Your doctorate at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Registering for doctoral studies

• Proof of a degree qualifying you for doctoral studies
  To be able to do a doctorate in our faculty, you will typically have obtained a higher-education degree in a subject from the field of mathematics or the natural sciences. Please see the doctoral degree regulations (§8) for precise details of what degrees qualify you to study for a doctorate.
  You will need to enclose copies of your certificates and diplomas with your application form in order to provide evidence of your qualifying degree(s). Please also bring along the originals of your certificates and diplomas as this is the only way the administrative assistants can be sure that the copies match the originals. Of course, you will be able to take the original documents away with you afterward.
  If you have obtained one or more higher-education degrees abroad and your certificates and diplomas are not in German or English, please present certified translations of the documents in question.

• Evidence of requisite language skills
  You will need sufficient German or English skills in order to complete a doctorate at our faculty. If you come from outside Germany and would like to do your doctorate in English, your supervisor must confirm that you have sufficient English skills in your application for admission to doctoral studies. If you come from outside Germany and would like to do your doctorate in German, you will need to prove your language skills by passing a suitable exam (DSH 2). Submit the documents relating to the exam that you have passed together with your application (see §8 (6) of the doctoral degree regulations).

There are two ways to submit your application and all associated documents:

• Make an appointment with the administrative assistant responsible for you and bring all the necessary documents to the Doctoral Office in person.
• Some departmental offices now offer the option of bundling the documents for several doctoral students together and forwarding them on to the Doctoral Office. If you hand your application in this way, your original certificates will be checked there and then. Assuming everything is in order, staff will take receipt of all your necessary documents, obtain the signature of the chairperson of the department for you and pass your application on to the Doctoral Office.