Publishing Doctoral Theses

Start the online workflow for dissertations on mediaTUM. Choose the language of the workflow (English or German). Afterward, please click on “Create/Erstellen”.

Next you will be able to fill out forms for your author and dissertation data, as well as two abstracts in English and German, each containing no more than 500 characters (not words!). After selecting the chair, please click on the button in the top right-hand corner to submit the entered data.

You will then receive an email (subject line: Your Dissertation - Registration Form + ID + Name) with an automatically generated form for registering your dissertation topic.

Certain special characters (e.g., Greek letters) may not be displayed correctly in the generated PDF file. You are welcome to correct these characters manually afterward. On mediaTUM, the special characters will still be displayed correctly.

Please note: It is not possible to change the information on mediaTUM later, as the registration form will not be regenerated. If you want to correct the text you entered, you can restart the workflow as often as you like. We will delete unused data records after the dissertation has been published.

After completing the application ("Application for submission"), upload the form to DocGS as a PDF file together with the documents listed in BayernCollab.
These include:

• Dissertation
• Sworn statement in German/Affidavit (see Appendix 2 of the doctoral regulations)
• Tabular curriculum vitae in German

As soon as you have received the email requesting you to print out the "Application for submission", submit the printed application together with the required documents to the Office of Doctoral Affairs by post/internal mail (“Hauspost”) or in person.
These include:

• Signed registration form
• Copy of the title page
• Signed sworn statement in German/Affidavit
• Tabular curriculum vitae in German 

After the oral examination, you will receive an email (subject line: Publishing of your Dissertation - Link to Workflow + ID + name) with information about the next steps in the publication process.

At the same time, the Office of Doctoral Affairs will send you a letter by post, which usually includes the approved title page. In case you received the approved title page or confirmation of the correctness of your title page by email, please forward the relevant correspondence with the Office of Doctoral Affairs and the approved title page as an attachment by email to support.diss@ub.tum.de.

If you did not receive the approved title page or have any questions about it, please contact the Office of Doctoral Affairs.

In the email (subject line: Dissertation publizieren - Link zum Workflow or Publishing of your Dissertation - Link to Workflow + ID + Name), you will receive your individual access link to the online workflow on mediaTUM.

1. If necessary, update your author and dissertation data.
2. Select "electronic publication" as the publication method.
3. After clicking the "electronic publication" button, you will receive an email with further information on the publication process (subject line: Publishing your Dissertation Electronically - Necessary Documents and Further Steps + ID + Name).
   If you decide to publish in print instead, click the "Back" button on the upload page to return to the “Choose a Publication Method” page. If you have already uploaded a document, please delete it before clicking the "Back" button. Proceed to the second step of Publishing Your Dissertation in Paper Version with ISBN.

The following documents are required from you:

1. Author's contract in duplicate and cover letter
   Please print out the author’s contract attached to the email twice, sign both copies, and send them by post to the University Library (Technische Universität München, Universitätsbibliothek, Support E-Dissertationen, Arcisstraße 21, 80333 München). Use the attached cover letter (Unterlagenversand) and tick off which documents you are sending us. Sending the author’s contract by fax or email is not sufficient.
   If you would like to submit the author’s contract (together with the other documents, see below) in person, please make an appointment by email.
   By signing the author’s contract, you grant us the non-exclusive rights to publish your dissertation on mediaTUM. You retain the rights to your dissertation. You are free to publish your dissertation elsewhere (e.g., on ResearchGate or in journals).
2. Embargo Period Application
   The embargo period application allows you to block your dissertation (PDF file and data record on mediaTUM) from being visible online for up to two years after your oral examination. For an embargo period of up to one year, your own signature is sufficient; for an embargo period of up to two years, you must also obtain the signature of the dean of your school.
   If you would like your dissertation to be published with an embargo period, please also fill out the attached embargo period application and send it signed – along with the author's contract – to the University Library.
3. Approved title page
   Send us a copy of the approved title page (with stamp and signature from the Office of Doctoral Affairs). You can send a copy of the approved title page along with the author's contract by post or as a scan/photo to our email address (support.diss@ub.tum.de). If you only received the approved title page by email, please forward the email correspondence with the Office of Doctoral Affairs (including attachments) to our email address as confirmation of approval. In case you did not receive the approved title page or have any questions about it, please contact the Office of Doctoral Affairs.

