(FAQ)

1. Who is in charge of the elections to the Doctoral Council?

The elections to the Doctoral Council are university-wide elections, though they are organised locally by the individual departments of Freie Universität Berlin. Hence, the Central Election Board and its office are in charge. They are supported by local election boards in the departmental administration.

2. Which are the deadlines relevant to the elections?

All relevant deadlines (announcement of the election, announcement of the polling stations, announcement of the nomination of candidates, announcement of the election results) will be determined by the Central Election Board in line with the legal regulations.

The Central Election Board compiles a register of eligible voters. The register will be on display in the offices of the departmental administration and the office of the Central Election Board for two weeks beginning with the announcement of the election. The offices of the departmental administration of your department or, alternatively, the office of the Central Election Board will check on demand whether a doctoral candidate is entitled to vote and examine the claim to be enclosed in the register of eligible voters.

Nominations of candidates may be handed in until the 36^th day before the election.

The announcement of the preliminary results will take place immediately. The results may be disputed within five weekdays after announcement in writing to the Central Election Board.

3. Who is entitled to vote?

All doctoral researchers may vote and stand for election themselves who on the date of the announcement of the election and the election itself are (1.) admitted to doctoral studies by their departments and (2.) are members of Freie Universität. Membership requires either enrolment as doctoral student or being employed by the university.

All doctoral researchers may nominate other doctoral researchers or her- / himself as a candidate. Nominations have to be handed in to the local election boards of the departments. All nominations have to be handed in on a form provided here.

4. Do all eligible voters receive a personal voter's notification?

The announcement of the election (1.) may be found on the webpage of the Central Election Board, (2.) 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.

5. Where do eligible voters get the election documents?

All eligible voters may cast their vote from their local polling station at the day of the election. Please bring a valid identity card or another valid, official form of photo identification. Mail-in vote must be requested beforehand on a form provided by the Central Election Board.

6. How do I know my polling station?

All departments will inform the Central Election Board about the polling stations, the Central Election Board will announce them centrally. The announcement comprises the following information:

-        Exact address of the polling station

-        Opening hours of the polling station

-        Additional information such as accessibility

-        Information if and when the votes will be counted in the polling station after the election

7. Many doctoral researchers will be not on the site of Freie Universität on the day of the election or at the opening hours of the polling stations. Is Mail-in vote possible? Is there an option to vote electronically (online)?

Mail-in vote is possible; however, it has to be requested in advance. The deadline for requests is set by the Central Election Board. The Central Election Board provides a form, which you may find here.

PLEASE NOTE: The election documents have to be picked up either personally or by an authorised representative at the office of the Central Election Board. The authorisation form has to be filled in and signed by the voter. The form may be found here. Unfortunately, documents cannot be sent by regular mail.

Online voting is currently being prepared, the legal prerequisites have been created in the winter semester 2023/2024. However, technical implementation will take some time and the system is not available for this year’s election.

8. How many votes does one voter have?

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.

9. The appointment period of elected members is two years. Is this true even if a member completes his or her doctorate during this period?

Completion of the doctorate during the appointment period results in a change of status, i.e., the elected member is no longer a doctoral candidate. The membership in the Doctoral Council therefore ends ahead of time.

10. If an elected member of the Doctoral Council withdraws before the end of the appointment period, will a deputy fill in automatically?

No. The mandate of a member and the mandate of a deputy have to be considered separately. Elected deputies do not succeed members automatically. In case that there have been more than two candidates 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 have been not more than two candidatures for membership, a deputy will represent the vacant office until the end of the appointment period.

11. At the department, there are only two nominations for members and none for deputies. How many votes does it take to be elected? Could one spare the election?

The election to the Doctoral Council is a majority vote. All eligible voters have as many votes as there are offices. In case that there are only two nominations, the election takes place with YES or NO votes. The person with more YES votes than NO votes is elected.

12. At the department, there are only two nominees for deputies and none for members. If elected, would then the deputies become members automatically?

No. The deputies would represent the vacant offices until the end of the appointment period.

13. At the department three members have been elected to the Doctoral Council with balanced vote. Who decides which of the elected become members of the Council?

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

14. The Doctoral Council Statutes of Freie Universität regulate that the elected members of a department have the right to speak in and to submit proposals to the Department’s Council. Furthermore, one member of the Doctoral Council Council may participate in meetings of the Academic Senate with the right to speak and submit proposals. Are there more bodies of the university in which members of the Doctoral Council participate and how could they possibly manage to do so?

Legally, representation is confined to the Department’s Council and the Academic Senate. However, other university bodies are free to invite the Doctoral Council to participate in their meetings. This seems the more reasonable, as the Berlin Higher Education Act explicitly grants the Doctoral Council the right to advise these bodies and governing boards and provide them with recommendations and statements on matters of concern. An example of how this could work may be found in the bylaws of Dahlem Research School, which reserves four seats in its Permanent Commission for delegates of the Doctoral Council. However, to keep the workload of the elected members within reasonable limits, the delegates have not to be Council members of the Doctoral Council themselves.

15. 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. Who calls the meeting, when no spokesperson of the Council has yet been elected and where does the Council meet?

At the inaugural meeting of the Doctoral Council, the spokesperson of the Council will be elected who convenes all further meetings until a successor takes office. The location will be announced in the invitation to the meeting.

16. Which legal bases are relevant for the election of the Doctoral Council?

§ 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 10.07.2024, FU-Mitteilungen 25/2000 dated 26.10.2000, Hochschulwahlgrundsätzverordnung (Ordinance Governing Electoral Principles at Universities in the State of Berlin) in the version dated 24.11.2014. All relevant legal documents may be found on the webpage of the Central Election Board here.