Before the oral examination takes place, the doctoral committee meets to decide on the following:

• whether the dissertation is to be accepted, rejected, or returned to the candidate for revision
• whether to admit the candidate to the oral defense
• the final grade to be awarded for the dissertation.

The doctoral committee meeting is not open to the public. It may take place digitally provided data protection regulations are followed. The chairperson of the doctoral committee will make the decision as to whether to carry out the meeting via digital means. All members of Freie Universität Berlin have access to the video conference software Webex. More information can be found in your ZEDAT portal.