Good Supervision

KIT attaches great importance to the supervision of young scientists. To support you in this, we have compiled the following information for you:

The doctoral agreement is designed to establish a transparent relationship between the doctoral candidate and the doctoral advisor with respect to contents and time. It is therefore important that advisors and doctoral researchers jointly discuss the contents of the doctoral agreement. In this way, common understanding of mutual expectations relating to the doctoral project is ensured. At regular intervals, the contents of the doctoral agreement shall be reviewed and updated.

KIT provides a template of a doctoral agreement. Please note that you can access these pages only within the KIT network.

Registration for Doctoral Researchers with a Doctoral Examination at KIT:

The document templates for the doctoral agreement and the handout are available on the ▶ website of DE Higher Education Law and Academic Affairs (HAA).

Note: Some departments have adopted own doctoral regulations. Please note the information given on the webpage of your department or contact the responsible persons directly.

Registration for Doctoral Researchers with a Doctoral Examination at Another University:

The document templates of the written agreement between the supervisor at KIT and the doctoral candidates who have their research focus at KIT but take their doctoral examination at another university are available on the ▶ KHYS website (Formal Steps - Step 1).

Systematic PhD quality assurance has a long tradition at KIT. Since 2010, KHYS, for example, has been conducting surveys among KIT’s doctoral researchers to assess the quality of supervision and derive quality-improving measures from the results obtained. [▶ more]

The ▶ Guidelines for the Doctorate at KIT  summarize the regulatory frameworks relevant to the doctorate and are intended to give orientation for both doctoral researchers and their supervisors. [▶ more]

The ▶ Guidelines for the Postdoc Phase at KIT help establish transparency and reliability for postdoctoral researchers and their superiors during a qualification phase important for their career. They consist of guiding principles for both parties and outline the framework conditions during the postdoctoral phase at KIT. [▶ more]

The KIT Senate has issued by-laws to implement scientific integrity at KIT. For your guidance an english translation can be found in the ▶ Statutes for Safeguarding Good Research Practice. The rules are based on a longtime practice of the precursory institutions of the KIT, the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe and the University of Karlsruhe, and on  standards of quality assurance.

Compliance with the rules of good research practice is indispensable for all scientists. The ▶ Ombudspersons for Safeguarding Good Research Practice, as persons of trust, advise those who inform them about suspected scientific misconduct by others. On the other hand, those suspected of misconduct can also contact the responsible Ombudsperson.

Furthermore, the ▶ German Research Ombudsman appointed by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; DFG) is available to all scientists for advice and support on questions of good research practice and its violation via scientific dishonesty.

The Ombudspersons act as contact persons in cases of conflicts or disputes between doctoral researchers and supervisors during the doctoral research phase. [▶ more]