In the online workflow on mediaTUM, the final step is to upload your dissertation as a PDF file to our server.

Please read the following important information before uploading:

• Upload the final version of your dissertation.
  Spelling and grammar errors can be corrected beforehand. All other changes need to be clarified with the Office of Doctoral Affairs and the examination board.
• The first page of the PDF file should correspond with the approved title page. Please incorporate any corrections and additions from the approved title page into your title page (first page of the PDF file) before uploading the PDF file.
• For publication purposes, you may remove your curriculum vitae, affidavit, scanned signatures (if applicable), and other personal data from the PDF file.
• Only PDF is accepted as a file format. (We recommend PDF/A.) Before uploading, please check the metadata of your PDF file, as this data can be read by search engines and displayed in search results. The metadata can be viewed and changed in the properties of the PDF file.
• After uploading the PDF file, two additional files are created: an image file (the thumbnail) and a text file containing the full text of the dissertation. Please do not delete these files.
• After you have uploaded the PDF file and clicked on "Finished," no further changes are possible. However, your dissertation is not yet directly published at this stage (see step 5).

Once the University Library has received all documents (the cover letter (Unterlagenversand), two signed copies of the author's contract, one copy of the approved title page and, if applicable, the embargo period application) and the PDF file has been uploaded, we will check that all the data is correct and that the PDF file is suitable for long-term archiving and indexing, and is freely accessible (i.e. not password protected).

If everything is in order, we will publish your dissertation on mediaTUM. In case you have applied for an embargo period, your dissertation will only be accessible on mediaTUM once this period has expired. Immediately after publication, you will receive an email from us confirming that your dissertation has been published (with an embargo period, if applicable).

After receiving the email with the publication confirmation, you can make an appointment with the Office of Doctoral Affairs to pick up your preliminary certificate. This certificate can also be sent to you by post. Please contact the Office of Doctoral Affairs for more information.

Further information on the doctoral process is available on the TUM Graduate School website or from Office of Doctoral Affairs.

Once you have received the publication confirmation, please check the PDF file and the data on mediaTUM. Please let us know as soon as possible if anything is incorrect. Changes can only be made until noon on the Wednesday following publication.

Once the data on mediaTUM has been collected by the German National Library, changes to the metadata and replacement of the PDF file are no longer possible (exception only for legal reasons, e.g., data protection), as the dissertation is available in online catalogues throughout Germany from this point on.

After the oral examination, you will receive an email (subject line: Publishing of your Dissertation - Link to Workflow + ID + name) with information about the next steps in the publication process.

At the same time, the Office of Doctoral Affairs will send you a letter by post, which usually includes the approved title page. Alternatively, the Office of Doctoral Affairs might also send you the approved title page or confirmation of the correctness of your title page by email. Please correct your title page according to the information on the approved title page before having your dissertation printed.

If you did not receive the approved title page or have any questions about it, please contact the Office of Doctoral Affairs.

The email will contain your individual access link to the online workflow on mediaTUM. First, update your author and dissertation data as necessary and select the option "Print publication with ISBN" as the publication method.

If you do want to publish electronically instead, click on "Back" to return to the “Choose a Publication Method” page. Proceed to the second step of Publishing Your Dissertation Electronically.

Otherwise, please click on the blue button at the bottom right to confirm your selection. The online workflow is now complete, and you can no longer make any changes.

Submit five paper copies with ISBN to the Office of Doctoral Affairs. You can purchase an ISBN yourself or contact a publisher (e.g., TUM University Press).
The copies will be forwarded to the TUM University Library and the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig. This means that your dissertation will be listed in the TUM and national bibliographies.