The election for the Doctoral Council is a university-wide election, even though it is held in the individual departments of Freie Universität. The Central Election Board (Zentraler Wahlvorstand, ZWV) is responsible for the election. It is supported by local election boards (Dezentrale Wahlvorstände) in the departmental administrations.

All doctoral researchers may vote and stand for election who, at the time of the election announcement and the election,

(1.) have been admitted by a department to pursue doctoral research and

(2.) are members of Freie Universität. Membership requires either enrolment as doctoral student or being employed by the university.

Any person entitled to vote may nominate others or themselves as candidates for election. These nominations must be submitted to the local election boards of the departments (dezentrale Wahlvorstände der Fachbereiche) by April 5, 2024 using the form (Nomination form) linked below.

A list of eligible voters is created for the election. This list will be available for inspection for a period of two weeks at the time of the election announcement in the offices of the departmental administrations and in the office of the Central Electoral Board. The departmental administration or the office of the Central Electoral Board will provide information on request as to whether a doctoral researcher is eligible to vote and will check their eligibility if they are not listed in the register.

The announcement of the election (1.) may be found on the webpage of the Central Election Board, (2.) will be on display in the departmental administration, and (3.) will additionally be announced by e-mail. Please make sure that the examination office of your department knows your valid e-mail address.

Eligible voters can vote at the polling station on election day (June 17/18, 2025) upon presentation of a valid official photo ID or apply in advance for a postal vote using the form (application to vote by post) linked below.

The polling stations are reported by the local election boards to the Central Election Board. The Central Election Board officially announces the polling stations, including:

- The exact address of the polling station

- The opening hours

- Further information, for example on accessibilty

- Information on when the votes will be counted after the end of the election

You will find a list of polling stations (Wahllokale) from mid May onwards linked below.

Postal voting can be applied for until June 10, 2025, 12 noon at the Central Election Board using the form (application to vote by post) linked below.

ATTENTION: The voting documents for postal voting must be collected in person or by an authorized representative from the office of the Central Election Board. The proxy form (Vollmacht Briefwahlunterlagen), which is also linked below, must be issued and signed by the person entitled to vote. Unfortunately, it is not possible to send the documents by post.

Each eligible voter has four votes, two of them for the members of the Doctoral Council and two for their deputies. Members and deputies are elected on separate voting ballots.

In case of a tie, the Chair of the Central Election Board will draw lots.

The election of the Doctoral Council is a majority vote. All eligible voters have as many votes as there are positions to be filled. If there are only two nominations, then the election takes place with YES or NO votes. The person with more YES votes than NO votes is elected.

No. But as deputies, they can represent the vacant positions until the end of the election period.

The appointment period of elected members is two years.

Completion of the doctorate during the term of appointment results in a change of status, i.e., the elected member is no longer a doctoral candidate. Membership of the Doctoral Council therefore ends prematurely.

No. The mandate of a member and the mandate of a deputy have to be considered separately. Deputies do not succeed members automatically. If there were more than two nominations for membership, the candidate who received the third most votes in the election moves up. The same principle applies to the deputies. However, if a member withdraws and there is no successor, a deputy will take over the vacant position until the end of the election period.

The elected doctoral researcher representatives of a faculty have the right to propose motions and speak in the Department Council. In addition, one representative has the right to propose motions and speak in the Academic Senate.

The legal right to representation is limited to the Department Council and the Academic Senate. However, other university bodies are free to include doctoral researcher representatives. The Berlin Higher Education Act explicitly grants doctoral researcher representatives the right to make recommendations and statements to the bodies and governing boards of the university. An example can be found in the regulations of the Dahlem Research School (Ordnung für die Dahlem Research School) linked below, to whose Permanent Commission the Doctoral Council sends four representatives. However, in order to keep the workload within limits, these representatives do not have to be elected members of the Doctoral Council.

The Doctoral Council Statutes of Freie Universität regulate that the Doctoral Council meets at least once per year to determine the representatives for the Academic Senate and the Permanent Commission of the DRS.

The responsible Vice President, Prof. Dr. Petra Knaus, will invite you to the first (constituent) meeting of the Doctoral Council. At this meeting, the spokesperson of the Council will also be appointed, who then call the following meetings. The location will be announced in the invitation to the first meeting.

§ 25 Abs. 3 Berliner Hochschulgesetz (Berlin Higher Education Act) in the version dated 25.09.2021, Doctoral Council Statutes at Freie Universität Berlin dated March 01, 2024, FU-Mitteilungen 8/2024, FU-Wahlordnung (Electoral Regulations of Freie Universität Berlin) in the version dated 19.07.2000, FU-Mitteilungen 25/2000 dated 26.10.2000, Hochschulwahlgrundsatzverordnung (Ordinance Governing Electoral Principles at Universities in the State of Berlin) in the version dated 24.11.2014. All relevant legal documents (Rechtsvorschriften) are linked below.