Doctorate Dr. med. & Dr. med. dent.

Welcome to the website for the Dr. med. & Dr. med. dent. doctoral process. Here you will find all the information you need about the organizational aspects of your doctorate.

Latest information

With the amendment to the Professional code of conduct for Physicians in North Rhine from July 23, 2025, and the revised version of § 15(1), exclusively retrospective epidemiological research projects are now also subject to mandatory consultation by the Ethics Committee. Further information and details can be found at the following link: https://ethik.meb.uni-bonn.de/sonstige-klinische-studie/retrospektive-auswertung-von-daten/

In relevant supervision agreements, the presence or running review of an ethics vote must therefore always be confirmed.

All retrospective research projects that were submitted to the Ethics Committee by July 22, 2025, in order to confirm that there was no consultation obligation under § 15 of the Professional code of conduct, will continue to be handled under the “previous regulation”. In such cases, it is not necessary to obtain retroactive consultation.

In the case of retrospective research projects that began before July 23, 2025 but have not yet been completed, an application should be submitted to the Ethics Committee to request a review of whether the project constitutes research requiring consultation, or whether a certificate can be issued under the “previous regulations” stating that no consultation obligation existed at the time the project was initiated. For this purpose, please use the application platform ethikPool (https://ethikpool.ethikkommission-bonn.de/app/), where you can select the category “Other Clinical Research Projects” and then choose the option “Retrospective Data Analysis.” If you have any questions, please contact the Ethics Committee: https://ethik.meb.uni-bonn.de/

Dates

The meeting dates of the doctoral committee as well as the respective deadlines regarding the submission of documents are as follows:

Dates Application deadlines

Tuesday, 02/12/2025 – Sunday, 23/11/2025

Tuesday, 16/12/2025 – Sunday, 07/12/2025

Tuesday, 06/01/2026 – Sunday, 21/12/2025

Tuesday, 20/01/2026 – Sunday, 11/01/2026

Tuesday, 03/02/2026 – Sunday, 25/01/2026

Tuesday, 17/02/2026 – Sunday, 08/02/2026

Tuesday, 03/03/2026 – Sunday, 22/02/2026

Tuesday, 17/03/2026 – Sunday, 08/03/2026

Tuesday, 31/03/2026 – Sunday, 22/03/2026

Overview of the Promotion Procedure

Process to obtain the Doctoral Degree

The essential steps for obtaining the doctorate are listed below. However, as a first overview we recommend to read the doctoral regulations and to have a look at the Q&A directory. This offers you helpful information on enrolment, leave of absence and other topics that may be relevant to you.

Doctoral Regulations / Q&A

First Doctoral Degree Regulations from 2017

Doctoral degree regulations from 13th Juli 2017

Second Doctoral Degree Regulations from 2021

Doctoral degree regulations from 9th December 2021

Q&A directory to different topics

Q&A Doctorate

Admission criteria for applicants with a foreign university degree

Admission criteria

Step 1: Application for Qualification Phase

Supervision Agreement

For admission to the qualification phase, a supervision agreement is mandatory and must be approved by the doctoral committee.

Documents: Admission to the qualification phase

Checklist: Documents application for admission to Qualification Phase

Supervision agreement

Application to the Ethics Committee

Instructions on writing the abstract

Doctorate statistic

Course

All doctoral candidates who are not participating in a doctoral program, a doctoral college or a graduate college are required to attend the course.

Documents: Course

Course “scientific work”

Doctoral studies

After admission to the qualification phase, enrolment as a doctoral student is possible. For doctoral students who have completed a university degree, the obligation to enrol for a two-semester doctoral program is based on Section 67 (5) HG. In our Q&A you can see from a chart whether you are affected by the enrolment requirement.

Documents: Doctoral studies

Q&A about the doctoral confirmation

Application confirmation of doctorate

Step 2: Choice of the Dissertation Form

Here you will find all the templates, sample pages and information on formal criteria necessary for writing the dissertation. You have the choice between two different dissertation forms, which are explained in more detail below.

Option 1: Monograph

In this case, the dissertation is written as a monograph. Below you will find information and templates for writing a monograph.

Documents: Monograph

Instructions on writing the Monograph

Sample pages 1 + 2

Structure of the Monograph

Option 2: Publication dissertation

In contrast to a monograph, this form of dissertation briefly describes previously published work in the light of the current state of knowledge. Instructions and templates for preparing a dissertation for publication can be found below.

Documents: Publication Dissertation

Instructions on writing the publication dissertation

Sample pages 1 + 2

Structure of the publication dissertation

Step 3: Application for the Admission to the Examination Phase

Once you have completed the dissertation and submitted the documents in full to the Dean's Office, the doctoral procedure will be initiated after examination. As soon as all reviews have been received, the dissertation is submitted to the doctoral committee. Once the dissertation has been approved by the doctoral committee, the oral examinations can be taken.

You will receive the final publication permit once the examination documents have been received. Once all the necessary documents have been submitted to the doctoral office, you will be able to receive your certificate at the next doctoral award ceremony.