PhD Information
This wiki hopes to cover most information regarding the admin part about doing a PhD at IMK, however there are many other places that also supply information and some are listed here.
General Information for PhD Students
A nice overview about doing a doctorate at IMK(TRO) can be found here.
PhD Council and Representatives
We have now started a PhD Council at IMK with two representatives in charge of the contact with the group leaders. We are informally in charge of adding things to this wiki as well as other projects for improving PhD life at IMK. If you are interested in joining us or you have small or big ideas send us an email at imk-phd-council@lists.kit.edu!
We are aiming at organising a bi-annual PhD Assembly to improve our networking as well as an opportunity to voice any concerns. These will hopefully be in conjunction with the semester start and will be announced in the TRO Newsletter as well through the PhD emailing lists.
Business trips
Please see the page on business trips.
On-boarding Checklist
Registering as a PhD Student
The registration procedure can be quite complicated for a new PhD student, here is the information given on the latest PhD Induction day.
Further information can be found here:
- The official document about the "Promotionsordnung" (only in German)
Teaching
A nice intro to teaching at the IMK can be found here.
Essential Software
See the page on Software
Finishing your PhD and Defence
1. Discuss your draft of the dissertation with your supervisor and referees, and give them a comb- or glue-bound book form of the draft approx. 2-3 weeks before the submission date. Add a cover letter/write an e-mail with a summary of the important dates and deadlines (e.g., deadline for referee reviews [=submission date], date of exam).
2. Make necessary changes as proposed by the referees. Some referees ask for a second iteration. When you have done all changes, this version is your “vorgelegte” version for submission.
3. You need the following copies of your “vorgelegte” version of the dissertation:
- one copy for the Dean’s office: Hand in a hardcover/glue-bound version of your “vorgelegte” dissertation to the Dean’s office (on the submission date, 10 a.m. at the latest). Make sure that it says “vorgelegte Dissertation” and not “genehmigte Dissertation” on the title page of your dissertation too! The first is the version, which is graded, the latter is for final publishing after the exam (see below).
- Up to four/five copies for the examiners: Examiners who are referees in personal union might not need a copy of the “vorgelegte” version if they have already a printed book of the draft. You can provide them with a digital version of your dissertation with tracked changes. Moreover, some examiners who are not referees might not want a printed version to save paper.
- One copy for you.
4. After submission: When the Dean’s office has received the dissertation and the referee reviews, they will send you details about the exam (date and time, room, examiners) via “Hauspost” and by mail to your address which is given in your CV. Get in touch with your examiners who are not referees and agree on a date for a personal/digital meeting (approx. 30-60 min). Be prepared to present a summary of your work. The sooner, the better for your preparation time in the last days before the exam.
5. The Dean’s office also sends you an e-mail with the time for a short meeting with the Dean and the other examinees (PhD students). The Dean will explain the exam’s procedure and show you the rooms. Be prepared to present a 5-minute summary of your work.