The supervision agreement is created during registration in DocGS and should be discussed thoroughly with supervisors and mentors before submission to the GCMH. Membership is free of charge for all doctoral candidates. The dissertation can only be submitted at the end of the two-year membership.

If you are a member of another Graduate Center, please add the corresponding signed supervision agreement to the other documents to be submitted.

Involvement in the academic environment of TUM can be demonstrated by being a member of a research group at TUM, the TUM University Hospital or a public academic research institution recognized by the GCMH.

If this is not the case, but you still have a workplace, e.g. at the MRI, and work there regularly, this still counts as active participation.

If your workplace is not located at the TUM, the TUM University Hospital or a public academic research institution recognized by the GCMH and your supervisor is not located at one of the aforementioned institutions in Munich; your supervisor must be an appointed professor at the TUM School of Medicine and Health. In this case, in addition to the application documents, you must submit the appendix to the project plan at the beginning of your doctorate. Finally, at the end of your doctorate, you must provide evidence of your involvement by submitting a self-report.

This 3-day seminar should take place within the first six months of your doctoral project and prepares you optimally for the upcoming scientific work and also enables you to expand your personal network. 

The kick-off seminar is organized directly by the TUM GS. Further information, including current registration deadlines, can be found here. 

Please note: To register, you must be a (provisional) member of the TUM GS.

This 2-hour seminar, which is regularly offered by the GCMH, can be booked via your DocGS account under the menu item Interdisciplinary Qualification Program & Kick-off Seminar. 

Participation is mandatory for all doctoral students who have registered at the TUM School of Medicine and Health since 01.01.2017. 

Please note: The introduction to good scientific practice included in the kick-off seminar cannot be recognized as this qualification element.

The first feedback meeting takes place no later than six to twelve months after joining the TUM-GS. There will be at least one more during the course of the doctorate. The feedback meetings are organized by the doctoral candidate, if necessary with the support of a mentor. All supervisors and mentors take part in the feedback meetings together with the doctoral candidate.

Prior to the interview, the doctoral candidate prepares a written progress report (3-5 pages) for the participants of the interview. This should contain the following elements: Scientific context, aims of the project, results, discussions/conclusions and a summary with a timeline and the steps and work that are planned. A template can be found here (link to the documents).

During the interview, the doctoral candidate presents the results of the work to the participants of the feedback meeting in a 20-minute presentation. Results achieved, but also problems encountered, should be discussed. Based on the progress report and the presentation, the planned experiments and results should be compared with the actual progress to date and the reasons for deviations identified and discussed.

As a result, the participants of the feedback meeting, in consultation with the doctoral candidate, formulate their recommendations and report them to the GCMH. Both the progress report and the report of the feedback meeting (template here (link to documents)) are submitted to the GCMH online via the DocGS page.

In addition, an updated supervision agreement should be uploaded if there have been changes compared to the first supervision agreement. This document is signed by supervisors, mentors and doctoral candidates and also uploaded online on the corresponding DocGS page.

The first feedback meeting focuses on the overall concept of the doctoral thesis and discusses the work plan based on the first available results. In the final feedback meeting, the final work plan and timetable to complete the project should be discussed and approved (taking into account the writing of a publication and the dissertation as well as proofreading). Ideally, a brief discussion about the doctoral candidate's future career plans should also be included.

In the course of the doctorate, the project must be presented to the international community through a publication in a peer-reviewed journal (usually as first author) or through an accepted contribution as first author at an international peer-reviewed conference.

According to the definition of the TUM GS and the GCMH, this means that the international conference takes place abroad, is held in English and was organized by international/foreign specialist societies. At least two of the above criteria must be met.

For the publication of a paper, it is sufficient for the Dr. med./Dr. med. dent. if you are a co-author. For an international conference, you must be the first author.

The following evidence is required for the recognition of a publication:

• Paper
• Confirmation of acceptance 
• Proof of peer review 
• In the case of co-authorship, a bullet-point list of own contribution

The following documents are required for the recognition of a publication:

• Poster/presentation
• Confirmation of acceptance 
• Confirmation of participation
• Proof of the peer review process

All courses to be credited must be relevant to the subject of the respective dissertation and can be attended for the entire duration of the doctoral project. The subject-specific courses are neither offered specifically by the School of Medicine and Health nor listed centrally. The specialist courses must be compiled by the doctoral students and their supervisors themselves and submitted to the GCMH for recognition via DocGS. If you have any questions about the recognition of an event, please send us detailed information about the event (program, flyer, etc.) by e-mail to gcmh.mh@tum.de.

Examples of frequently recognized forms of events:

• Summer/winter schools
• Methods courses, workshops
• Doctoral seminars, journal clubs, tumor boards, lab meetings*
• Online events, if they have an interactive character, i.e. live exchange between speakers and participants

Since August 2020, conferences / meetings / scientific symposia have been recognized as professional qualification:

• up to a maximum of 2 SWS (= 21 hours) during the entire doctoral period
• The supervisor confirms the importance of the event for the corresponding research focus
• The doctoral candidate provides evidence of the hours spent attending the event

The following and similar events cannot be credited:

• Internship
• Offerings of virtual universities, webinars, etc. without an international character
• Soft skills courses (may be credited as interdisciplinary courses)

*Crediting via running sheet, provided with date, times, subject, place and name, and with signature of supervisor/organizer