Intern
Graduate School Science and Technology

Application and Admission

If you want to join the Graduate School of Science & Technology, there are two main ways of doing so. The most frequently taken one is the following: Once you have identified members of the GSST of your interest, you contact them directly, either in response to the advertisement of an open position or by generally expressing your interest.  

In some cases, collaborative research units advertise several doctoral position simultaneously. Those collaborative units usually have a centralized application and selection process.

In both cases, application and admission to the GSST comes after receiving an offer either from an individual PI or from a collaborative research unit. Please note that any subsequent admission to the GSST requires that two GSST members have interviewed you and support your application.

Degree
You must have an MSc degree relevant to the research fields of the GSST and to those of the individual projects. A Bachelor's degree or other degrees not fully equivalent to a MSc or an MSc from neighboring fields may allow admission to a qualification period under some conditions (restrictions apply).
Not all foreign degrees are considered equivalent to the required German degrees. Equivalence is determined by the German federal Central Office for Foreign Education. We refer to their online platform for information and will ask them in case of doubt. Please note: Applicants from some non-European countries might also need an  APS certificate. As regulations change sometimes, please check at the APS homepage. 

Language
You must have an excellent proficiency in the English or German language(C1 level  will be required in at least one of those languages).

Funding
You need sufficient funding to cover your subsistence, either from an employment contract funded by from grants to the supervisor, or from a fellowships that you secure for yourself from a funding agency. Please note that we expect a minimum of 3 years of secure funding, and solid plans for potentially necessary additional time to finish the doctoral project beyond 3 years. Funding through a fellowship must also be sufficient to be acceptable (anything below 1600 € per month is not sustainable).

Timing
Application and admission can take place any time of the year, but it should take place before or at the very beginning of your doctoral project. Compulsory enrollment at the university follows at the earliest possible date (once per semester).

Further information
Do you have questions? Please contact Katharina Bötsch 

Step 1: Registration and preliminary application

  1. Create an account on our online platform https://gsls.cloud.opencampus.net/
  2. Complete the preliminary application on the platform.
  3. After submission of the form, a PDF document for your primary supervisor will be generated.
  4. Print the PDF, have it signed by your primary supervisor, and upload it back to the platform.

Once your preliminary application is reviewed by our office, you will be granted access to the full application on the platform. You will receive a notification by email when this happens.

Step 2: Full application

In the full application form, you will be required to provide details about:

  • Your previous academic background
  • Your planned doctoral project 
  • Your Thesis Committee (for requirements regarding the same see below)

Your Thesis Committee must meet the following requirements:

  • At least three supervisors
  • Two of them must be GSST-members; they must be from different chairs/departments
  • The third member can be from anywhere, but must be entitled to examine doctoral candidates at the respective home institution

Note: if desired, more than three members are possible; Important: Your Thesis Committee must be complete before submitting the application form.

For guidance on committee composition, contact Katharina Bötsch.
In case a GSST-member cannot be selected in the application form (which may happen for technical reasons), please contact Elke Drescher

To finalize your admission, you must:

  1. Schedule an appointment with Katharina Bötsch.
  2. Bring the following original documents:
  • Degree certificates and academic transcripts
  • Highest school diploma (secondary school certificate)
  • Signed, up-to-date Curriculum Vitae, including details of your PhD position and start date

Upon completion, you will receive your official admission letter, which admits you immediately to the GSLS and which is the document you need to enrol at the university.