Partial Revision of the Ordinance for obtaining a Doctoral degree 2009

The Faculty Assembly decided in May 2025 to partially revise the doctoral regulations. The key innovations are:

• Introduction of the cumulative dissertation: Several scholarly articles may replace the monographic dissertation, making the doctorate more attractive for dynamic and interdisciplinary research topics.
• Introduction of dual supervision: Two supervisors are intended to strengthen fairness and transparency in the doctoral process and to ease the burden on individual supervisors.
• Introduction of a methodology colloquium: In addition to the existing colloquia for the scholarly engagement with the dissertation, colloquia are now offered to deepen and broaden students’ methodological competence in legal studies. In the General Doctorate and the Doctoral Program of the Faculty of Law, students must complete one of each of the two colloquia during their doctoral studies, unless the primary supervisor approves the recognition of academic work completed externally.
• Introduction of the defense: A public defense of the dissertation increases transparency and confirms the independent nature of the work.

The partial revision took effect on August 1, 2026.

Current doctoral candidates will complete their doctorate under the existing regulations — without mandatory dual supervision, without a mandatory methodology colloquium and without a mandatory defense of the dissertation. A switch to a cumulative dissertation is possible; in that case, the new rules apply. A subsequent switch back to a monograph is excluded.

New doctoral candidates who have enrolled between 1 January 2026 and 31 July 2026 for doctoral studies beginning in the autumn semester 2026 (1 August 2026) may choose whether they wish to pursue their doctorate under the old or the new system.

PhD candidates who enrol in a doctoral program as of the spring semester 2027 or later are fully subject to the new system, which includes a monographic or cumulative dissertation, dual supervision, completion of a methods colloquium and a colloquium for the scholarly engagement with the dissertation and a defense.