Doctoral regulations for the attainment of the academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


§ 1 Purpose and nature of the audit

(1) The Sankt Georgen College of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt am Main shall award the academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) on the basis of the doctoral achievements recognized by it.

(2) The doctoral achievements are:

  •     a postgraduate course of study in accordance with § 5,
  •     a scientific treatise (dissertation) in accordance with § 8,
  •     the defense of the dissertation according to § 9.

(3) In addition to the successful completion of the course of study, the doctorate shall demonstrate the ability to carry out in-depth scientific work through own research achievements.

§ 2 PhD Committee

(1) Decisions in the doctoral procedure are made by the PhD committee, unless the rector(1) or the head of the graduate school is responsible.

(2) The PhD Committee consists of the Rector as chairperson, the first and second supervisors and one professor each proposed by the five subject groups (Philosophy, Biblical, Historical, Systematic and Practical Theology).

(3) The members of the PhD Committee are elected by the College Council. In the event of incapacity, the College Council shall elect five substitute members. The head of the Graduate School has a right of nomination to which the College Council is not bound.

(4) The term of office of the members of the PhD Committee corresponds to the term of office of the Rector of the College. The members of the PhD Committee shall elect a Chair and a Deputy Chair.

(5) In order for the PhD Committee to constitute a quorum, all its members must be present. It shall not meet in public.

(6) The members of the PhD Committee are obliged to maintain secrecy about all matters dealt with. The duty of secrecy includes the confidentiality of the advisory documents. The obligation of secrecy continues to apply after termination of membership of the PhD Committee.

§ 3 Admission requirements

(1) Anyone who has successfully completed a course of study at a German academic institution, or in consecutive courses of study with a total standard period of study of at least eight semesters, or in a postgraduate course of study with an examination, may be admitted as a doctoral candidate for the doctorate of philosophy.

(2) The PhD Committee may admit doctoral candidates who have obtained an academic degree equivalent to Section 1 at a foreign College. The PhD Committee shall decide on equivalence.

(3) The course of study in accordance with Sections 1 and 2 must have been completed with an overall grade of at least 2.5 or, if the Institute is a University of applied sciences, with an overall grade of 1.5.

(4) Doctoral candidates must be enrolled as students for doctoral studies at the Sankt Georgen College of Philosophy and Theology.

§ 4 First and second advisors

(1) The doctoral candidate chooses a first supervisor from among the professors or junior professors of the Sankt Georgen College of Philosophy and Theology. His or her approval is a prerequisite for the applicant's enrollment at the College.

(2) The PhD Committee assigns a professor or junior professor to each doctoral candidate as second supervisor. The doctoral candidate and the first supervisor are heard before the assignment of the second supervisor.

§ 5 Postgraduate studies

(1) For the doctorate of philosophy (PhD), proof of successful completion of a postgraduate course of study at the Graduate School of the Sankt Georgen College of Philosophy and Theology is required.

(2) Within the scope of the postgraduate studies, academic achievements must be completed to an extent which is determined by the standard period of study of the completed course of study in accordance with § 3, Sections 1 - 2:

  •     for a standard period of study of eight semesters: 45 LP
  •     for a standard period of study of nine semesters: 35 LP
  •     for a standard period of study of ten or more semesters: 25 LP One credit point corresponds to a workload of 30 hours

(3) Up to 50% of the credit points can be earned at other universities. The head of the graduate school decides on recognition.

(4) A part of the credits pursuant to Section 2 must be earned through credits from courses in the subjects of philosophy or theology, the extent of which is determined by the subject in which the course of study pursuant to § 3 Sections 1 - 2 was completed:

  •     for other courses of study: at least 15 LP
  •     in the case of a multi-subject program involving the subjects of philosophy or theology: at least 10 LP
  •     for a one-subject course of study in philosophy or theology: at least 6 LP

(5) Further academic achievements according to Sections 2 may be achieved by:

  •     self-study units with colloquium/examination
  •     Participation and lecture activity at colloquia and conferences
  •     Excursions
  •     Publication and editing activities
  •     Conception, application and realization of scientific projects
  •     Implementation of subject-related tutorials
  •     responsible collaboration in seminars
  •     Participation in the conception and implementation of lectures
  •     accompanied internships
  •     further education in the didactics of higher education or specialist didactics

(6) The determination of the academic achievements to be achieved in accordance with Sections 2 to 5 and the credit points to be acquired as a result is made by the director of the graduate school, taking into account joint proposals by the doctoral candidate and the first supervisor.

(7) Upon completion of the postgraduate studies, knowledge of Latin to the extent of a Latinum must be proven.

(8) If the head of the Graduate School acts as the first supervisor, his/her decisions in accordance with § 5 Sections 3 and 6 require the approval of the PhD Committee.

§ 6 Acceptance as a doctoral candidate

(1) Anyone who intends to prepare a doctoral thesis must submit a written application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate to the PhD Committee.

