Students must successfully complete the seminar courses and are expected to publish a minimum of two papers during their Ph.D. period. The Ph.D. thesis has to be written in English or German.
The Ph.D. (Dr.rer.nat.) will be granted either by the University of Göttingen or the Technical University of Braunschweig, according to their standard rules, after acceptance of the Ph.D. thesis by the thesis committee and a successful defense. On application, a student may compile the thesis in the Research School, but receive the Ph.D. from another university.
The thesis defense includes an oral presentation of the major results in form of a formal scientific lecture, followed by a scientific discussion with all attendants. After this public part the candidate will meet again with the doctoral committee for further discussions, particularly when critical issues remained unresolved during the public defense. These discussions may subject the broader area of the Research School. The doctoral committee decides whether the student has passed the thesis defense and grades the performance during the defense.