At the very beginning, you should think about the topic on which you would like to pursue your doctorate.

• Did a particular subject area spark your special interest during your studies?
• What research priorities exist in the doctoral field you are interested in?
• What literature and sources already exist on a particular topic? Where can you identify a research gap?

Important: Your choice of topic also influences your search for suitable doctoral supervision. 

And good to know: To start with, an idea is enough—a concrete research question or a specific research interest. The year of provisional admission then serves, among other things, to further refine your topic.

To submit an application for provisional admission as a doctoral candidate to the Doctoral Office, you need a supervision commitment.

• Who is allowed to supervise?
  
  Your first supervisor must be a person who holds a professorship (chair, junior professorship, or associate professorship) in the doctoral field you are pursuing, or who has completed a habilitation in that field (in German: Privatdozent*in).

• How do I find a suitable supervisor?
  
  You must first find a first supervisor from the doctoral field you intend to pursue. Later, as part of the final admission as a doctoral candidate, your doctorate will also be supervised by a second supervisor.
  
  Inform yourself thoroughly about the research areas and focal points on the personal websites of potential supervisors. Feel free to make personal contact (via email or during office hours) with the person you consider suitable in order to discuss the possibility of doctoral supervision.
  
  Since you and your supervisors form a team, you should get along well with each other. The basis for the supervisory relationship is the supervision agreement, which you will draw up together as part of your final admission as a doctoral candidate.

In addition to a suitable topic and a supervision commitment from a supervisor, you must meet the following formal requirements in order to begin a doctorate:

• a relevant Master’s degree (or an equivalent university degree)
• minimum overall grade: 2.5 (good) (German grade system)

I meet the formal requirements and have already arranged a topic and a first supervisor. What are the next steps?

Submit an application for provisional admission as a doctoral candidate to the Doctoral Office. The following documents must be attached to the application:

• Application for provisional acceptance as a doctoral candidate (form)
• Curriculum vitae
• Certificates and diplomas (school-leaving certificate, all academic certificates and diplomas), either as certified copies by post or initially by email (certified copies by post or presentation of the original documents in a personal appointment at a later stage)
• If applicable, language certificates (Annex 2 of the Doctoral Regulations)
• If applicable, proof of German/English language proficiency (if German or English is not your native language)

Your previous university degrees may need to be recognized, usually if you

• hold a degree that does not correspond to the doctoral field;
• hold a German degree from a program not offered by our faculty;
• hold a foreign degree. In some cases, the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) may be asked to carry out an equivalence assessment of your previous university degrees.

Do you have a foreign university degree and are interested in pursuing a doctorate at our faculty? Please follow all the necessary steps required for admission to the doctoral program, which you can find here. 

Further information for international doctoral candidates can be found here.