Doctorate process

Since the founding of the Faculty of Computer Science, the doctoral process has been explained/regulated here:

Please note that there may be additional requirements in your group. Be sure to familiarize yourself with these as well!

Here are a few general notes from the old version of the page that are still applicable:

Do everything as early as possible. The people in the Office for Doctoral Studies (German: Promotionssekretariat) may or may not adjust to your (possibly tight) schedule, but it's generally not worth the risk.
There is a Outdated LaTeX template for the required front-page of the written thesis, which can be downloaded here.
The Center for Doctoral Studies offers certification of additional achievements in the course of your PhD studies. Information can be found here. This is not part of the basic doctorate process.
You should probably read at least once the currently valid doctoral regulations (Promotionsordnung).
For enrolling in the doctoral studies programme (Promotionsstudiengang) you should apply before via RWTHonline. more information and instructions.
For the actual enrollment in the doctoral studies programme (Promotionsstudiengang) at the registrar's office, a preliminary certificate of graduation (or your final certificate) is needed unless your degree is visible in RWTHonline. Not everyone at the registrar's office has access to campusOffice, so having your degree visible there might not suffice.

Due to a resolution of the rectorate you can only receive an official doctorate certificate with an English title given (a version fully in English language, respectively), if the thesis is written in English.
If you do online publication you may skip the curriculum vitae in the thesis published online.
A covering page LaTeX template according to the regulations can be found here.
The extracted “Befangenheitsformular” without the “Muster 4” text befangenheitsformular.pdf (extracted at 2021-05-11)