Co-tutelleProcedures

Information on the Co-tutelle process

Doctoral procedure with double supervision

For almost 20 years now, LMU has been conducting doctoral procedures in cotutelle with foreign partner universities. The procedure was initially established by French and German universities and regulated in a university agreement. There are now cooperations of this kind with many European and non-European universities. The HRK developed recommendations on bi-national doctoral procedures back in 2001 and made a model agreement available. Recommendations

"Cotutelle de thése" means that two universities from different countries join forces to carry out a doctorate together. The doctoral students carry out their research project at both universities. They have a supervisor at each university. The dissertation produced under these conditions is submitted to both universities after completion. The defense takes place only once at one of the two partner universities before a jointly appointed examination committee and is recognized by both universities. After all parts of the doctoral examination have been passed and the dissertation has been published, the graduates are awarded the respective doctoral degree by both universities and receive a doctoral certificate from both partner universities. Graduates are thus qualified in two academic systems, which significantly improves their career options.

When is a cotutelle de thése considered?

In most cases, links already exist between the participating universities before a cotutelle agreement is concluded. These connections often exist at the supervisor or research level. However, it is also possible that the connection arises from the doctoral candidate's previous course of study and is only established in research through the procedure. Recently, there have also been funding lines from scholarship providers that specifically initiate cotutelle doctorates.

Cotutelle agreements are concluded individually for each such doctoral project. Before an agreement can be concluded, it must be checked whether the doctoral regulations applicable at the partner universities can be brought into line with each other in such a way that an agreement is possible. The universities have often already developed model agreements to facilitate the procedure. LMU also has such a model available. Before starting negotiations on a cotutelle agreement, it is necessary for interested doctoral candidates to have found a supervisor at both universities. The subject of the doctorate should also have been clarified and be either the same or very similar at both universities. The administrative office responsible for cotutelle agreements at the partner university should be involved in the procedure from the outset.

Cotutelle agreement

The cotutelle agreement specifies, among other things, the minimum amount of time doctoral students must spend at each university, the language in which the dissertation must be written, the university at which the defense will take place and the composition of the examination committee. As a rule, it is specified when the dissertation must be submitted and whether an extension is possible. The exact title of the doctoral degree awarded by the two universities is also specified, as is the way in which the cotutelle procedure is mentioned in the final documents. These stipulations are binding. If changes are required, an addendum to the agreement must be drawn up and signed.

Further information

For advice on such a cotutelle procedure, please contact Dr. Caroline Trautmann and Ms. Manuela Stetter.

Information on submitting a dissertation in Cotutelle and on the oral examination can be found here.