Dr.sc.hum. students

 

Questions and Answers regarding the new Promotionsordnung, released on March 1^st 2022

(Collected by the Doctoral Representatives of the Heidelberg Institute for Global Health)

What exactly does the new Promotionsverordnung released in March 2022 mean for:

○       Doctoral students who have already been accepted for their Promotion before March 2022 – Officially everyone has changed to the new Promotionsordnung, however, students accepted before March 2022 will not have to complete the study program of 240 hours  nor do they have to have a Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC)(the senate decided on this May 10). All other changes are also relevant to already accepted students. This includes (but is not limited to) the option to apply for a cumulative dissertation (see below for details on how to do this) and a public defense.

○       Candidates that are in the middle of the application review (application submitted, but no decision yet) – Fall under the new Promotionsordnung with all its regulations

○       Candidates that only plan to submit an application for Promotion and are currently preparing the documents – Fall under the new Promotionsordnung with all its regulations

(more info can be found here: https://www.medizinische-fakultaet-hd.uni-heidelberg.de/fileadmin/medizinische_fakultaet/Dekanat/Promotion/Dr_sc_hum/Ausfuehrungsbestimmungen_Cumulative_Dissertation.pdf )

• Where can I find the form one has to use to apply for a cumulative dissertation – On Promotionsbüro website: Medizinische Fakultät Heidelberg: Schreiben der Dissertation (uni-heidelberg.de). This is the download link: https://www.medizinische-fakultaet-hd.uni-heidelberg.de/fileadmin/medizinische_fakultaet/Dekanat/Promotion/Dr_sc_hum/2022_03_21_Antrag_kumulative_Dissertation_DrScHum_English_schreibg.docx
• Which journals fall into the top third of the field, is there a defined margin for this? – The Promotionsbüro remains vague on this arguing that we would always aim to publish in high ranked journals, therefore they say it makes no sense to pre-define a margin. This means that in every case it is up to the committee to decide whether the given publications are in journals of sufficiently high rank when evaluating each request.
•  Who defines the research area? – Again the Promotionsbüro remains vague on this point, given that it is rather unique to our institute where research areas frequently overlap and thesis are interdisciplinary. We rely on Till to defend this as he is part of the committee, potentially he could be asked for his input on this in advance
• Is it possible to compensate with more publications in middle range impact factor journals? – There is no final decision on this, the committee will decide on this on a case by case basis.
• When should the application for a cumulative dissertation be submitted? – The application should be submitted once all publications relevant to your promotion have been accepted, they do not have to be published.

3. Individual study program

(more info can be found here: https://www.medizinische-fakultaet-hd.uni-heidelberg.de/fileadmin/medizinische_fakultaet/Dekanat/Promotion/Dr_sc_hum/Ausfuehrungsbestimmungen_Study_Program.pdf)

General information: Prof. Manuela de Allegri and the current and former DocReps are working on compiling a complete list of all courses available at HIGH. This will be shared with you as soon as it is ready. The Promotionsbüro announced that it will also share a list of all courses available at institutes in the medical faculty. A list and the courses of the Graduate Academy which also contribute to this study program can be found on its website (https://www.graduateacademy.uni-heidelberg.de/karriere/workshops.html ).

Refers to regulation: Journal clubs and research seminars of at least 1-2 semester hours each, preferably within the student's own research group (approx. 30-60 hours/year, max. 180 hours total).

• How can one collect 180  hours of journal club meetings when the journal club meetings (at our institute) are once a month? –  You only need to attend 30-60 hours of the journal club per year (this would translate to roughly a meeting on a weekly or biweekly basis), this combines meetings from the journal club (provided through our institute, contact HIGH-JC@LISTSERV.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE for more information) and any regular seminars you have within your own research group. If you do not have the option of attending any research group meetings talk to your supervisor.  
• What does 1 semester hour translate to? – 1 semester hour is 1 hour of teaching = 45 minutes. Therefore, the journal club or research group meetings should be between 45-90 minutes
• About the Journal Clubs, do I have to join every Wednesday and then ask for a certificate of participation? Does my participation in the journal club have to be certified? – Yes you need it to be certified and no you do not need to join every time for the hours to count. You can ask for a signature for your participation and submit this list once it is complete, the same is true for any other meetings of this type that you attend.
•  Where can I find the GSP courses? (Good scientific practice) – On the website of the  Graduiertenakadamie (https://www.graduateacademy.uni-heidelberg.de/karriere/workshops.html )
•  If the GSP course will become mandatory will it be offered more frequently/with more spaces? For example, the next one is already booked out. – This is not regulated by the Promotions, however, we have alerted them to the issue and if the demand is there the offer can probably be extended.
•  Would a summer school organized by an external organization be considered? – In general, this should be possible, however, you should ask the PhD committee beforehand and check with them if they accept the summer school you chose.

Refers to: At least one of the following three elective required courses should be completed: (max. 10 hours per elective).

Refers to: Participation in scientific exchange activities outside the own research group (scientific symposia, retreats, doctoral congresses) to present own work (poster presentation or oral presentation)

• Where do we find these activities? who funds them? what happens if we cannot find something or cannot get funding to participate in them? – It is up to you (and your supervisor) to identify potential conferences etc. at which you can present your work.
• Choosing a course at the institute would cost around 500 Euro, the same cost issue applies to many conferences – The Promotionsbüro and HIGH are trying to build up a course offer that ensures that the 240 hours can be completed without additional cost and without major overlaps.

Other optional elective courses: (max. 20 hours per elective course)

Other:

• Is the study program outlined in our application fixed or can it be changed in the course of time? – This can be changed later if, for example, course offers change.
• Do all students have to have TAC (=Thesis Advisory Committee) meetings? – If you were accepted before March 2022 you are not required to have these. New students must have at least 3 TAC meetings with 3 habilitated faculty members.
• If I was accepted with conditions of completing a number of ECTS, can these be replaced by the study programme? – No this is not the same. Although you may use the hours from the ECTS courses you take to add to your study programme, the study programme does not replace the ECTS.