis or
3. several important own scientific publications regarding one subject to be handed in to- gether with a summary.
The dissertation must include a self contained description of research work and its results.
(4) As a rule, the dissertation must be in the Ger- man language. The Faculty Council may decide about exceptions from this rule, if the appraisal is guaranteed.
(5) The applicant is obliged to list all tools and people who have assisted and to ensure that he has carried out the dissertation single-handedly.
(6) The dissertation requires a title-page following the example in annex 1. An abstract of approx. 1 page must be added.
§ 8 Doctoral Commission
(1) At the time of the admission to the doctoral procedure the Faculty Council announces a Doc- toral Commission following § 8. Members of the Doctoral Commission are the chairperson and at least two assessors of the dissertation. Further- more, one or more professors or scientists having a PhD may be involved.
(2) The chairperson must be full-time professor of the faculty. Assessors may be professors or scien- tists with PhD also from outside the faculty. The chairperson shall not be representative of the subject area of the candidate. One assessor is the advisor to the candidate.
(3) If the dissertation is dealing with problems of more than one subject area or has an inter- disciplinary approach, the respective faculties are to be represented adequately in the Doctoral Commission.
(4) The main tasks of the Doctoral Commission are:
1. Decision about acceptance and appraisal of the dissertation,
2. Announcement of the date and execution of the public disputation,
3. Assessment of the disputation and
4. Agreement on the final result of the doctoral procedure.
(5) The Doctoral Commission meets in private.
The members are sworn to secrecy.
§ 9 Assessment of Achievements
(1) The final results in doctoral procedures are as follows:
Very good (Magna cum laude)
Good (cum laude)
Sufficient (rite) Insufficient (non sufficit).
(2) The final doctoral result is the average of the overall assessments of the dissertation and the disputation. The final result “with distinction”
(summa cum laude) can be awarded if all overall assessments, and for the dissertation all advisory opinions show “magna cum laude”.
§ 10 Appraisal of the Dissertation
(1) The advisory opinions must be furnished inde- pendently within twelve weeks from the request.
For any transgression of deadlines a written justi- fication has to be provided to the doctoral com- mission. The advisory opinions must describe the importance of the dissertation in a wider context and must show possible mistakes. In the opinion, the advisor has to recommend either the accep- tance or the disaffirmation of the dissertation.
(2) If the majority of the advisors assess the dis- sertation to be better than “insufficient”, then the doctoral procedure is to be continued by the dis- putation. If the majority of the advisors assess the dissertation to be “insufficient”, then the doctoral proceedings have to stop. If half of the advisors assess the dissertation to be “insufficient”, then the Faculty Council in cooperation with the doc- toral commission and the candidate will announce a further advisor, if possible from outside the faculty. If there are only two advisory opinions with assessment-differences of at least two de- grees (§ 9), then, on proposition of the doctoral commission, the Faculty Council may announce a further advisor.
(3) For the assessment of the dissertation, the degrees following § 9 Para. 1 are valid.
§ 11 Acceptance of the Dissertation and De- termination of Disputation
(1) In order to allow all faculty members to get informed, the dissertation has to be displayed within the faculty for two weeks (non-lecture pe- riod four weeks). All faculty members have the right to send written notes about the dissertation to the Doctoral Commission. The Doctoral Com- mission has to appraise these notes and to give a final judgement on the dissertation. The profes- sors of the faculty, the members of the Faculty Council and the PhD-candidate may read the ad- visory opinions, following sentence 1; the opinions are to be treated as strictly confidential.
(2) Precondition for the admission of the candi- date to the disputation is the acceptance of the dissertation. After expiration of the time limit for the display of the dissertation, the Doctoral Com- mission decides about acceptance or refusal of the dissertation and about the determination of the disputation. In case of a refusal, the Commis- sion declares the promotion as failed and, after consultation of the Faculty Council, stops the further procedure. The decision has to be handed over to the candidate in written form, including justification and instruction on right to appeal.
(3) On acceptance of the dissertation, the head of the Doctoral Commission informs the candidate of the decision and determinates together with the candidate the disputation. There should be no longer than two months between the last incom- ing opinion and the disputation. The disputation is open to members of the university. The head of the Commission invites at least two weeks before the disputation all members of the Faculty Council as well as professors and lecturers of the faculty by announcement on the notice board to take part in the disputation.
