Guidelines for the Doctorate at KIT

The ▶ Guidelines for the Doctorate at KIT summarize the regulatory frameworks relevant to the doctorate and are intended to give orientation for both doctoral researchers and their supervisors. The guidelines were developed in a participatory process involving all relevant stakeholder groups at KIT (including KHYS Steering Committee, boards of the conventions of doctoral researchers, deans’ circle, Ombudsperson for safeguarding good research practice, service unit Higher Education Law and Academic Affairs (DE HAA), Staff Council, Executive Board, KIT Senate) and adopted by the Executive Board.

The guidelines take into account in particular the German Research Foundation’s Code of Conduct (DFG Code) implemented in the KIT Statutes for Safeguarding Good Research Practice, the Doctoral Guidelines of the Helmholtz Association, and the KIT 2025 Strategy.

The ▶ Guidelines for the Doctorate at KIT apply to all doctoral researchers of KIT, irrespective of their discipline, funding, and the place of their research work. They reflect the responsibility KIT assumes for its doctoral researchers.

The aims of the guidelines are to:

• provide transparency and orietation
• bring about a common understanding of definitions and responsibilities
• present essential elements of the stages of a doctorate and relevant regulatory frameworks
• convey awareness of mutual responsibility of doctoral researchers and supervisors
• show basic elements for successfully shaping the doctoral phase
• prevent conflicts