(2) The application must be accompanied by

   a) proof of the applicant's personal identity,   b) Proof of a completed course of study according to § 3,   c) a written declaration by the first supervisor proposed by the applicant in accordance with § 4 that he/she will supervise the  work on the dissertation   d) a description of the provisional work program of the thesis.

(3) The PhD Committee decides on the acceptance of the applicant as a doctoral candidate. The decision on acceptance must be taken within a reasonable period of time and the applicant must be notified without delay. A rejection notice shall contain the reasons for rejection and an instruction on legal remedies.

(4) Upon acceptance of the applicant as a doctoral candidate, the PhD Committee, after considering the declaration in accordance with § 6 Section 2, sub-Section d) and after a prior hearing in accordance with § 4 Section 2, appoints the first and second supervisors of the doctoral thesis.

(5) Acceptance as a doctoral candidate obliges the College to ensure that the doctoral procedure is carried out and to make its research facilities available to the doctoral candidate. It shall oblige the doctoral candidate and the supervisors to notify the Chair of the PhD Committee without delay of any substantial change in the work program or of a solution to the supervisor relationship.

(6) The doctoral candidate's status expires upon the dissolution of the supervision relationship, if no other supervisors can be found, or after three years, if the doctoral candidate has not submitted a written request for renewal to the Chair of the PhD Committee before the end of this period. The latter will decide on the request after asking the supervisors about the likelihood of a successful outcome of the dissertation and the other doctoral achievements.

§ 7 Admission to the doctoral procedure

(1) The applicant must submit a written application for a doctorate to the PhD Committee. Only candidates who have been accepted as doctoral candidates can be admitted to the doctoral program.

(2) The application must be accompanied by

a) a curriculum vitae in tabular form,

b) proof that the requirements of the postgraduate studies have been met to the extent specified in section 5(2) to (5)

c) the proof of knowledge of Latin to the extent of the Latinum,

d) the dissertation in five bound copies,

(e) a digital version of the dissertation,

f) a written assurance that the candidate has written the dissertation himself/herself, that he/she has not made use of any outside help in writing it, that he/she has not used any other writings or sources other than those listed in the list of writings for the dissertation, and that he/she has marked all passages taken from the writings or sources, either verbatim or analogously, as such, and that the dissertation has not already been presented as an examination paper at another university,

(g) an indication of which parts of the thesis have been published in advance, if applicable, together with specimen copies,

(h) proof of payment of the examination fee.

(3) The Chair of the PhD Committee will examine the application and grant admission to the PhD procedure if the requirements set out in Section 2 are met.

§ 8 Dissertation

(1) The dissertation must be an independent scientific achievement which makes a considerable contribution to the progress of scientific knowledge.

(2) As a rule, the dissertation must be written in German and should not exceed 350 pages (2,000 characters each including spaces). Provided that the review is assured, the dissertation may be written in another language.

(3) A dissertation cannot be accepted if it has already been published in whole or in substantial parts. The PhD Committee will decide on exceptions.

(4) The dissertation will be examined by the two supervisors. Reviews must be made in writing within three months - not counting the lecture-free periods.

(5) Each of the examiners recommending acceptance proposes one of the grades "summa cum laude" (1), "magna cum laude" (2), "cum laude" (3) or "rite" (4) for the thesis. Intermediate marks can be obtained by decreasing or increasing the whole-numbered marks by 0.3, excluding marks 0.7 and 4.3.

(6) The dissertation, together with the reports, must be accessible to professors, junior professors and lecturers for four weeks. These have the right to communicate their opinion on the dissertation to the reviewers and to issue their own review. The final assessment of the dissertation is determined from the average of the assessments by first and second supervisor, provided that no other deviating assessment has been made and the assessments of the two assessments do not differ by more than one whole grade.

(7) If the assessments of the two reports differ by more than one whole grade, or if there is a differing report, the PhD Committee will determine the final grade. It may decide to obtain further evaluations before reaching a decision.

(8) The applicant may inspect the reports.

(9) If the assessments of the two reviewers are negative, the doctoral procedure is terminated without success.

(10) If only one of the reviewers has given a positive evaluation of the thesis, the candidate may, if he/she so wishes, either have the thesis returned for revision within a period to be approved by the Chairman of the PhD Committee, or allow the PhD procedure to continue. In the latter case, the Chairman of the PhD Committee will appoint a further reviewer. If his or her assessment is negative, the doctoral procedure will be terminated without success. It is also terminated without success if the thesis returned for revision has not been submitted within the approved period.

(11) One copy of the doctoral thesis remains in the archives of the College.

§ 9 Defense

(1) The purpose of the defense is to demonstrate the applicant's ability to present and discuss scientific problems orally. The defense is open to the public at the College. The two reviewers and all members of the PhD Committee must take part in the defense; the rules of representation set out in § 2 Section 3 apply.

