Joint Declaration

by the

Hochschulrektorenkonferenz ( (HRK)

and the

Conferenza dei Rettori delle Università Italiane (CRUI)

on Bi-nationally Supervised Doctoral Theses (“co-tutelle de thèse”)

 

Berlin, 16 and 17 November 2000

 

In the framework of their regular bilateral meetings a delegation of the Italian Conferenza dei Rettori delle Università Italiane (CRUI), headed by its President, Professor Dr. Luciano Modica, and a delegation of the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (HRK), headed by its President, Professor Dr. Klaus Landfried, met in Berlin on 16 and 17 November 2000.

 

• Taking into consideration the Sorbonne Declaration of May 1998 and the Bologna Declaration of June 1999, and

 

• being aware that bi-nationally supervised doctoral thesis will play an important role in the development of intra-European mobility of university researchers and in fostering the institutional co-operation between Italy and Germany,

 

CRUI and HRK agree to recommend bi-nationally supervised doctoral theses (“co-tutelle de these”) between their two countries. The agreements on bi-nationally supervised theses should be based on the following principles:

 

1. Any co-tutelle de thèse arrangement requires a specific cooperation agreement to be concluded for each doctoral student individually between two higher education institutions with the right to confer doctoral degrees (“universities” for short). A co-tutelle arrangement cannot be based on a general bilateral cooperation agreement. The arrangement has to take into account the respective university regulations for doctoral degrees.

 

2. An individual cooperation agreement is conditional upon the student’s acceptance as doctoral candidate and his/her fulfillment of the respective admission requirements. Candidates who completed their studies in Germany will therefore be admitted to doctoral studies according to the German university’s regulations for doctoral degrees. They will be exempt from the Italian admission procedure (“concorso”). Candidates who completed their studies in Italy will be admitted according to the Italian admission procedure (“concorso”).

 

3. Any candidate registers at both universities. Notwithstanding the joint responsibility for the academic supervision of the doctoral project, one of the two universities will, after previous agreement, assume the administrative responsibility for the procedure. Possible registration or tuition fees will be dealt with according to the regulations of the university holding the administrative responsibility.

 

4. Any doctoral student will realize the written part of his/her project under the supervision and responsibility of one supervisor (tutor) from each of the two universities. Both supervisors commit themselves fully to their tutorial role and will make the necessary arrangements. The preparation of the thesis will be realized between the partner universities. The minimum duration of the stay at the host university should be one semester.

 

5. The modalities of the oral examination (discussion of the doctoral thesis) will be specified in the co-operation agreement. The examination commission should be composed by an equal number of representatives from both universities, including the supervisors.

 

6. The thesis should be written in the language of one the partner universities and should contain a brief abstract in the language of the other university. Depending on the specific discipline of the thesis, the co-operation agreement may also require that the abstract is written in a third language. Provided that both sides agree and taking into account discipline-specific aspects, the thesis may be written in a third language.

 

7. The intellectual property rights of the thesis, the publication, the use and protection of the research results shall be safeguarded in accordance with the specific regulations of the two countries involved in the co-operation agreement. The number of copies of the thesis to be deposited at each university depends on the respective regulations. The participating universities inform each other on their regulations for doctoral degrees and agree on how to include them in the co-operation agreement.

 

8. At the end of the doctoral procedure the candidate receives a document on the conferral of the doctoral degree, issued jointly and in both languages by the two partner universities. It will contain a reference to the fact that the doctoral procedure was administered jointly by the two universities. The doctoral document will bear the seal of the two departments involved. The doctoral document entitles the recipient to use either the German or the Italian form of the doctoral title. In either case the names of the two supervising universities may be added in parentheses.

 

9. Notwithstanding the above-mentioned regulations for individual doctoral projects, both parties intent to support joint bilateral doctoral programmes in accordance with the objectives of the “Bologna-process”.

 

 

Berlin, 17 November 2000

 

 

For the                                                                         For the

Conferenza dei Rettori                                     Hochschulrektorenkonferenz

delle Università italiane

 

Professor Dr. Luciano Modica                                    Professor Dr. Klaus Landfried

President                                                                     President