The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Münster confers the following academic degrees:
Contact persons in the Office of Doctoral Studies of the Faculty of Medicine
The doctoral regulations, implementing provisions, and study regulations can be found here (in German)
Seminars and Information Events
Rules and Regulations
Useful Links
Registration and enrolment in the doctoral programme must take place before commencing the PhD project. The following steps must be followed in sequence:
All new doctoral candidates at the Medical Faculty are required to register their PhD project (i.e., secure a project topic with their supervisor) immediately upon starting their doctoral studies.
To register, two documents must be completed and submitted:
Both documents must be fully completed, signed, and submitted to the Doctoral Office either:
Note: Submission of the registration documents does not automatically confirm eligibility for the PhD programme. For detailed requirements, please refer to the Doctoral Regulations.
The earliest possible date for submitting the thesis for examination is one year after the registration date (stamp date from the Doctoral Office).
Since 19 December 2022, all doctoral candidates must enrol in the doctoral programme for the duration of their studies.
To enrol, you must:
Important: Enrolment is mandatory, even if you are already matriculated at the university for another programme.
When submitting your dissertation, please ensure you include the following documents and follow these guidelines: (in German)
Transition Regulations for Candidates Following the Expired 2008/2014 Regulations
(If you are completing your PhD under the expired 2008/2014 regulations, please use the following documents instead)
These provisions apply in accordance with the Medical Faculty Doctoral Regulations (2017) [for Dr. med.] or the Doctor of Medical Research Regulations (2008) [for Dr. rer. medic.]
From submission of the dissertation until it is accepted as a valid examination performance and permitted for the oral exams, up to six months may elapse. After successful completion of the oral exams and submission of the required copies by the doctoral candidate, the degree certificate (or its certified and sealed copy) will typically be issued within one to two weeks.
The right to bear the doctoral title is granted only upon receipt of the degree certificate (or its certified and sealed copy). See §16(1) of the Medical Faculty Doctoral Regulations (2017).
For further details, refer to §7 of the Doctoral Regulations (2017)
(1) For Dr. rer. medic. candidates, publication rules are detailed in §4(10) of the regulations.
(2) If opting for the "Publication Instead of Dissertation" pathway (§6(4)), the following conditions apply:
Publication Requirements: The manuscript must be: Published in a journal indexed in Web of Science or PubMed; Subject to a peer-review process
Authorship Rules: Co-first authorship (two first authors) is permitted
Accompanying Scholarly Supplement: A 10–15 page supplementary document is required that: Places the work in its scientific context; Clearly outlines the candidate's individual contribution, particularly in cases of shared first authorship
(3) "Summa cum laude" Assessment: Additional criteria for the highest distinction are outlined in the "Evaluation Criteria for Theses" (Appendix to the Implementing Regulations) on the last page.
According to Article § 4 (8) of the PhD Regulations of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Münster:
For applicants who have completed a medical or dental examination at an internationally recognised medical training institution abroad, evidence must be provided that they have studied for the period required in Germany for admission to the medical or dental examination and have passed an equivalent final examination to that of a German university, or hold a licence to practise medicine/dentistry in Germany. The equivalence will be assessed by the doctoral committee, taking into account the evaluations of the Central Office for Foreign Education.
Students are required to give two scholarly presentations based on their own research. These should be announced (e.g. by posting a notice) and are usually evaluated by the members of the dissertation committee. Please note that presentations delivered within the framework of taught modules do NOT meet the requirements of Section 8 (3).
'University‑public’ refers specifically to the University of Münster. Only presentations delivered in venues belonging to the University of Münster are recognised. In practice, these are the institutes or clinics to which the members of the dissertation committee are attached.
The official one, which is sent directly to the dean’s office; please indicate “PhD” in the subject line.
The forms, together with further information about submitting the required copies to the university library, are handed out by the dean’s office along with the examination documents.
Each dissertation is reviewed by the doctoral committee for correct formal presentation. "Craft-related" errors, such as formatting and content issues in the bibliography, are a common reason for the revision of a dissertation.
The following requirements apply:
a. Examples of journal articles:
All author names must be listed. Only in cases of very long author lists with more than 20 names may the abbreviation et al. be used:
b. Example of a monograph:
c. Example of a book chapter:
d. Online documents:
Important note: Do not blindly rely on your reference management software. These tools are far from error-free. "Manual" verification is essential.
Internet sources: Internet sources should generally be treated with extreme caution, as they are often no longer active and frequently do not meet scientific standards (peer review). Apart from online journals, they should be an absolute exception. The citation must include the date of access.
The citations must be current and always include at least the year prior to submission. For example, in a dissertation submitted in 2018, citations from 2016/17—and ideally from 2018—should be present. If they are missing, this indicates that the dissertation does not discuss its findings in the context of current knowledge. This, however, is a key requirement for a dissertation, regardless of how long ago the data collection took place.
Number and type of citations: In most cases, approximately 100 citations will be sufficient. It is better to select one truly relevant citation than to uncritically include five. Primary sources (original articles) should be prioritised for supporting your statements. Secondary sources (review articles) may be used in the introduction, if necessary. Tertiary sources (textbooks) should generally not be cited, as they are not typically found in scientific articles either.
Always consult with your mentors and consider participating in the "Scientific Work" introductory seminar offered by the Servicepoint Wissenschaft für Studierende (SerWiS) before compiling your bibliography.
