Post-doctoral dissertation (Habilitation)

The Habilitation serves as proof of the ability to independently represent a scientific field in research and teaching (venia legendi). The completion of this teaching qualification confers the right to add the suffix “habilitatus” (abbreviated “habil.”) to the academic degree of doctor. All necessary information on Habilitation at the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences can be found on this page.

Doctoral and Habilitation Officer

Mrs. Florence Scholz

Tel.: 0331 977-3419, Building 1, Room 1.28
florence.scholz.1@uni-potsdam.de

You can find more information about the Habilitation committee here

The Habilitation procedure

Step 1: Check prerequisites

Admission to the Habilitation procedure requires that the applicant completes

A doctorate with at least the grade “good” (“cum laude”) from a university or equivalent institution of higher education in the relevant subject area,
A Habilitation thesis or scientific work equivalent to a Habilitation thesis,
Evidence of sufficient teaching experience,
Evidence of relevant scientific work after the doctorate. The applicant must prove that he/she has worked scientifically after obtaining his/her doctorate, in particular in the
subject area for which he/she is seeking the teaching qualification. This should be documented by publications, as is customary in the relevant field.

Step 2: Admission to Habilitation

Please submit an application for admission to Habilitationin written form to the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences. The application must identify the intended field of teaching qualification and include the following documents:

A curriculum vitae outlining the professional career,
A single copy of thedissertation,
The doctoral certificate,
A list of other scientific publications,
The written Habilitation thesis in at least seven copies,
A record of courses taught,
A statement of ongoing or completed Habilitation procedures.

Please enclose all other scientific publications that are not part of the written Habilitation thesis. These serve only to illustrate the applicant’s scientific work; they will not be subject to review.

Receipt of the application for admission will be acknowledged and then reviewed. All submitted documents - except the originals of the certificates and the publications - remain with the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences.

Step 3: Opening of the Habilitation procedure

After the examination, the dean notifies the members of the Habilitation committee about the received application and initiates the opening of the procedure by the Habilitation committee.

The Habilitation committee consists of the full-time professors, the associate professors, and the private lecturers of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Potsdam who have completed their Habilitation at the faculty. Professors and lecturers with a Habilitation who have left this faculty continue to be members of the Habilitation Committee for at least two years after their departure. Professors within the meaning of these Habilitation regulations are tenured professors, employed professors, retired professors, and dismissed professors.

Step 4: Appraisal

The reviewers appointed by the Habilitation committee prepare written reviews. The expert opinions recommend the acceptance or rejection of the written Habilitation thesis. The chairperson of the Habilitation committee shall set a reasonable deadline for the reviewers to submit their reviews.

Step 5: Display

Once the expert opinions have been received, the written Habilitation thesis and the expert opinions are made available to the members of the Habilitation committee for one month (during the lecture period) or for two months (during the non-lecture period).

Step 6: Acceptance

After the expiration of the design period, the Habilitation committee decides on the acceptance of the thesis on the basis of the available expert opinions and the written statements.

Step 7: Presentation and colloquium

After acceptance of the written Habilitation thesis, the applicant proposes three topics for the Habilitation lecture to the chairperson of the Habilitation committee. The
topics must be from the field of the intended teaching qualification. They may not be taken from the written Habilitation thesis.

The chairperson of the Habilitation committee will inform the candidate of the selected lecture topic at least three, but no more than four weeks before the date. A shortening of the deadline is in principle possible in agreement with the candidate.

The lecture and the colloquium (max. 45min each) are open to the public. Only the members of the Habilitation committee are entitled to ask questions in the colloquium. Subsequently, the applicant will be informed whether the teaching qualification will be awarded.

Within a reasonable period of time, usually at the inaugural lecture, the dean will present the habilitated person with the certificate of teaching qualification.

Step 8: Publication

The Habilitation thesis must be published no later than two years after the award of the teaching qualification. A copy of the published Habilitation thesis must be submitted to the faculty.