Good support
Good collaboration between doctoral candidates and their supervisors is essential for the successful completion of a doctorate. The Graduate School supports doctoral candidates and supervisors through a range of services.
In the context of cooperative doctorates, supervisors at the HM work together with another supervisor at a university to jointly supervise their doctoral candidates. In the interests of their doctoral candidates, this requires effective coordination both between the two supervisors and between the supervisors and the doctoral candidates. As a rule, this arrangement is set out in a supervision agreement issued by the partner university.
Find out more about the PhD programme at HM here.
Under the Bavarian Higher Education Innovation Act, universities of applied sciences (HAWs) may be granted limited autonomy to award doctoral degrees. Bavarian higher education institutions are currently working on implementing this provision.
The HM supports measures to ensure the quality of research work.
- Good Research Practice
Good research practice is one of the key factors in ensuring high-quality research. All members of the academic staff at HM are therefore required to attend a workshop on good research practice at the start of their employment.
In addition, HM has drawn up statutes to safeguard good research practice. Further information on good research practice can be found here .
- Plagiarism detection software
Plagiarism detection software is used at many universities. HM is currently trialling such software, which is due to be adopted as standard shortly.
- Recommendations on quality assurance for doctorates undertaken by doctoral candidates with an external employment contract
In the case of doctorates undertaken by individuals who have no, or only a minimal, employment relationship with HM or with an institution cooperating with it, integration into the university’s academic environment is generally less extensive and personal contact with the Supervisors is weaker. Furthermore, an external institution may play a role in the doctoral procedure: as an additional source of subject-matter or organisational advice, as a source of the data being analysed, or as the commissioning body for the doctoral topic. To address this specific situation, the Joint Steering Committee of the Doctoral Centres at HM, TH Nuremberg and OTH Regensburg drew up recommendations on quality assurance in October 2025.
- Golden Rules
The Graduate School has developed ‘Golden Rules’ to provide doctoral candidates and supervisors with a reliable set of best practices for the doctoral programme. These guidelines complement the supervision agreement and offer guidance by clearly setting out the roles, mutual expectations and associated responsibilities.
Internationalisation
Internationalisation is an important aspect of academic careers. Supervisors and doctoral candidates are supported in this regard through a range of initiatives.
Initiating support for international doctoral candidates
There are certain steps to be followed both when recruiting international doctoral candidates and when inviting international doctoral candidates to undertake research stays at HM. An overview of these is provided below.
This overview serves as a guide to the recruitment of international doctoral candidates. The term ‘international doctoral candidates’ is used here to refer to doctoral candidates who hold a foreign higher education entrance qualification and/or a foreign degree.
Once you have been successfully recruited, there are two options to choose from:
- 1. Doctorate programme at a Doctoral Research Center: The doctoral candidate registers with the relevant Doctoral Research Center
- 2. Cooperative doctorate: Finding a principal supervisor at a partner university and checking the admission requirements there; registering with the HM Graduate School and the partner university
(Please note that the chart is only available in German.)
This overview serves as a guide for arranging visits by international doctoral candidates to the HM.
(Please note that the chart is only available in German.)
Finding accommodation: The Graduate School is unable to assist with finding accommodation. The International Office provides a leaflet with tips on finding accommodation. Contact: International Office
Advice: The Graduate School provides advice to both supervisors and (international) doctoral candidates.
Dr Cordula Burtscher (International Affairs)
Dr Christiane Hamacher (PhD Centres, doctoral regulations)
Dr Marcus Müller-Ostermaier (Head)
Visas: Information is provided by the DAAD and the Federal Foreign Office.
Guest account and access card: Applications for a guest account and an access card should be made to the relevant Dept Administrative Office.
Allocation of training places
Hochschule München can offer employment contracts for research assistants (TVL E13), which are allocated to the departments on a fixed-term basis following a transparent procedure.
There are currently no active calls for applications.
Postdoctoral Programme
Even after they have completed their doctorate, you can offer your doctoral graduates career prospects. For example, as a postdoc.
Contact
You can find details of the contact persons at the HM Graduate School here .
Downloads
Statutes, regulations, laws
• Guidelines on Ensuring Good Academic Practice: Hochschule München – Good Academic Practice
• Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act: TzBfG – Act on Part-Time Work and Fixed-Term Employment Contracts
• Act on Fixed-Term Employment Contracts in Academia: WissZeitVG – Act on fixed-term employment contracts in academia