There are no fixed dates. You can hand in your 'Application for Admission as a doctoral candidate' at the Faculty's Doctoral Office any time. You must do this at the start of your doctoral research project. Especially if you have a master's degree from an institution outside Germany, start the application procedure as soon as possible. Please send the form to the GSGS manager to have it co-signed (gradschool-geosciuni-koeln.de) and be registered as a GSGS member. First read the comprehensive information by the Doctoral Office on the doctoral procedure.

Yes, as soon as you have been admitted as a doctoral candidate by the doctoral office you need to register as a doctoral student for the duration of you doctoral studies and pay the semester fees. Should you want or need to have a break in your doctoral studies (e.g. maternity or parental leave, care duties), it is advisable to apply for an official interruption of your registration as a doctoral candidate.

You can apply for reimbursement. Please consult https://www.asta.uni-koeln.de/?tab=angebote-tt-haertefallauschuss#angebote Towards the bottom is: Download (English Version): Application for refund of the contribution for the semester ticket and the NRW-Ticket (English Version)

You have to be registered and enrolled as a doctoral student at the registrar's office (Studierendensekretariat) for the entire period of your doctoral studies.

Send an e-mail to gradschool-geosciuni-koeln.de and ask to be added to the mailing list. Please state your affiliation (Institute, working group), status (Master's student, doctoral candidate, staff member) and start date.

Are you a GSGS alumna or alumnus and would you like to receive GSGS Alumni News about twice a year, please register your request through https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/gsgs-alumni or send an email to gradschool-geosci [at] uni-koeln.de

We aim to give new members restricted ("newbie") access to the GSGS wiki pages within a few weeks after their registration in the GSGS.

Both you an any external mentors will gain full access soon after you have submitted your Supervision Agreement.

For any issues with wiki access, please contact our student assistant via gsgs-adminuni-koeln.de

The TAC Status Report is a single document for each of you, that will accompany you throughout their doctoral phase. It replaces multiple TAC/DC Feedback Forms collected every nine months. The aim is to have a better overview of your personal development and that of your doctoral project, both for yourself and for your TAC members. Look here for further details.

It is important that everyone use Adobe Acrobat Pro (available for employees free of charge through the RRZK) OR Adobe Reader DC (for Windows / iOS / Linux) to complete the form. Linux users please note that the form is not compatible with Okular.

It is available in the Downloads section. There, you can also find a completed example for a fictitious person.

We advise to start updating your TAC Status Report about 1 months before your next TAC meeting. Based on the start date of your doctoral project, the TAC Status Report automatically lists the target dates for your first, second, etc. TAC meeting 6, 15, 24, 33, etc months later in Section 1.3. You can find details of the process in the Reporting and TAC Meetings section of the GSGS website.

You can find the presentation in the wiki (access for members only)

If your next TAC meeting will be the last TAC before you will submit your thesis, you can use an 'old' TAC Feedback Form.

1. To comply with the doctoral regulations (and countersign your application for admission to the doctoral examinations), the GSGS needs to receive a confirmation, that you and your TAC "have agreed upon the form and contents of the thesis" (Promotionsordnung §7 (6); Doctoral Regulations §7 (6)). Therefore, a corresponding statement must be entered in the comments section on page 2.
2. You should meet with at least one TAC member other than your advisor (without the advisor present). This member should confirm that the meeting took place (and give the meeting date) in the comments section on page 2.

Yes, all GSGS PhD students need to write a Research Plan. Send it to your TAC members at least two weeks before your first TAC meeting; this meeting is due 6 months after the start of your project. Upload it to Docfile (G membership record) within 7 months after your project start. You can find guidelines for writing your Research Plan in the downloads section.

It depends on your TAC if they want you to supply a written Progress Report. If so, they will let you know in the previous TAC meeting (see Section 2.5 of the TAC Status Report). You will need to send it to them at least two weeks before the TAC meeting. Besides, your TAC can ask you to give an oral Progress Report. You can find guidelines for writing a Progress Report in the downloads section.

Yes, all GSGS PhD students need to make a time schedule and send it to their TAC members at least two weeks before their first TAC meeting; this meeting is due 6 months after the start of the doctoral project. Upload it to Docfile (G membership record) after the TAC meeting and within 7 months after your project start.

An updated Time Schedule must be submitted to the TAC two weeks before each subsequent TAC meeting and uploaded in Docfile after the meeting.

