Enrollment for Doctoral Candidates
Once you have been accepted as a doctoral candidate, the next step is to enroll. Here you will find all the relevant information.
A prerequisite for enrollment is that you have been accepted as a doctoral candidate by the responsible school or department. For information on the acceptance process, please visit the First Steps Toward a Doctorate page.
Mandatory Enrollment and Exemption Option
Once you have been accepted as a doctoral candidate by your school or department, you are required to enroll in accordance with section 38 subsection 5 of the Landeshochschulgesetz (LHG). An exception applies to doctoral candidates whose primary employment is at the University of Mannheim, meaning that their working time amounts to at least 50 percent of the regular working time under TV-L. Upon request, they may be exempted from mandatory enrollment for the duration of their employment.
To be exempted from mandatory enrollment, you need to submit a written request, either together with your doctoral application or at any later point if you take up employment at the University of Mannheim to the extent specified above. If possible, you should take the University of Mannheim’s academic calendar into account, as you will also have to pay the full semester fee if you enroll in the middle of a semester.
You will find the request for exemption from mandatory enrollment in the download area.
Enrollment and Re-registration Process
If you have not applied for an exemption from mandatory enrollment, you will be automatically enrolled once you have been accepted as a doctoral candidate. A few days after you have received the confirmation of acceptance from your school or department, we will inform you by e-mail that you have been enrolled and ask you to transfer the semester fee in order to complete your enrollment. Once your enrollment has been completed, you will receive your user ID for the University Library and IT services as well as the corresponding initial password.
After your initial enrollment, you are required to re-register for each subsequent semester. If you do not re-register by the applicable deadline, you will have to pay an additional late fee. The obligation to re-register ends as soon as you have successfully passed the oral defense of your doctoral dissertation (Disputation or Rigorosum).
Find out more about re-registration and fees.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
1. Do I have to enroll as a doctoral student?
Yes, in accordance with section 38 subsection 5 of the act on the higher education institutions of the Land of Baden-Württemberg (Landeshochschulgesetz (LHG)), you have to enroll once you have been accepted as a doctoral student. Under certain circumstances, you may be exempted from this obligation (see section 2).
2. Are there any exceptions from the obligation to enroll?
Doctoral students who are employed at the University of Mannheim under the Collective Agreement for Public Service Employees of the German Länder, TV-L, and whose working time equals at least 50 percent of the regular working time of a full-time position, can be exempted from mandatory enrollment upon written request. The exemption only applies as long as such an employment relationship exists, after which enrollment becomes mandatory again. Employment outside the University of Mannheim is not a basis for exemption.
Anyone who was officially accepted for a doctorate at the university before the mandatory enrollment came into effect on 30 March 2018 is not required to enroll.
3. What happens if I violate the enrollment requirement?
A violation exists if you are neither enrolled nor officially exempted and were not accepted as a doctoral student before 30 March 2018.
As a consequence of the violation, the doctoral process will be interrupted. If the regulations and procedures governing the doctoral dissertation stipulate a maximum duration, the period of interruption will be counted towards this.
The interruption ends as soon as you are enrolled again or have been officially exempted from mandatory enrollment.
4. How do I enroll?
Once you have been accepted as a doctoral student by the school/
department, you will be automatically enrolled unless you have submitted a request for exemption from mandatory enrollment. You will receive an e-mail with a welcome letter and a payment request for the semester fee. If you were exempt from mandatory enrollment and want or need to enroll again, please send an informal e-mail to Johanna Fatokun (johanna.fatokun@uni-mannheim.de). Unless you have be granted an exemption from mandatory enrollment, you must re-register every semester.
5. How do I apply for an exemption from mandatory enrollment?
Please complete the request for exemption from mandatory enrollment and send it, together with a copy of your employment contract, to Johanna Fatokun (johanna.fatokun@uni-mannheim.de).
6. Can I be employed (with at least 50% of the regular working time) at the University of Mannheim and be enrolled at the same time?
Yes, this is possible.
7. Do I have to re-register?
Mandatory enrollment applies until successful completion of the oral defense of the doctoral dissertation (Disputation) or oral examination to obtain a doctoral degree (Rigorosum). If you are not exempted from being enrolled, you have to re-register each semester (including payment of the semester fee).
Contact
Johanna Fatokun
Division I – Research Services and Quality Management
L 1, 1 – Room 328
68161 Mannheim