Supervision of your Ph.D.
One local and two LMU supervisors will supervise the doctoral candidate. Applicants should already be in contact with a local supervisor at the time of application who is willing to support the research project throughout the entire Ph.D. curriculum. In contrast, the CIHLMU selection board will be responsible for matching the Ph.D. project with the LMU supervisors during the selection process.
Throughout the entire study period Ph.D. candidates are responsible for maintaining contact to all supervisors and the Ph.D. program coordination.
Supervision Agreement
Supervision agreements have been established internationally as a quality standard in doctoral training. They allow you, as doctoral candidate, and your supervisors to define the mutual expectations towards the Ph.D. study in a transparent form. The supervision agreement thus provides guidance and demands commitment. The signed Supervision Agreement needs to be submitted to the Ph.D. program coordination at the end of Module Block I.
Target Agreement
The Target Agreement serves to establish a formal understanding between the Ph.D. candidate and all involved supervisors (local and LMU) with respect to the conduct of the Ph.D. research project. The agreement should contain an outline of the project (research question, current research status, any preliminary work already conducted, methodology and a working plan), the objective of the study, milestones and any additional qualifications the student may need. The target agreement is signed by all supervisors (local and LMU) and the Ph.D. candidate. It must be submitted to the Ph.D. program coordination by the end of the first month of Research Period I (31 January).
Supervisor Meetings and Project Presentations
It is highly recommended that the Ph.D. candidate organizes a meeting with his/her LMU supervisors when he/she is in Munich for Module Block I and II to discuss the progress of the Ph.D. project and evaluate potential research problems. Furthermore, during each Module Block, all doctoral candidates will be required to present their Ph.D. projects to their LMU supervisors, their colleagues and selected audience.
Target Amendments
It is understood that any research activity is subject to incidents and unforeseen changes. Therefore, the initial target agreement may be modified in the course of the conduct of the Ph.D. project.
The first Target Amendment serves as an interim evaluation of the Ph.D. project and it establishes again, after more than one year of conducted research, a formal understanding between the Ph.D. candidate and the involved supervisors (local and LMU). The Target Amendment I needs to be signed by the Ph.D. candidate and all supervisors, and is to be submitted by the end of the first month of Research Period II (30 April).
Supervisors will be required to evaluate the possibility of a successful finalization of the Ph.D. project at the end of research period II. For a Ph.D. project extended beyond the regular study period of three years, a Target Amendment II, corresponding to the 4th year of Ph.D. study, has to be submitted to the Ph.D. program coordination by the end of the last month of Research Period II (30 April). The Target Amendment II should adequately outline the project plan until the finalization of the Ph.D. project and needs again to be signed by the student and his/her supervisors.
If the supervisors, after evaluating the progress of the Ph.D. project, suggest extending the study period for another year, a Target Amendment III needs to be submitted by the Ph.D. candidate to the Ph.D. program coordination. The deadline for submitting the Target Amendment III is the end of the last month of Research Period III (30 April).
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