§ 12 Disputation
(1) The disputation concludes of a presentation by the candidate about the topic of the dissertation and of an extensive scientific discussion. The aim of the latter is to prove the abilities of the candi- date to present and to debate the scientific prob- lems handled in the dissertation. The disputation takes place in German or English languages.
(2) The head of the Doctoral Commission is con- ducting the disputation. He is allowed to exclude the public, if the correct accomplishment of the disputation is not guaranteed.
(3) The disputation starts with a presentation lasting 30 minutes, in which the candidate ex- plains the results of the dissertation and pulls them together. The candidate defends the disser- tation against criticism, especially by the advisors, and answers to questions by members of the Commission. Questions of the audience can be allowed by the head. The debate shall not exceed 90 minutes.
(4) The head of the Doctoral Commission is re- sponsible for the administration of an attendance list and for minutes to be taken about the run and the contents of the disputation. The minutes are to be signed by all members of the Commission.
Differing opinions may be added, including the names of the responsible persons. Minutes and
attendance list are to be added to the procedure documents.
(5) Is the candidate absent from the disputation without permission, then the disputation result is
“failing”. The candidate has to be informed about this decision, including justification and instruc- tion on right to appeal.
(6) The disputation can only take place in the presence of the head of the Doctoral Commission and at least two advisors.
§ 13 Decision upon Disputation and Gradua- tion
(1) After the disputation the Doctoral Commission decides in a non-public meeting about the as- sessment of the Disputation and decides under consideration of the concluded assessment of the dissertation (see § 11, Para. 1) about the final re- sult of the PhD-procedure following § 9, about the form of publication and, if applicable, imposes conditions on the dissertation and the publication.
The fulfilment of the conditions, if applicable, must be attested by the advisor by emission of a revision form. The head of the Commission in- forms the candidate immediately after the dispu- tation about the assessment of the procedure as a whole.
(2) In case the disputation gets the result “fail”, it can be repeated earliest after three and latest after six months. Is the result of the second disputation
“fail” again, then the Commission declares the procedure as “fail” and gives reasons for the deci- sion. The candidate has to be informed upon the decision in written form, including justification and instruction on right to appeal.
(3) Within four weeks after successful disputation the candidate receives an attestation, which in- cludes the title of the dissertation and the final result. This attestation does not entitle the candi- date to bear the doctoral title (annex 2).
§ 14 Withdrawal, Repetition
(1) If the candidate declares his withdrawal from the procedure in written form before the com- mencement of the proceedings, the applied documents will be given back to him. The disser- tation then counts as not submitted.
(2) The PhD proceedings will be stopped upon application of the candidate as long as there are no advisor’s opinions submitted. In this case, the
submission of the dissertation and the com- mencement of proceedings count as not carried out. A repetition of this application is not possible.
(3) Was the result of the PhD proceedings “fail”
and the proceedings have stopped, then the admission to new proceedings by submitting a strongly changed dissertation is earliest possible after one year. In this case the first dissertation has also to be submitted.
(4) If before the handing out of the Doctoral cer- tificate it is ascertained, that the candidate know- ingly made misleading statements, the Faculty Council will decide upon the closing of the pro- ceedings or that a new admission following Para.
3 can be applied for. In case of doubt the proceed- ings are to be suspended. The candidate is offered the opportunity to give his opinion on the allega- tions against him.
(5) The Dean informs the doctoral candidate about decisions following Para. 1 to 4, and instruction on right to appeal.
§ 15 Depositary Copies and Types of Publica- tion
(1) The dissertation has to be published in a suit- able form within two years. If the candidate can prove, that a commercial publisher is found, then the publication deadline can be extended by one year. The Faculty Council decides upon written application about this elongation. If the candidate does not adhere to the agreed deadlines, he loses all rights gained by exams within these proceed- ings.
