by a public oral defence event (a lecture or a colloquium) with one or more opponents. The habilitation thesis is intended to demonstrate that the author has mastered their field in its entirety. For this reason, it is usually written on a topic that is very different from the subject of the doctoral dissertation. Unlike doctoral theses, which must be published by law in Germany, many habilitation theses remain unpublished.

Habilitation is usually awarded 5-15 years after a PhD degree or its equivalent. Achieving