UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE

1. Complete the form Application for Admission as Doctoral Student and obtain all signatures (advisor, additional advisor 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.

For a doctoral project that is to be worked on in a research group of the Faculty of Medicine, admission as a doctoral student of the IPMM, a joint program of the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, must be applied for at the Doctoral Office of the Faculty of Medicine. For exceptions see Note A. In case of any questions please contact Dr. Christoph Aszyk (Doctoral Office of the Faculty of Medicine).

After admission as a doctoral student in the IPMM, an application for admission to the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and change to the Dr. rer. nat. program is only possible in the exceptional case of a pure basic science doctoral project and with the corresponding recommendation of the IPMM Doctoral Committee. If this is intended, the following must be observed and prepared well in advance:

1. When registering in Docfile, the Faculty of Medicine and the doctoral regulations IPMM must be chosen. This Docfile registration needs to be filed before or at the beginning of the work on the doctoral project.
2. In parallel with the IPMM application process and, if applicable, prior to the IPMM selection meeting of the IPMM Doctoral Committee, registration of a Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) with the subject-specific Graduate School (GSfBS, CGSC, Graduate School of Mathematics/Computer Science; see Note B) is required within 3 months of starting work on the PhD project. Confirmation of registration must be filed in the D-file (GS-Registration.pdf). Note: Registration does not imply membership in the Graduate School.
3. Within 6 months after starting the work on the Doctoral project (and if required even before the selection meeting of the IPMM Doctoral Degree Committee) a "Project Proposal" and the "Minutes of a TAC Meeting" have to be deposited in the Docfile D-File (Project-proposal.pdf and TAC-Protokoll1.pdf).
4. In case the IPMM Doctoral Committee recommends the Doctoral Project for the Dr. rer. nat program of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences the application form "Application for admission as Doctoral Student of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences" (with all required signatures) has to be deposited in the Docfile D-file (MNF-AaZ.pdf) (see note C).
5. As soon as all necessary documents (steps 2 to 4 and see note D) are deposited in the Docfile D-file, the coordinator of the IPMM, Dr. Christoph Aszyk (Doctoral Office of the Faculty of Medicine) must be informed (at the latest within 3 months after the IPMM selection meeting).

If points 1 to 5 are fulfilled, the doctoral office of the Faculty of Medicine transfers the file to the doctoral office of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (MNF). The MNF doctoral office then checks the formal and subject-related admission requirements (e.g. is a consecutive Master's degree relevant for the doctoral subject available, is the supervision right of the professor and/or working group leader suitable, are the conditions for graduate school membership fulfilled). Provided that all requirements are met, an admission letter will be issued with the obligation to enroll in the specified doctoral program. Admission may be conditional and subject to study obligations that must be fulfilled by the specified deadline in cases where the Master's degree is of limited subject relevance.

Admission as a member of the subject-specific graduate school can only take place after admission as a doctoral student of the Faculty of Mathematics and enrollment in the doctoral program.

Notes

A) Excempt are only doctoral projects conducted in research groups of Professors of the Faculty of Medicine who are also members of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences or who have been awarded the right to supervise doctoral projects in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. In this case follow the guidlines Registration of Doctoral Project

B) Membership in the subject-specific graduate school and active participation in the graduate school's program is mandatory. The subject-specific Graduate School is GSfBS for the doctoral subjects Biology and Computational Biology; CGSC for the doctoral subjects Biochemistry and Chemistry; Graduate School Mathematics/Computer Science for the doctoral subject Computer Science.

C) In the form "Application for admission as a doctoral student of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences" enter the following:

5.1 As advisor the PI of the research group in which the doctoral project is worked on as advisor

5.2 If applicable, a professor of the Faculty of Medicine as formal advisor (only if the PI of the research group is not a professor of the Faculty of Medicine or not a Group leader with the right to supervise Doctoral Projects in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences)

5.4. A professor of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences who represents the doctoral subject and agrees to act as a prospective second reviewer of the doctoral thesis.

The application for admission form must be completed and signed by the applicant, the advisor, if applicable the "formal advisor", the professor of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (5.4) and the coordinator of the subject specific graduate school (GSfBS, CGSC or Graduate School Mathematics/Computer Sciences).

D) Documents to be deposited in the Docfile D-file:

MNF-AaZ.pdf ("Application for admission as a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences" with all signatures)

GS-Registration.pdf (Registration confirmation of the subject-specific graduate school)

Project-proposal.pdf

TAC-Protocol1.pdf

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.