(2) The dissertation has been given access to the scientific community in a reasonable way, if the author –besides one copy for the exam files- has handed over to the university library:
Either:
a) 40 copies, all as books as well as photo prints for circulation; a reduction to DIN A5 for- mat is preferable, or
b) six copies, if publication in a journal has been stipulated, or
c) six copies, if the commercial publisher is circulating them via book trade, a minimum circu- lation rate of 150 copies has been proven and the rear page informs about the place of dissertation, or
d) three copies in a version which can be copied together with an original print and up to 50 further copies on microfiches, or
e) four copies on long lasting, wood and acid free paper, and also bound long-lastingly, and
also an electronic version, which format and data storage medium have to be agreed by the univer- sity library. The candidate confers to the university library of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, to the DBB (Die Deutsche Bibliothek) at Frank- furt/Leipzig and, if necessary, to the DFG- Sondersammelgebietsbibliothek the right to pub- lish the electronic version in data networks and assures that the electronic version is identical with the dissertation. The university library in- spects the delivered version regarding readability and compliance with required specifications. The delivery of data, which do not comply with the requirements regarding data format and storage medium, cannot count as publication.
In the cases a) and c) the candidate allows the university to produce more copies of the disserta- tion and to circulate them.
In case of a commercial publishing, supported by public money funding for printing costs, an ade- quate number of copies has to be given to the university library, which will use them for ex- changes.
§ 16 Doctoral Certificate
(1) The doctoral procedure is closed by handing out the doctoral certificate. It is issued in the German language and has to contain (annex 3):
1. Name of the University and the Faculty, 2. Name, date and place of birth of the graduated 3. Degree awarded,
4. Title of the dissertation, 5. Date of disputation, 6. Final degree,
7. Name and signature of the president of the university and of the dean of the Faculty and 8. Seal of the university.
(2) The doctoral certificate must be handed over latest within six months after fulfilment of § 15.
The doctoral certificate allows to officially hold the academic degree of a Doctor in Agricultural Sci- ences (Dr. rer. agr.) and accordingly of a Doctor in Horticultural Sciences (Dr. rer. hort.).
(3) After completion of the doctoral proceedings the respective files are to be kept in confidence.
Within one year the graduated or former candi- date has the right of access to the files.
§ 17 Honorary Doctorate
(1) The academic degree of an Honorary Doctor of Agricultural Sciences (Doctor rerum agriculatura- rum honoris causa, Dr. rer. agr. h.c.) and accord- ingly of an Honorary Doctor in Horticultural Sci-
ences (Doctor rerum horticulturarum honoris causa, Dr. rer. hort. h.c.) can be awarded in ap- preciation of outstanding scientific or other inven- tive achievements in agricultural and horticultural sciences.
(2) The candidate is not allowed to be a member of Humboldt-Universität.
(3) Upon nomination by the Faculty Council, which has decided with a two-thirds majority of its members with right to vote by secret ballot, the Academic Senate of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin decides about the honorary doctorate. For the decision making of the Faculty Council, a doctoral commission of at least three professors is appointed by the Faculty Council, which assesses the achievements of the personality to be hon- oured.
(4) The honorary doctorate is executed by a cer- tificate, signed by the president of the university and the dean of the faculty, carrying the seal of the Humboldt-Universität, which recognizes the achievements of the honoured person.
(5) The universities in the area of application of the Basic Law will be informed concerning the granting of this doctorate.
§ 18 Remedies
(1) The applicant, the candidate, and accordingly the graduated has the right to file a complaint to the president of the university against a decision by one of the responsible bodies following these regulations. He may also ask the Research and Young Scientists Committee of the Humboldt- Universität to moderate an amicable adjustment between the involved parties. The deadline for the commencement of a suit within the proceedings in contentious administrative matters remains untouched.
(2) If the doctoral regulations allow this, the notice has to contain the following phrase: “Against this notification a complaint in the frame of a suit within the proceedings in contentious administra- tive matters is permitted. The action has to be taken at the administrative court Berlin within one month after notification of the decision.”
§ 19 Intermediate Rules
(1) Applicants who at the time of the commence- ment of these regulations have already applied for acceptance as PhD-student or who have been
accepted or admitted to the proceedings, can apply for proceedings following these regulations.
Notices of assessment with regard to the former valid regulations are binding for these regulations.
§ 20 Commencement
These PhD-regulations come into effect one day after the publication in the official bulletin of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Annexes:
Annex 1 Specimen of the title page of the Dissertation
Annex 2 Specimen of the interim report Annex 3 Specimen of the doctoral certifi-
cate
