Hand that signs a supervision agreement

Supervision Agreement

How do I get a supervision agreement? What should it contain?
Hand that signs a supervision agreement
Image: Jan-Peter Kasper (University of Jena)

With the supervision agreement, the relationship between doctoral candidates and supervisors can be arranged transparently for both sides in terms of topic and time. It is prerequisite for the admission as a doctoral candidate at a faculty of FSU.

  • Who can be a supervisor?

    Possible supervisors of the dissertation project may be:

    • Professors
    • private lecturers ("Privatdozent:innen")
    • junior research group leaders ("Nachwuchsgruppenleiter:innen"), if their scientific qualification has been confirmed by an external evaluation procedure.

    One of your supervisors must be a member of the faculty at which you are about to carry out your project. Exceptions are possible, however, only when the faculty's council grants its approval.

  • What does a supervision agreement have to contain compulsory?
    • name of the doctoral candidate
    • working title of the dissertation project
    • name of at least one supervisor
    • a statement from the supervisor(s) agreeing to receive progress reports on the ongoing project from the doctoral candidate on a regular basis
    • a statement from the doctoral candidate agreeing to provide progress reports for the supervisor(s) on a regular basis
    • planned type of dissertation project (cumulative/monograph)
    • if applicable: information about cooperation with other research institutions (e.g. universities of applied sciences, non-university research institutes, industry)
    • if applicable: participation in a doctoral programme (e.g. Graduate School, Research Training Group)
  • What may a supervision agreement contain additionally?
    • additional information on the dissertation project, e.g. if it will be written in English
    • project plan
    • other rights and responsibilities of the doctoral candidate, e.g. teaching, participation in qualification programmes or faculty's events
    • other rights and responsibilities of the supervisor(s)
    • regulations on working conditions (workplace, Internet access, laboratory access, and other resources)
  • Sample Supervision Agreements

    The Graduate Academy offers a sample agreement based on the guidelines of DFGpdf, 41 kb · de (in German):

    GA Sample Supervision Agreementdocx, 56 kb · de

    Most faculties offer sample agreements as guidelines on their websites:

     

Image: istockphoto.com
Doctoral candidate talking with her supervisor
Good supervision during the doctorate
Information for doctoral candidates and professors of Jena University