Cotutelle

Binational / cross-border doctoral procedures (so-called "cotutelle procedure")

In bi- or multinational doctoral procedures ("cotutelle"), the doctoral candidate acquires a doctoral degree awarded jointly by the University of Wuppertal and one or more foreign universities in different countries, and not, as is sometimes misunderstood, several doctoral degrees.

Upon successful completion of the doctorate, the doctoral candidate receives certificates from all participating universities, each of which contains a reference to the bi- or multinational doctoral procedure. The title may then be used in either one or the other national form.

Supervisors or doctoral candidates should ideally indicate when registering a doctoral project if a binational doctorate is intended. However, it is also possible to convert an ongoing project.

For each cotutelle procedure, an individual cooperation agreement must be concluded on the basis of the respective doctoral regulations of the University of Wuppertal and the applicable legal regulations at the foreign university or universities involved, in which special regulations are defined exclusively for this one doctoral procedure.

Framework agreements are suitable if two or more university partners are planning to work together in the longer term and carry out cotutelle procedures. Framework agreements can regulate general standards for the procedure, but do not replace the contractual agreement for the respective doctoral procedure.

The corresponding cooperation agreements are signed on the Wuppertal side by the academic supervisor, the dean and the rector. In accordance with the provisions of the applicable doctoral degree regulations, the approval of the Faculty Council must generally be obtained in advance.

At the University of Wuppertal, the International Centre is responsible for coordinating the drafting, approval and signing of the agreement. With the involvement of the academic supervisor and the relevant doctoral committee, the draft contract is sent to the relevant office at the partner university, which in turn reflects back any desired changes. This process is repeated until all participating universities have agreed on the entire content of the contract. In particular, the structure of the oral examination and the composition of the "Defence Committee" should be precisely regulated, as coordination difficulties are particularly common in this phase of the procedure.

Concluding a cotutelle agreement can take a long time, depending on the partner university and country-specific regulations. Therefore, all parties involved in the project must be involved in good time (at least six months before registering for the doctoral examination).

The International Centre offers information and advice on the university's own framework conditions, procedures and funding opportunities for binationally supervised doctorates.

Further information can be found on the pages of the HRK and the pages of the DFH pages.

International doctoral candidates or those interested in doing a doctorate can obtain information and advice on doing a doctorate at the University of Wuppertal from the Centre for Graduate Studies.