FAQ

How do I approach a Dr. PH at Hannover Medical School?

Prepare a description of your project (maximum two pages) and discuss it with a university lecturer in public health research at the MHH. If you do not know a person in this field, please use the homepages of the Institutes, e.g. at the Center for Public Health Nursing. In consultation with this university lecturer, you should prepare an exposé of no more than two pages for the doctoral project (description of the thesis). This should include the topic, the objective, the planned investigations and the expected new scientific findings and name the chosen supervisor and a second supervisor.

Please be sure to state the type of doctoral title of your two supervisors as part of your description of the work (so-called dissertation announcement). Experience has shown that this is not always quickly apparent and can lead to considerable delays in the registration process.

If you have any questions, you can also contact the student representative of the doctoral committee, who is currently Ms. Sophia Sgraja.

 

If I am working on an external dissertation, do I also need a supervisor from the MHH?

You need at least one supervisor at the MHH for the Dr. PH. Please refer to the current doctoral degree regulations, §5, number (4).

 

I have found supervisors and submitted a dissertation announcement to the doctoral office. What happens now?

Your dissertation announcement will be formally reviewed by the doctoral committee. It will be checked for coherence and feasibility, formal degrees of the applicants and the location of your dissertation within academic structures. Once your project has been accepted, you will receive all the necessary documents for enrolment at the university from the MHH's Doctoral Studies Office.

 

I have received a study booklet from the Doctoral Studies Office. What is it all about?

The study booklet is used to document all evidence of supervision and curricular achievements that arise during the course of the doctoral project in accordance with §6, number (2), sentence 2. This includes proof of participation in:

  • 12 lectures relevant to public health within the institute or across institutes,
  • 2 public health-relevant seminars at the Center for Public Health Nursing at the MHH or comparable Facilities or Institutions,
  • 10 appointments in the doctoral colloquium of the Center for Public Health Nursing of the MHH and
  • one or more soft skills courses totaling at least 20 hours.

As a rule, the courses should be attended at the MHH.

 

If I have my dissertation publication printed, does the printing have to be single-sided or can I have it printed double-sided?

You are welcome to have your thesis printed double-sided. This saves you money, the environment paper and the doctoral office and library space.

 

When I submit my dissertation (doctoral application), do I have to send everything together or can I submit documents later?

Please submit everything together. Subsequent submissions are only possible in justified exceptional cases.

 

I have submitted the complete doctoral application to the doctoral office. What happens next?

The completeness of the documents will be checked by the doctoral office and forwarded to the doctoral committee. The committee appoints a person for a third opinion, which complements the perspectives of the first and second opinions. In addition, a member of the committee is appointed to chair the disputation/defense. Three steps now follow:

  • Assessment: the supervisors or assessors write an assessment and award a grade. You will be informed by the doctoral office when all reviews are available and who the third reviewer and chairperson are. Together with these four people, you will now look for a date for the disputation/defense.
  • Disputation (defense): In the defense, you present your doctoral project in a 30-minute presentation. This is followed by questions from the assessors and, if necessary, from the audience. The examiners then determine a grade for the oral examination.
  • Determining the overall grade: The examination committee is given an insight into the reviews and assessments of the written and oral performance and determines the overall grade for the doctoral project. This will be communicated to the doctoral candidate by the doctoral office.

 

By when do I have to be enrolled?

In principle, doctoral candidates must be enrolled for the entire duration of the doctoral project - this also applies explicitly to the waiting period between submission of the doctoral application and defense of the thesis. Regular de-registration is carried out by the MHH.

 

When is the doctoral project complete and what must take place after the overall grade has been communicated?

According to the examination regulations §13 - Publication, the dissertation must be made available to the scientific community. This must be done no later than one year after the oral examination by submitting the final dissertation in digital form as well as five printed copies to the MHH University Library, otherwise the examination achievement will expire.