Life Sciences: Doctoral students

The doctoral center hosts 2–4 colloquia each year. These events are designed to facilitate academic exchange and provide opportunities to network with other doctoral students. During your doctoral studies, you should present the status of your work once a year at a colloquium and again shortly before submitting your dissertation. The colloquia are organized by Prof. Dr. Kathrin Gnoth.

Dates for Doctoral Colloquia

• October 8, 2026, in Köthen
• December 10, 2026, in Bernburg

If you are pursuing a cumulative doctoral degree, § 2 (3) of the doctoral regulations requires that you have published at least three scholarly papers, with your scholarly contribution being the most significant in at least two of them. The scholarly papers must have been published in peer-reviewed, internationally recognized journals or accepted for publication. The basis for evaluating the suitability of the cumulative dissertation is provided by subject-specific journal rankings and/or the impact factors of the peer-reviewed journals. Detailed information can be found in the implementing regulations. If you are writing your dissertation as a monograph, at least two peer-reviewed papers must have been published or accepted for publication by the time the dissertation is submitted. At least one of these should have been written with you as the first author.

Please also consult your advisor, who will assist you with the publications.

The Anhalt University of Applied Sciences Library supports all university members in the publication of academic works. Further information can be found here: Library: Our Services for Your Publication

During your doctoral studies, you should give at least two presentations at conferences to present your doctoral project. If possible, one of these conferences should be international in scope. Discuss your conference participation with your advisors.

Download: Quality Assurance Resolutions

Doctoral students at the Doctoral Center Life Sciences can take advantage of the statistical consulting services offered by Prof. Dr. Friederike Paetz. Through one-on-one consultations, she offers doctoral students the opportunity to seek advice on Data Science topics, particularly regarding empirical research methods, mathematics, and statistics. For more information, please see here: Overview.

Doctoral students at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences—like all staff and students—are required to adhere to good scientific practice (GWP).
To this end, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences adopted the “Statutes on the Principles for Ensuring Good Scientific Practice and on the Handling of Allegations of Scientific Misconduct at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences” in 2023. These statutes are based on the German Research Foundation’s (DFG) “Guidelines for Ensuring Good Scientific Practice.”

According to the doctoral regulations of the Doctoral Center Life Sciences, doctoral students must complete a course on GWP during their doctoral studies, ideally during their first year of the program. They are free to choose where to take GWP courses. Find the format that is good for you. Many universities of applied sciences (HAW), universities, and non-university research institutions offer courses and continuing education programs on this topic.

The universities of applied sciences (HAW) in Saxony-Anhalt offer the following GWP course program for their doctoral students:

• Participation in a one-day in-person event (venue rotates among all universities of applied sciences in Saxony-Anhalt)
• Participation in online modules, in which the mandatory basic module can be combined with at least two elective focus modules

You can find all information about the course program here.

The dates for our GWP training sessions can be found here.

Research data is data generated as part of a research process. This includes, for example, measurement results, questionnaires and survey results, interview recordings and transcripts, protocols, software, etc. The management of this data (research data management) encompasses all processes such as creation, processing, analysis, archiving and deletion, publication, and reuse.

More information is available here.

Is your dissertation nearing completion and would you like to begin your doctoral program soon? Please contact Katja Czech. She will send you the “Application to Begin the Doctoral Program.”

You must then submit this application to Katja Czech along with the following documents:

• Dissertation
• Current resume
• Current declaration of originality + table of references
• Dissertation, anonymized for plagiarism checking
• Research data
• Proof of attendance for:
  • Colloquia of the doctoral center
  • Conferences
  • Continuing education
  • GWP Training

Please also refer to the doctoral regulations and the guidelines on quality assurance at the doctoral center (see Documents).
In addition, you must submit three printed copies of your dissertation.

If anything has changed during the course of your doctoral studies, such as the title of your thesis or your advisor, please also submit the change notification (see Downloads Documents). Your application will be discussed by the Doctoral Committee. Following the review process, the Doctoral Committee will decide on the acceptance of your dissertation.

Each doctoral center and each department has a Representation of Doctoral Candidates. In the Doctoral Center Life Sciences, this representative is elected by the doctoral students in Departments 1 and 7. They represent the interests of doctoral students in the departments and university committees. They are also available to answer questions and address suggestions, and continue to organize exchange and networking events.

Department 1

Henrike Wild
Eirini Styliani Dalalaki

Department 7

Anna Katharina Kottwitz
Jana Klose

Click here to visit the Representation of Doctoral Candidates website.