Curriculum

Here you will find information on the curricula for the Standard Track (Dr. med., Dr. med. dent., Dr. rer. medic.) and Advanced Track (PhD, MD/PhD).

Courses in the Doctorate Environment

In the Doctorate Environment, you will find the Course portfolio for a scientific and interdisciplinary education, which must be completed parallel to the dissertation.

If you are pursuing your doctorate within a structured doctoral program, then you will obtain the required ECTS credit points within the curriculum of the relevant program. Please turn to the contact person of the program.

If you are pursuing your doctorate by way of a classical individual doctorate, you may - within certain limits - put together an individual curriculum in consultation with your supervisors.

The following notes are relevant to doctoral candidates pursuing an individual doctorate.

Courses for doctoral students

The courses offered within the scope of the Doctorate Environment include on the one hand specialist, interdisciplinary and methodological contents. On the other hand, courses on interdisciplinary key qualifications are also included, such as:

Statistics and data
Study concepts
Literature research
Working with literature and original papers
Citing techniques
Critical reading of articles
Communication and presentation in science
General abilities in research management and science management
Language skills; for example, technical English

The contents of the Doctorate Environment can be offered in different formats: These may include seminars, lectures, colloquiums or workshops.

The doctoral candidates must put together a selection of contents, in consultation with their supervisor and taking into consideration the provisions of the Doctoral Degree Regulations and the implementation regulations according to their own and project-related requirements. All parties should make sure that skills and abilities are obtained in a logical order.

Note to lecturers

Any courses (e. g. lectures, seminars, workshops etc.) offered for doctoral students can be recognized as part of the mandatory teaching component of the Habilitation process (post-doctoral degree required to qualify for a professorship) or the process involved in qualifying for an Extraordinary Professorship (professorship without a chair).

Should this be of interest, please contact the Coordination Office. Members of the team will be happy to provide you with information and advice. They will also be able to issue the necessary attestations.

Course schedule and timetable

To register a doctoral project aiming at a PhD or MD/PhD degree, the doctoral candidates must enter the selected contents in a course schedule plus timetable.

The timetable should cover six semesters. This timetable may also only include the course categories, for instance "Methodology" as well as the relevant meaningful designations such as "Scientific writing".

The course schedule can be changed at any time if the supervisors agree. Doctoral candidates pursuing a PhD or MD/PhD degree, must submit the timetable together with other documents when registering their doctoral project.

On the Standard Track, you must obtain 5 ECTS credit points before applying for initiation of the doctoral examination procedure.

On the Advanced Track, you must obtain 30 ECTS credit points before applying for initiation of the doctoral examination procedure.

Course categories

Communication
For example on scientific communication, technical (foreign) languages, presentation techniques, self-presentation, rhetoric skills, body language and expression, listening skills, question and answer techniques, group dynamics
Methodology
For example on good scientific practice, ethics in science and medicine, preparing a thesis, analysing, evaluating scientific papers, scientific writing, literature search
Organisation
For example on self-management, time management, project management, teamwork, information and knowledge management, knowledge management, personnel responsibility, conflict management, negotiation management
Further scientific training
For example including attending lecture series and attendance of scientific congresses – in general active participation with own contributions
Expertise
For example on the teaching of specialist knowledge in the area of life sciences, data and statistics
Specialist skills and knowledge
For example on device operation training, laboratory animal science

Curricula

When you put together your individual curriculum, please keep in mind the following guidelines:

Curriculum Standard Track

	Basic curriculum	Elective area I	Elective area II (Further Scientific Training)
Contents	Good scientific practice Statistics and data Different study models Literature research Critical reading of articles General use of literature and original papers Citing techniques	Freely selectable from the courses in the above specified categories.	For example: attendance of congresses, lecture series and external courses
ECTS credit points	min. 1	min. 1	max. 1 (Please note: ECTS CP obtained by attending congresses, lecture series and external courses can also be credited in Elective Area I)

Basic curriculum

Elective area I

Elective area II

(Further Scientific Training)

Contents

Good scientific practice
Statistics and data
Different study models
Literature research
Critical reading of articles
General use of literature and original papers
Citing techniques

Freely selectable from the courses in the above specified categories.

For example: attendance of congresses, lecture series and external courses

ECTS credit points

min. 1

max. 1 (Please note: ECTS CP obtained by attending congresses, lecture series and external courses can also be credited in Elective Area I)

Curriculum Advanced Track

	Basic curriculum	Research methodology	Further scientific training / Science communication	Personal skills and interdisciplinary courses
Contents	Good scientific practice Statistics and data Different study modells Literature research Critical reading of articles General use of literature and original papers Citing techniques	Expansion of topic-specific knowledge and acquisition of skills required for research work	Attendance of: Congresses, lecture series, presentations Science communication: Regular participation in a colloquium for doctoral candidates and participation in min. 1 symposium including the presentation of your own work	e.g. Leadership, time management, project management, journal clubs
ECTS credit points	min. 5	min. 5	min. 2 of which min. 1 from the area of science communication max. 5	max. 5
Additional provisions	A minimum of 5 ECTS credit points should be obtained during the first year after registration.	Min. 3 ECTS credit points should be obtained during the first year after registration.	ECTS credit points obtained for the presentation of your doctoral project can be credited once in this section (1 credit point). Further presentations can be credited in the sections "research methodology" and "personal skills".

You may deviate from the curricular guidelines as long as the total amount of 5 or 30 ECTS CP respectively is not affected.

Recognition of ECTS credit points when switching between tracks

If you switch between the tracks, any already obtained ECTS credit points will be recognised to the extent that the requirements for the relevant target curriculum are met; i.e. with regard to:

Minimum number and maximum number of points
Distribution over the elective areas of the relevant curriculum
Additional provisions with regard to comparability with courses of the Doctorate Environment

In the event of any further questions, please contact the Coordination Office of the Doctorate Environment.

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