Doctoral study

If you are interested in pursuing a doctorate at the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies, please first read the subject-specific doctoral regulations (FPromO) and the general doctoral regulations (APromO) carefully and familiarise yourself with the admission requirements and the legal framework of the procedure. Please note that you must find a supervisor for your doctoral project at the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies before you apply for admission as a doctoral candidate.

The Dean's Office of the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies will be happy to answer any administrative questions you may have about doctoral studies.

The Graduate Centre, as the university's point of contact for general and interdisciplinary questions relating to doctoral studies, will be happy to provide you with information on starting your doctoral studies and on funding options before and during your doctoral studies, and offers a range of further education and qualification measures.

In order to apply for admission as a doctoral candidate, you must first register and submit an application on the University of Passau's campus portal.
Exception: If you are already enrolled or employed at the University, registration is no longer necessary. In this case, please log in to the campus portal with your ZIM ID.

If you need help with registration, the Graduate Centre has compiled detailed information and is available to answer any questions you may have.

Once you have familiarised yourself with the admission requirements and legal framework, found a supervisor for your doctoral project and submitted an application for admission to doctoral studies via the campus portal, you must also submit a written application of admission as a doctoral candidate.

The following documents must be enclosed with the application (in accordance with § 8 of the APromO and § 4 of the FPromO):

1. Proof of fulfilment of the admission requirements in accordance with § 4 (1) of the FPromO in the form of certified copies (degree certificate from a university with which admission is being sought; for foreign university degrees, including diploma supplement and transcript of records);
2. proof of prior education in the field of the doctoral programme in accordance with § 4 (3) of the FPromO;
3. a declaration in accordance with § 8 (2) sentence 1 no. 2 of the APromO;
4. the subject in which the doctoral programme is to be carried out (see appendix to the supervision agreement);
5. a supervision agreement in triplicate;
6. the appendix to the supervision agreement in triplicate;
7. a curriculum vitae in German or English with a description of your academic career;
8. in justified cases, proof of German or English language skills;
9. the information specified in Art. 64 (3) BayHschG (survey form).

Please submit the original signed application together with all the documents listed either in person or by post to the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies.

In accordance with § 8 (4) sentences 1 and 2 of the APromO, the Standing Doctoral Committee will usually decide on acceptance in writing within three months.

If you have been accepted as a doctoral candidate and have received a letter to this effect, you can enrol as a doctoral student at the University of Passau at any time of the year. Enrolment offers you a number of advantages, including a university email address and campus card. The Graduate Centre has compiled detailed information about enrolment and alternatives to it for you. If you have any questions about the enrolment process, please contact the Student Secretariat directly.

The form of the dissertation is regulated in § 6 of the FPromO and must be agreed between the doctoral candidate and the supervisor in the supervision agreement. A dissertation at the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies can generally be submitted in the following forms:

1. as an unpublished monograph. Please note the statement of the Standing Doctoral Committee on pre-publications.

2. as a publication-based form equivalent to a monograph. The minimum number of articles to be published must be specified in the appendix to the supervision agreement. Please note the guidelines for publication-based dissertations.

3. as part of a jointly authored scientific work (joint doctoral thesis). Please note that in this case, the suitability of a topic for a joint doctoral thesis must be formally determined by the doctoral committee upon request and after hearing the applicants and the supervisor before work on the dissertation begins.

The dissertation must generally be written in German or English; the doctoral committee decides on the admission of other languages. To this end, an informal written application must be submitted to the doctoral committee.

The application for admission to the doctoral examination (application of aproval) must be submitted once you have completed your dissertation and wish to submit it for review.

The following documents must be enclosed with the written application:

1. the notification of acceptance as a doctoral candidate;

2. if applicable, proof of fulfillment of the ancillary provisions specified in the notification of acceptance;

3. three bound copies of the dissertation in typescript or print and one copy in electronic form (USB stick or cloud or digital folder);

4. if applicable, proof of enrollment as a doctoral student (certificate of study progress);

5. written declarations in accordance with § 9 (1) sentence 2 no. 6 of the APromO:

• a sworn statement that the dissertation was written independently and without unauthorized assistance, and that all aids and sources used, as well as passages taken verbatim or paraphrased from other works, have been identified* (Appendix II of the APromO);
• a declaration that the dissertation has not already been submitted in the same or a similar version to this or another faculty for the purpose of obtaining an academic degree (Appendix III of the APromO);
• a declaration that the doctoral candidate has not already obtained the desired doctoral degree or a corresponding degree and that the award of this degree has not been definitively refused (see template);
• in the case of co-authorship, the doctoral candidate's own contribution must be stated in a declaration in accordance with § 9 (1) sentence 2 no. 6 of the APromO, in accordance with § 6 (1) sentence 4 of the FPromO. This declaration must also be attached to each bound and electronic copy of the dissertation as the last page and must be signed.

6. A list of all publications by the doctoral candidate that are related to the dissertation (see the form “Previous publications” in the case of a monographic dissertation (page 5 of the application) or the form “Publication-based dissertation” (page 6 of the application);

7. A summary in German of at least 5 pages if the dissertation is not written in German or English: in accordance with § 10 (2) sentence 2, clause 2 of the APromO.

Please submit the original signed application together with all the listed documents either in person or by mail to the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies.

