The doctoral degree regulations of the various faculties define who may serve as a dissertation supervisor. Usually, all researchers with a venia legendi (Habilitation) are eligible, i.e.

• Full professors
• Junior professors
• “PrivatdozentInnen”
• Retired professors

At least one of the supervisors needs to be a full-time employee at the faculty at which the candidate wishes to conduct his or her doctoral project.
The PhD board of the Faculty can confer the right of supervision to appropriately qualified members of other faculties or universities and comparable research institutions.

It is often the case that post-graduate students receive an offer for supervision from professors who have supervised their master’s thesis. In structured doctoral programs, too, doctoral supervisors are often designated. If this is not the case, the doctoral candidates need to find suitable supervisors themselves, which can sometimes prove to be a challenge.

When post-graduate students have chosen a topic for their dissertation, they can check the internet for professors who are experts in the field of their desired dissertation topic. The professor which they would like to have as their supervisor should then be contacted via (a friendly) e-mail to schedule a personal meeting.

In this personal meeting, the exposé can be decisive in convincing the professor of your intended dissertation project.

When a suitable supervisor is found, an application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate needs to be submitted to the relevant Faculty.

At the beginning of the doctorate the form and extent of supervision and the rights and responsibilities of the doctoral candidates are specified in the written supervision agreement. The supervision agreement lays down who the supervisors are, states the working title of the dissertation, and specifies, if necessary, the date until which the doctorate should be completed. The supervision agreement should take into account the individual situation of the candidate such as family circumstances or occupation. It is furthermore advisable to schedule regular supervision meetings.
The different Faculties provide templates for the supervision agreements. In these templates, it is e.g. laid down that a personal supervision meeting needs to be held once per year, or that both supervisor and candidate commit themselves to the rules of good scientific practice.

In the final stages of the doctorate, candidate and supervisor should specify dates of completion for the various subchapters, and whether the candidate should submit the individual chapters for correction, or rather the dissertation as a whole. It should furthermore be determined how much time the supervisor will be allowed for correction, and whether revised chapters can be submitted for correction a second time.
It is important that supervisors prepare their candidates for the oral exam, i.e. through recommending relevant workshops or sitting in on oral exams of other candidates.
Other aspects to be discussed in the final stages are the planning of the publication and professional prospects after the doctorate.

Even when the chemistry between supervisors and doctoral candidate is good, conflicts or misunderstandings can occur. These can be related e.g. to the content of research, organizational aspects, the non-compliance with agreements, differences with regard to methods or approaches, or even personal issues.
If such problems arise, they should be communicated early on in a factual rather than emotional manner to jointly find solutions. It can be helpful to seek the advice of a non-involved mediator. The supervision agreements usually indicate who can be contacted as a mediator in the case of conflict.
A conflict of interest can furthermore result from the calling of the supervisor to another university, or a long stay abroad of the doctoral candidate. In such cases, the supervisor should inform the candidates early on to find viable solutions.
If the parties cannot agree on a solution to one of these problems, a change in supervisors should be considered.