All doctoral candidates accepted for doctoral studies at the University of Hohenheim are members of the
graduate council at the University of Hohenheim. It represents the interests of all doctoral students at the University of Hohenheim and deals with. Find out more.

Some representatives are elected by all students in general elections. These are:

• The Senate Representatives
• The Representatives in the faculty Council

Others are elected during the general assembly of the graduate council. These are:

• Graduate Council Board
• Representatives in Committees

The Graduate Council Board will write an e-mail to all PhD students when positions open. Additionally, you could always contact the Graduate Council Board if you e.g. want to organize an event (e.g. a PhD Lunch) or approach a university institution on a certain issue. The Proko Board can advise you on how to best achieve your goals and give support.

Of course! The Graduate Council is the community of all PhD students and the more people are involved the more vibrant and energetic it becomes. Whether you want to organize an event, work on a topic you care about, want to join the newsletter or homepage team... In short: What ever you want to do, just contact us!

Please contact us (the Graduate Council Board). Then we can think jointly how to follow up and whom to involve.

The main rules for the PhD are laid out in the:

• Doctoral Regulations (Promotionsordnung)
• The Implementation Provisions of the Doctoral Regulations

All regulations can be found here.

The Doctoral Regulations are decided in the Senate and then confirmed by the president. Regulations need to be in line with the state science law (§38 paragraph 4 Landeshochschulgesetz) and the federal science law (Hochschulrahmengesetz, currently no specifications).

There are many ways to meet other (PhD) students. You could:

• join our PhD lunches
• join a student group or initiatives like Cafete
• join events and trips organised by the international student organisation (ISO)
• join one of the many University sports teams and courses (anyone can join, they are fun not competitive)
• join a theatre or music ensemble
• attend some parties, talks or culture events at the TMS

Useful links to search for rooms are:

• The University Accommodation Exchange
• WG-gesucht.de (for shared flats)

Suitable locations could be:

• Directly adjacent: S-Birkach, S-Plieningen, S-Steckfeld
• Close: S-Schönberg, S-Degerloch, S-Möhringen, S-Riedenberg, S-Sillenbuch
• Neighboring districts: Filderstadt, Kemnat, Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Neuhausen, Ostfildern, Vaihingen

We advise to check travel times, according to the mode of transport you plan to use. Some are good to reach by foot or bike, but not via public transport or vice versa. The  University has compiled some useful information, that can be found here.

The most common ways of funding a PhD are working in a project and getting a scholarship. The graduate academy provides a great overview here.

The FIT portal combines courses and seminars offered by various institution, including:

• Language Centre
• Career Centre
• KIM (digital skills and literature search)
• Centre for Higher Education Didactics

• Each faculty has two ombudspersons who can mediate in cases of conflict. The ombudspersons work in strict confidence and completely independently. Initially you meet them alone, describe the situation and discuss ways forward. Only if you consent, there is a talk with you and the supervisor that they moderate.
• You can also contact the Graduate Academy for advise, especially when it comes to taking administrative. For example, in some extreme cases it may be necessary to change the supervisor. However, unlike the ombudsperson the Graduate Academy is not independent.
• Of course you can also contact the Board of the Graduate Council. We can advise you on which steps to take and we will also keep confidence.

The University of Hohenheim has ombudspersons for scientific misconduct. If you are affected by scientific misconduct or you know of such a case, you can contact the Hohenheim or national ombudspersons. The ombudsperson advise these who inform them of suspected scientific misconduct. They need to keep professional confidentiality - unless it is necessary to pass along the information entrusted to the ombudsperson in order to prevent serious damage to the University of Hohenheim, its members, or third parties.

There are several official contacts:

• the faculty equality rights officers
• the gender equality representative
• the equality representative for non-academic staff
• the representation for disabled persons

You can also always contact the Board of the Graduate Council. We will support you in the actions you want to take.

All forms of sexual harassment are prohibited in Germany. In the workplace rules are particularly strict. The prohibitions include:

• unwanted sexual actions
• requests to perform unwanted sexual actions
• comments of a sexualised nature
• the unwanted and public display of pornographic images

We recommend you document the instances well (e.g. in a diary entry) and seek assistance when making a complaint (e.g. by a friend, colleague or the Graduate Council Board). Don't hesitate to act: The issue won't go away by itself - the earlier sexual harassment is addressed, the better.