If you have been absent for a longer period (> 6 weeks), e.g. due to illness, or if you know that you will be going on maternity leave or parental leave, first please contact your TAC. If everyone agrees that you need a new "target date" for your next TAC meetings (see Section 1.3 of the TAC Status Report), contact the GSGS office. We can change the target date and return your "living" TAC Status Report with the new dates to all.

 Members who reported their external activities to the GSGS before March 2023 (using an Activities Form or Activity Report) can apply to receive a GSGS certificate containing these activities (and future external activities) when they graduate. To apply, they must send a short e-mail "Certificate with external activities" to gradschool-geosciuni-koeln.de by 30^th April, 2023.
They can continue sending Activity Reports (e.g. annually or shortly before their thesis defence) and disregard the entry/calculation of GSGS points.

So far, having earned enough GSGS (5 per semester) was a prerequisite for your eligibility for a Training and Networking Grant. With their abolition, GSGS points obviously no longer "count" in this respect.

Instead, your reporting status will determine your eligibility for a Training and Networking Grant. We will provide further details here as soon as possible.

For longer periods of absence during which you are not working towards your doctorate, you have to contact the Doctoral Office and apply for and Interruption of Doctorate (Promotionsunterbrechung).

Also let the GSGS office know from when you will be away (e.g. copy us in to your message to the doctoral office). Your membership will be put "on hold" for the time of your absence. Further arrangements are made unbureaucratically. Please also see the related question in the Section "Reporting and TAC Feedback".

Please contact the GSGS office. We will make arrangements as unbureaucratically as possible; a medical certificate is helpful. All information will be treated confidentially.
Please also see the requestion in the Section "Reporting and TAC Feedback".

For reasons other than parental leave or illness you can apply to have your GSGS membership put "on hold" for a minimum of 4 months. During your entire GSGS membership, you can apply for up to 12 months of "on hold" time (excluding such time for parental / sickness leave). The decision on whether or not to grant a temporary membership break lies with the GSGS Steering Committee. To apply, send an email to the GSGS manager at least 2 months before the start of the envisaged break period including: start date, end date, the reason for wanting to put your membership on hold.

Seek help! Talk to your advisor, another Thesis Advisory Committee member or someone else in your working group. Most people have an open ear to your issues.
 

Make sure that you do not keep your issues or problems to yourself. Talking about issues is a first step towards a solution.

There are several options across the GSGS and the University from which you may choose according to your preferences. Your issues will be treated confidentially.

Consider approaching:

- a mentor or another person in your institute you can trust;
- the GSGS coordinator;
- a member of the GSGS Steering Committee;
- the ombudsperson of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences:  Prof’. Dr. Stefanie Walch-Gassner
- Another UoC ombudsperson or someone at the Albertus Magnus Center for early career researchers: https://portal.uni-koeln.de/en/albertus-magnus-center/promovierende/allgemeine-informationen/doctoral-candidates/help-and-support-in-case-of-problems-and-conflicts

You can find some further information at the pages of the Faculty: https://mathnat.uni-koeln.de/en/support-in-case-of-problems

A1:
If your TAC is still "complete" (according to GSGS guidelines), the committee can function without the absent member. In this case the TAC member who is going on leave is kindly asked to inform the GSGS office of their absence, stating the (estimated) time of absence and copy you and the other TAC members in, so that everyone is informed.

A2:
If your TAC is not complete without this member and the absence is shorter than 6 months, meetings / reporting can likely be arrange around the absence. In this case, the TAC member who is going on leave is kindly asked to inform the GSGS office of their absence, stating the planned re-scheduling of meetings or report deadlines. He or she should copy you and the other TAC member(s) in, so that everyone is informed. If re-scheduling is not possible, see A3.

A3:
If your TAC is not complete without this member and the absence is longer than 6 months or "rescheduling" (as in A2) is not possible, a temporary replacement must be found for the absent TAC member. Your principle supervisor (advisor) is asked to inform the GSGS office of the change in your TAC and copy in everyone involved.

This is not a problem. During the submission progress you have to quote the final title of your thesis. The doctoral office will than update the title appropriate, also in Docfile and other systems.

It is best to discuss with your advisor first. They may have a strong opinion about who should chair. The chairperson should be someone from a different subject or a different institute than your (and your advisor’s) subject. It is common to get someone from one of the Geosciences, but in some cases a chairperson from another department could be a good option. 
Within Geosciences, you can find all professors through the links in the "Overview of all working groups in the Department" on https://geosciences.uni-koeln.de/en/  (or through the pages of the three Institutes at the top). 
You should definitely talk or write to the person and get their go-ahead before entering their name on the form.