1. Acceptance as a PhD student.
2. Submission of a summary of the thesis.
3. Submission and acceptance of the thesis.
4. Viva (oral thesis defence).
5. Publication and submission of the approved deposit copies of the thesis.

All steps are obligatory. This means the thesis can't be handed in if the student hasn't been accepted as a PhD candidate or if the summary hasn't been handed in. The purpose of the summary is to get feedback from the faculty in time but doesn't have any influence on the further PhD process. The summary must be handed in four to eight months before the thesis. The thesis must be submitted no later than four years after acceptance as a PhD student unless there are reasons for an automatic extension or if the student applies for an extension (refer to the subsidiary point «Thesis»).