(2) The defense begins with a presentation of approximately thirty minutes in which the candidate presents and explains the results of his dissertation and its significance in the wider academic context. The candidate may refer to the reviews. The applicant then defends the dissertation against criticism and answers questions from the reviewers and other professors, junior professors or lecturers. The questions should relate to the classification of the problems of the dissertation in larger scientific contexts. The Chairman of the PhD Committee may then allow questions from the plenary session on the subject of the dispute to be put to him. The debate must last at least thirty minutes and should not exceed sixty minutes.

(3) The Chair of the PhD Committee coordinates the scientific debate and decides on the priority and, if necessary, admissibility of questions. Minutes must be taken of the course of the defense and the subsequent non-public deliberations of the PhD Committee and the reviewers.

(4) As a rule, the defense will be held in German. If the two reviewers agree, parts of the defense or the entire dispute may be conducted in English.

(5) Immediately after the conclusion of the defense, the professors, assistant professors and lecturers present shall deliberate on the evaluation of the defense and award a grade in accordance with § 8 Section 5, whereby the majority of votes shall be decisive.

(6) The two reviewers then consult with the professors, junior professors and lecturers present at the defense on the assessment of the thesis and form their final grade proposals in accordance with § 8 Section 5. The two reviewers decide on the final grade of the thesis together with the PhD Committee. A decision is only reached by a majority of votes. In the event of a tie, the Chairman of the PhD Committee will have the casting vote. The applicant will be informed of the result immediately. A negative decision, which must also be made in writing, will contain the reasons for rejection.

§ 10 Overall assessment

(1) The average grade of the performance records from the postgraduate studies (§ 5, sections 2 and 3) shall be included in the overall evaluation with 10%, the grade of the defense (§ 9, section 5) with 20% and the final grade of the dissertation (§ 9, section 6) with 70%.

(2) Only the first decimal place after the decimal point is taken into account when calculating the final grade; all other places are deleted without rounding.

(3) The overall grade of the doctoral thesis is an average:

from 1.0 to 1.5 = very good (summa cum laude)

from 1,6 to 2,5 = good (magna cum laude)

from 2,6 to 3,5 = satisfactory (cum laude)

from 3.6 to 4.0 = sufficient (rite)

over 4.0 = insufficient (insufficienter)

§ 11 Publication of the dissertation

(1) The dissertation is to be made available to the public in book form or in digital form in a version to be approved by the supervisors. If one of the supervisors rejects the approval, the PhD Committee will decide on the approval.

(2) If the dissertation is published in a journal or if a commercial publisher undertakes distribution via the book trade, proof must be furnished of a minimum circulation of 150 copies; in this case four copies must be delivered to the rectorate free of charge.

(3) If the publication is in digital form, two additional copies printed and bound on paper shall be submitted. The data format and data carrier shall be agreed with the College library. The applicant must provide written assurance that the digital version corresponds in content and format to the copies printed on paper. He/she grants the Sankt Georgen College of Philosophy and Theology the non-exclusive right to distribute the version of the dissertation delivered on the basis of these regulations within the framework of the legal duties of a College library or to make it available on data networks. Prior to this, the applicant must be informed that he/she must inform the publisher about the granting of this right in the event of a later publication and that this may make a later publication more difficult.

(4) The names of the supervisors must be indicated on the back of the title page of the deposit copies. In the case of material expansion of the thesis, the parts that were submitted to the College as a dissertation must be designated as such.

§ 12 Completion of the doctorate

(1) A certificate of completion of the doctorate shall be issued under the date of the defense, stating the subject of the doctorate, the title of the dissertation, the overall grade of the doctorate and the grade of the dissertation, and shall be signed by the Rector.

(2) A certificate shall be issued stating the successful completion of the doctoral procedure and the achievements made in the course of the procedure. It shall be signed by the Rector.

(3) The certificate of successful completion of the doctoral examination procedure may be handed over to the candidate immediately. The certificate on the completed doctorate will only be handed over after fulfilment of the publication obligation (§ 11).

(4) The right to use the doctoral title begins with the delivery of the doctoral certificate.

(5) The degree of Doctor of Philosophy awarded by the College has no canonical effect and does not qualify the holder for academic teaching in a discipline of Catholic theology.

§ 13 Divestiture of the doctorate

The degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) awarded by the Sankt Georgen College of Philosophy and Theology may be revoked by a decision of the PhD Committee if it turns out that it was obtained by willful deception (cf. § 7 Section 2 e). The person concerned must be heard in writing or orally before the decision is taken. The Rector will notify the person concerned of the decision together with instructions on how to appeal. The person concerned may appeal against this decision within two months. In this case, the PhD Committee will decide.

§ 14 Article 14 Entry into force

These doctoral regulations were adopted by the College Council on 12 December 2014 and approved by the Hessian Minister of Science and Art on 20 March 2015. [It shall enter into force on 1 October 2015 with the permission of the Grand Chancellor of the College on 23 July 2015].

 

Frankfurt am Main, 18.09.2015

Prof. Dr. Ansgar Wucherpfennig SJ

Rector

 


1. in these Regulations, references to persons and functions shall refer equally to women and men. (Kopie 3)

1. in these Regulations, references to persons and functions shall refer equally to women and men.