Application for admission to the department

The departments specify admission requirements in their doctoral degree regulations. In principle, the following are required

• a qualifying degree
• a suitable topic for the dissertation that follows on from the degree course
• Supervision at the department (“supervision commitment” or “supervision agreement”)

Find out what other information and documents are required for admission from the doctoral offices of the departments.

Please note that admission to a doctoral program does not anticipate admission to the doctorate by the department. The application and selection procedure of the program and the admission procedure at the department are independent of each other.

You may apply and be admitted at any time. However, you should bear in mind that the relevant departmental doctoral committees do not meet regularly during the lecture-free periods between mid-February and mid-April and between mid-July and mid-October and that delays may therefore occur.

Acceptance by the department

The doctoral board of the respective department decides whether the necessary requirements for admission to doctoral research have been met.

Please note: Admission to a doctorate at a department of Freie Universität does not include any commitment to finance the doctoral thesis or to provide a doctoral position.

Enrollment as a doctoral researcher

Once you have been admitted by the department, you must enrol as a doctoral researcher at the Enrollment Office. Employees of Freie Universität are requested to enroll, but are not obliged to do so.

You will be informed of the deadline for enrollment in the official letter of admission from the department. If you are unable to meet this deadline, please inform the relevant doctoral office as soon as possible.

To enroll in a DRS program, you will need proof of your membership, which you will receive from your program coordinator.

Please note: Enrolment is subject to contributions (a social contribution to the student union and a contribution to the student body) and fees (enrolment and re-registration fees).

Change of doctoral status (individual doctorate to DRS program)

If you wish to change your doctoral status, please apply for this on the next re-registration date with the application for a change of degree program.

A change of status may be necessary if, for example, you have mistakenly enrolled for an individual doctorate but you are actually a member of a DRS program or, if you were just accepted into a DRS doctoral program after starting an invididual doctorate.

As with enrollment, you will need the usual documents as well as proof of your program membership, which you can obtain from the coordination office of your respective program.

Re-registration

Enrollment must be maintained until the semester in which you successfully complete the disputation/oral doctoral examination. Please re-register every semester until then.

Further information can be found at the Enrollment Office. Doctoral researchers who are not pursuing their degree at Freie Universität but at their home university should also contact the Enrollment Office.