During your Doctorate

During the initial phase of your doctoral project, the TUM-GS Kick-Off seminar provides information about academic work and the different supporting offers at TUM. During the event you have the possibility to meet other doctoral candidates from different specializations. By doing so, you may get new ideas and perspectives and expand your personal network. The offered seminars are designed to develope your personal skills.

Participation in the TUM-GS Kick-off seminar is compulsory. Dates and registration can be found on the DocGS portal.

Another element of the doctoral program at TUM is the active participation of external doctoral candidates in the academic environment of TUM.

These can for example be achived through:

• attendance at TUM in Straubing or at a public academic research institution recognized by the Graduate Center, or
• teaching at TUM (e.g. lectures, exercises, involvement in supervising internships and thesis work), or
• participating in a research group at TUM.

External doctoral candidates have to proof the active participation at TUM by submitting a self-evaluation report to their supervisors and the Graduate Center Straubing.

Form: Self-evaluation Report - Active Participation in the Academic Environment of TUM

No later than six months after becoming a member of TUM-GS, you must submit an abstract of your proposed doctoral project (including a work plan and timeline) via DocGS.

Form: Abstract of the doctoral thesis

To deepen and complement your independent research, there are numerous opportunities for subject-specific professional development. For example, you can attend department-specific and interdepartmental events, conferences (where you present your own work, e.g., through a talk or poster presentation), methodology seminars, courses, as well as summer and winter schools.

Proof of participation is provided by uploading the relevant confirmations (confirmation from your supervisor and certificate of attendance in a single PDF) to your DocGS account.

Form: Certificate - Subject-Specific Course

Doctoral students in the natural sciences and engineering:

At the end of your doctoral program, you must provide proof of participation in a total of 6 semester hours (SWS) of subject-specific events. This corresponds to 63 hours over the entire duration of your doctoral program.

Doctoral students in the economic and social sciences:

At the end of your doctoral program, you must provide proof of participation in a total of 10 semester hours (SWS) of subject-specific events. This corresponds to 105 hours over the entire duration of your doctoral program.

In addition to the subject-specific courses, you must actively participate in and provide proof of attendance at the doctoral colloquium of the professorship or chair. This includes at least one presentation of your own research project per year. Participation in a doctoral seminar does not count as a subject-specific course toward the required 10 SWS.

Form: Proof of participation in the doctoral colloquium (Please send via email to m.zapilko@tum.de)

The feedback session must take place with the supervisors no later than two years after enrollment in the TUM Graduate School.

The basis for the feedback session is:

• a presentation open to the university community or a written interim report by the doctoral candidate on the progress of the doctoral project, and
• a consultation with the mentor.
• During the feedback session, the progress of the doctoral project and the qualification program, as well as the next steps, are discussed.
• The results of the feedback session must be documented.
• The supervision agreement must be updated based on the feedback session.

Note: A presentation given exclusively within the research group does not count as a university-wide presentation.

Forms: 

• Report Sheet: Feedback Session
• Interim Report for Feedback Session
• Betreuungsvereinbarung / Supervision Agreement (no English version available)

The discussion of the quality of your research within the international scientific community is an essential part of scientific working. 

This is typically achieved through:

• an accepted publication in a peer-reviewed international journal, or
• as a contribution (talk or poster) at an international conference with a peer-review process, including an accepted substantial and peer-reviewable abstract with details on data, methodology and results or
• a contribution in the proceedings of an international conference with a peer-review process

Important documents can be found here:

• Publication Guideline
• TUM Citation Guidelines of the University Library
• Guidelines for ensuring Good Scientifc Practice (Scroll down for English)
• Guidelines for Good Scientific Practice (not available in English)
• Open Access Publishing Fund of TUM libary

Form: Certificate: Publication/Discussion in the Scientific Community

Doctoral candidates and supervisors annually confirm the continuation of the doctoral relationship. The data confirmation takes place via the online portal DocGS. Please note that you must have been a member of TUM-GS for at least two years before submitting your dissertation. If your membership has lasted less than two years but you have completed the qualification program in full, please contact m.zapilko@tum.de.

In addition to the supervisor, the doctoral candidate is also supported by a mentor. This person provides assistance in various areas throughout the doctoral program.

The mentor may also provide additional academic guidance. Furthermore, they are available to offer advice on interdisciplinary skills, project and time management, as well as career planning during and after the doctoral program. In principle, anyone who has demonstrated their ability to conduct independent academic work through a doctoral degree is eligible to serve as a mentor.

As a member of the Graduate Center Straubing, you have the option to register a mentor within six months after starting your membership.

Here’s how to proceed with a late registration:

• At the beginning of your registration in DocGS, please enter the placeholders “NN” and “NN@NN.de” in the “Mentor” and “Email” fields, respectively.
• Once your mentor has been confirmed, download the PDF scan of your supervision agreement from your DocGS account and have your mentor sign the attachment.
• Then request the update via your DocGS account under: “Request change to doctoral program details” -> “Request for change”

In addition to the subject-specific qualification, the TUM Graduate School enables you to further develop your soft skills and interdisciplinary networks. Therefore, you can choose from a wide variety of courses. You can find the course program on the TUM Graduate School website. 

Moreover, other TUM departments offer seminars and a wide range of topics, most of which are open to all TUM members.

Interdisciplinary seminars offered by other providers are also recognized.

Please upload your proof of attendance to DocGS.

You can also have lectures and poster presentations at national and international conferences recognized.

Form: Scientific Presentation

Within the framework of the TUM-GS membership, doctoral candidates have a number of possibilities to promote their personal international exchange. 

Doctoral candidates affiliated with HSWT professorships should consult Marina Zapilko before beginning any internationalization initiative.

Form: Certificate International Experience

If you have gained teaching experience at TUM and would like this to appear on your transcript, please upload the Teaching Experience form in DocGS.

Form: Teaching Experience

For the proofreading of your texts, you can use the online program Grammarly.

Grammarly is an AI-based writing assistant that detects and corrects grammatical, spelling and punctuation mistakes and makes suggestions for clarity, syntax and writing style.

For log in use your TUM login data directly on the Grammarly website.

Further information on Grammarly can be found at TUM Wiki under Grammarly.