Finding a Supervisor & Admission

If you have found a contact person who is the ideal supervisor for you, please contact them directly.

As a general rule (please note that these documents can of course vary), you apply with the following documents:

•  Cover letter or letter of motivation
•  Brief description of your planned research project
•  Documentation of your academic qualification
•  Curriculum Vitae

Before you begin your doctorate, you should get acquainted with the doctoral regulations (Promotionsordnung) of your faculty. In the Promotionsordnung, you will find information on the requirements for a doctorate, formalities and disputations.

In order to be admitted to a doctorate at the University of Regensburg, you usually need a Master's degree. The faculty will review your certificates and determine whether your degree is comparable to a degree in Germany, i.e. whether a direct acceptance as a doctoral student is possible or whether it will be necessary to attend additional courses or pass a doctoral aptitude test. Please note that the final grade of your Master's degree must also correspond to the admission for doctoral studies and must be converted to the German grading system in order to determine equivalence.

You may also have to prove that you have German language skills, depending on the specific regulations of your individual doctoral project.

Your doctorate begins when you have been officially accepted as a doctoral candidate by the respective faculty. In order to be accepted, you must meet the respective requirements for a doctorate and receive the confirmation of supervision from your doctoral supervisor.

As a general rule, the following is required for acceptance as a doctoral candidate by the faculty.

♦ Secondary school diploma

♦ Higher education diplomas and certificates

♦ Transcript of Records of the certificates

• All certificates must be presented in their original version and as officially certified copies.
• All certificates and transcripts must be submitted as officially certified translations in English or German.

♦ Curriculum vitae

♦ Exposé (indication of the provisional doctoral topic with exposé)

♦ Confirmation from a supervisor

♦ Additional seminars or lectures may be required.

♦ If applicable, proof of German language skills must be provided.

Please inform yourself in detail about the conditions of acceptance at the faculty where you would like to do your doctorate, since it can vary.

You must clarify in advance with your supervisor in which language the doctoral thesis can be written.

The following applies to enrollment as a student at the Registrar's Office:

If your intention is to write the doctoral thesis in German and you want to enroll as a student at the Registrar's Office, then you must have sufficient language skills. You can obtain this by taking a German test called the "DSH 2 Prüfung". The German test (DSH-Prüfung) normally takes place at the UR at the end of March or at the end of September.

NOTE: In case your doctoral thesis can be written in English, you are not required to have any German skills. The decision must be expressly mentioned in either the confirmation of doctoral for submission to the Registrar's Office of the respective faculty or in your letter of acceptance.

Basic or intermediary knowledge of the German language is extremely helpful for everyday life.

⇒ Where can I learn German?