HDS PhD Supervisory Teams
Supervisors for students in the HDS PhD Program are bound to the guidelines set forth by the Office for Doctoral Studies at the Charité, as well as the guidelines set forth by the HDS PhD Program. These guidelines are detailed below.
Prospective students applying for the HDS PhD Program should take responsibility for contacting and identifying the individuals who will comprise their supervisory team.
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Information Regarding Supervision in the HDS PhD Program
Each student in the Health Data Sciences (HDS) PhD Program has a supervisory team comprised of three supervisors. The responsibility of finding potential supervisors lies with each applicant. Successful applicants typically have a clear idea of who will be their first supervisor.
Supervision Guidelines
Your supervisory team must meet the guidelines specified by the PhD supervision requirements of the Charité. HDS PhD program supervisory team members are formally bound to these Charité guidelines. These take effect when they sign the “Registration for a PhD” form that each PhD student must submit to the Office for Doctoral Studies (German: “Promotionsbüro") as the final required step before starting the HDS PhD Program. HDS Program supervisors must also agree to the HDS Supervision Agreement after the student is admitted to the HDS PhD Program.
When identifying a first supervisor, please consider the following:
- The first supervisor should have a “PD” (Privatdozent), Professorship, or an equivalent academic status and should have an affiliation with the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and/or the Berlin Institute of Health
When identifying your second and third supervisors, please consider the following:
- Ideally, the 2nd and 3rd supervisors also have higher qualifications, but at least a PhD is expected
- The 2nd and 3rd supervisors do not need to have a Charité affiliation. You are welcome (and encouraged) to work with other supervisors at the Charité/BIH outside of the IPH, iBiKE and QUEST
For the supervisory team in its entirety, please consider the following:
- At least one of your supervisors should come from the IPH, iBikE or QUEST (the departments running the HDS PhD Program) or be otherwise directly connected with our program through involvement in teaching activities and/or the supervision of other HDS PhD Program students
- In rare exceptional cases, a non-Charité first supervisor may be approved on a case-by-case basis. In these situations, the other two supervisors should be Charité / BIH affiliated.
How many supervisors do I need in my supervisory team and who can be a supervisor?
Three. The first supervisor should have a “PD” (Privatdozent), Professorship, or an equivalent academic status and should have an affiliation with the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin / BIH. Ideally, the 2nd and 3rd supervisors also have higher qualifications, but at least a PhD is expected. The 2nd and 3rd supervisors do not need to have a Charité affiliation. You are welcome (and encouraged) to work with other supervisors at the Charité/BIH outside of the IPH, iBiKE and QUEST. Ideally, at least one of your supervisors should come from the IPH, iBikE or QUEST (the departments running the HDS PhD Program) or be otherwise directly connected with our program through involvement in teaching activities and/or the supervision of other HDS PhD Program students.
In rare exceptional cases, a non-Charité first supervisor may be approved on a case-by-case basis. In these situations, the other two supervisors should be Charité / BIH affiliated.
Do I need to have all three members of my supervisory team confirmed before I apply?
No, but you should have a clear idea of who will serve as your first supervisor. It is best to contact potential supervisors directly before applying. At the time of your application, it is beneficial if you can demonstrate that one or more supervisors are interested and willing to work with and support you for the duration of your proposed project.
How is the supervisory team involved?
The HDS PhD Board expects that the three individual supervisors are involved in a meaningful way with the student’s project. The roles that the individual supervisors play should ultimately be decided by the four of you together. Obviously the first supervisor should be the most integrated in your research and writing, and it is likely that they will be providing you with access to the dataset for your research. We do not expect you to have these details worked out at the time of initial application.
What are the guidelines for the supervisory team?
HDS PhD program supervisory team members are formally bound to Charité guidelines. These take effect when they sign the “Registration for a PhD” form that each PhD student must submit to the Office for Doctoral Studies (German: “Promotionsbüro") as the final required step before starting the HDS PhD Program.
These guidelines were recently updated, they are currently only available in German and the English version will soon follow. You can find the full details of the guidelines under the following link: https://promotion.charite.de/fuer_betreuer/
HDS PhD supervisory team members are also bound to the HDS PhD Supervisory Agreement.