University of Cologne

1. Complete the form Application for Admission as Doctoral Student and obtain all signatures (supervisor, additional supervisor if applicable, graduate school of the department or graduate school for teacher education).
2. Prepare the following documents (PDF files):
   1. Application for Admission as Doctoral Student with all signatures (AaZ.pdf).
   2. University entrance qualification / High school leaving certificate (HZB.pdf)
   3. Diploma, certificate and transcript of the Bachelor's degree (or equivalent degree) (Bachelor-Documents.pdf).
   4. Diploma, certificate and transcript of the Master's degree (or equivalent degree) (Master-Documents.pdf). 
   5. Curriculum vitae (recommended) (CV.pdf)
   6. Further documents, if applicable
   • In case of objection to graduate school membership, a supervision agreement* with the supervisor and a professor of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences as second supervisor (Supervision-Agreement.pdf).
   • In the case of cooperation with a University of Applied Sciences or a research institution, a cooperation agreement* or an extended supervision agreement* (Cooperation-Agreement.pdf or Supervision-Agreement_extended.pdf).
   • In the case of cooperation with industry, a non-disclosure agreement* (NDA.pdf)
   • In the case of cooperation with a foreign university, a Co-tutelle agreement ^#
3. Register completely in Docfile and all PDF-files in the D-file.
4. Inform the Doctoral Office by Email that you are applying for admission as a doctoral student. Please indicate your doctoral subject in the Email's subject line.

* Templates are available from the graduate schools of the departments after consultation

^#  In consultation with the representative of the Doctoral Degree Committee

Provided that the admission requirements according to § 4 of the doctoral regulations are fulfilled, you will receive an admission or a conditional admission as a doctoral student. You may be requested to submit originals or certified copies of all certificates and documents.

With the admission, you must enrol as a doctoral student at the University of Cologne at the Student Administration Office or the International Office.

While working on their doctoral project, doctoral students take advantage of training opportunities at the University of Cologne.

Members of the graduate school of the department and the graduate school for teacher’s education, respectively, can ask for advice and are regularly invited to attend general and subject-specific professional education courses. The graduate schools also offer their members a subject-specific course on good scientific practice.

Doctoral students who are not members of a graduate school must provide proof of participation in a course on good scientific practice as well.

Doctoral students who have been granted conditional admission by the Faculty must provide the requested evidence and, if applicable, the required academic achievements within the set deadline. Provided that the proofs are submitted on time, you will then receive an admission as a doctoral student by the Faculty.

Doctoral candidates must regularly update their data in Docfile. They are obliged to notify the doctoral office immediately of any significant changes, for example in supervision or membership of the graduate school, as well as any interruption or withdrawal from the doctoral project.