In accordance with § 9 (2) sentence 1 of the APromO, the chair of the doctoral committee will usually decide on admission in writing within three months.

After admission to the doctoral examination, the reviewers are appointed. The reviews should generally be submitted four months after appointment. The reviewers examine whether the submitted work meets the requirements for a dissertation and propose a grade or rating.

Once both reviews have been received, they are made available for inspection and objection by the faculty members entitled to participate for a period of two weeks, together with the dissertation and the proposed grade. The display period will be announced at least one week before it begins. In accordance with § 7 (2) FPromO, copies of the reviews will be sent to the doctoral candidates as standard together with the written notification of the display period.

In accordance with § 7 (1) FPromO in conjunction with § 11 (3) sentence 2, clause 2 APromO, the dissertation may be made available for inspection in a digital folder with the consent of the doctoral candidate in agreement with the reviewers and upon submission of a corresponding declaration of consent.

Only after the end of the display and objection period and provided that no objection is raised by the persons entitled to participate from the faculty, the dissertation is considered accepted or not accepted.

This means that if all reviewers are in favor of accepting the dissertation and no objection is raised, the oral examination may take place no earlier than three weeks after the announcement of the display period.

Once the dissertation has been accepted, the doctoral examination committee will conduct the oral examination. According to § 11 (2) sentence 2 of the APromO, the oral examination should take place no later than three months after acceptance of the dissertation. Further details are regulated in § 8 of the FPromO.

To ensure that a suitable date can be found, please contact the Dean's Office to discuss the next steps.

After successfully completing the doctoral examination, the doctoral candidate is obliged to make the dissertation available to the scientific community by means of reproduction and distribution. Further details are regulated in § 10 of the FPromO. Further information can also be found in the publication guidelines compiled for you.

Only after fulfilling the publication requirement will a doctoral certificate entitling the holder to use the doctoral degree be issued. This will be sent to the doctoral candidate by mail.

The chair of the doctoral committee may grant revocable permission to use the doctoral degree earlier if the dissertation is to be published by a commercial publisher and the doctoral candidate can provide evidence of the conclusion of a publishing contract or other binding acceptance for publication by the publisher and also fulfills the other obligations in connection with the publication of the dissertation.

The application for admission to the doctoral examination (application of aproval) must be submitted once you have completed your dissertation and wish to submit it for review.

The following documents must be enclosed with the application:

1. a brief curriculum vitae in German or English detailing your academic career and doctoral project;
2. proof of successful participation in three advanced seminars in a subject area related to the doctoral subject (a bachelor's, master's, diploma, or admission thesis in the relevant subject is recognized as equivalent to an advanced seminar);
3. notification of acceptance as a doctoral candidate;
4. proof of eligibility to hold academic degrees (official certificate of good conduct or certificate of enrollment, if not exmatriculated for more than 3 months at the time of application, or certificate of employment in the public sector or with an equivalent employer);
5. Three typewritten copies of the dissertation with a signed, bound declaration (page 3 of the application) and an electronic version of the dissertation (on a USB stick or via cloud or digital folder);
6. (if the dissertation is not written in German or English:) two summaries in German, comprising approximately one tenth of the length of the dissertation.

Please submit the original signed application together with all the listed documents either in person or by mail to the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies.

After admission to the doctoral examination, the reviewers are appointed. The reviews should be submitted four months after appointment. The reviewers check whether the submitted work meets the requirements for a dissertation and propose a grade or rating. If both reviewers propose the grade “1* = summa cum laude (excellent)” for the submitted work, a third reviewer must be appointed. The third review must be submitted two months after the appointment.

Once all reviews have been received, they are made available for inspection by the persons authorized to conduct the examination for a period of two weeks, together with the dissertation and the proposed grade. The display period will be announced at least one week before it begins. In accordance with the decision of the Standing Doctoral Committee of April 2023, copies of the reviews will be sent to the doctoral candidates as standard together with the written notification of the display period.

After the end of the display period, the persons authorized to examine the dissertation may, within two weeks, raise an objection to the acceptance or rejection of the dissertation as well as to the proposed grade or rating.

Only after the end of the objection period and provided that no objection is raised will the dissertation be considered accepted or rejected. This means that if all reviewers are in favor of accepting the dissertation and no objection is raised, the oral examination may take place no earlier than five weeks after the announcement of the display period.

Once the dissertation has been accepted, the oral doctoral examination takes place. Further details are regulated in § 12 of the PromO 2013.

To ensure that a suitable date can be found, please contact the Dean's Office and discuss the further procedure.

After successfully completing the doctoral examination, the doctoral candidate is obliged to make the dissertation available to the scientific community by means of reproduction and distribution. Further details are regulated in § 15 of the PromO 2013. Further information can also be found in the publication guidelines compiled for you.

Only after fulfilling the publication requirement will a doctoral certificate entitling the holder to use the doctoral title be issued. This will be sent to the doctoral candidate by mail.

In exceptional cases (e.g., if a publishing contract for printing is available), the dean may grant permission to use the doctoral title in advance, subject to revocation. If the doctoral examination has been passed but the obligation to publish the dissertation in accordance with § 15 (1) of the PromO 2013 has not yet been fulfilled or the doctoral certificate has not yet been issued, an application may be made to the Standing Doctoral Committee to use the academic title of Doktorin designata or Doktor designatus (Dr. des.).