The Faculty of Science awards one of the following degrees following a doctoral examination procedure in which the candidate must demonstrate their ability to carry out independent academic work:

• the degree of Doctor of Natural Sciences (Dr. rer. nat.) in the subjects of Chemistry, Nutritional Sciences, Physics and Exercise and Neurosciences,
• the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.) in the subjects of Home Economics, General Studies Pedagogy and Sports Science,
• the degree of Dr. of Medical Sciences (Dr. rer. medic.) in the subject of sports medicine.

Exceptions to this rule may be made for doctoral theses with relevant specialisations. The decision on this is taken by the relevant doctoral committee on the basis of a brief, reasoned application from the doctoral candidate, which must be submitted together with the application for admission to the doctoral examination procedure.

The basis for doctoral studies in the Faculty of Natural Sciences is set out in the doctoral degree regulations. These define not only the entry requirements but also the specific details.

1. Application for recognition as a doctoral candidate to the Chair of the doctoral committee of the relevant department (recommended)
2. Confirmation of supervision regarding acceptance as a doctoral candidate
3. Supervision agreement between the doctoral candidate and the supervisor
4. Enrolment of the doctoral candidate
5. Preparation of the doctoral dissertation: a monograph or a collection of papers, in German or English
6. Application for admission to the doctoral examination procedure: Approval of the application = commencement of the doctoral examination procedure
7. Completion of the reports: The examiners usually have a maximum of six weeks to prepare their reports
8. Public display of the doctoral dissertation and the reports: The doctoral dissertation and the reports are made available to the (restricted) university public for two weeks.
9. Deadline for comments: One week
10. Oral examination: Presentation of the doctoral dissertation, defence, examination discussion (duration approx. 1–1.5 hours)
11. Publication of the doctoral dissertation
    Deadline for submitting the mandatory copies: 1 year
    The publication comprises one copy for the faculty and a public publication of the doctoral dissertation. There are four options here:
    – Publisher: minimum print run of 100 copies, 2 deposit copies for the University Library
    – University Library: electronic version + one printed copy 
    - Publication in electronic form by a commercial publisher as an open-access publication under a generally applicable licence (CC licence), 2 deposit copies for the University Library
    - Distribution as a parallel publication in printed and electronic form via the ‘print-on-demand’ process, 2 deposit copies for the University Library
12. Presentation of the certificate