Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - School of Business and Economics

Use the extensive information available on the internet to find out what it means to do a doctorate. Talk to doctoral candidates and doctoral graduates about their experiences and seek advice if necessary. You should answer the following questions for yourself:

• What are my career goals? Is a doctorate necessary to achieve these goals?
• Do I enjoy working on a topic in depth? Which research areas interest me in particular? 
• How well can I deal with possible setbacks in my work?
• Is an individual doctorate or a doctorate in a structured program an option for me?
• What funding options are available to me?
• ...

In an individual doctorate, you work on a topic defined before admission to the doctorate and are supervised by at least two supervisors. Before applying for admission to doctoral studies, you must find these supervisors yourself and conclude a supervision agreement with them. To do this, you must contact potential supervisors independently by sending them a current CV and an exposé of your doctoral project. An individual doctorate can be started at any time. There is no curriculum (compulsory course program, etc.) for the individual doctorate.

When doing a doctorate in a structured doctoral program, you must complete a curriculum prescribed by the program in addition to the research work for your doctorate. It is only possible to start the doctorate at certain times, as new doctoral candidates are regularly selected in a structured process and accepted into the program. In the case of the Berlin School of Economics doctoral program, which is currently the only doctoral program at the Faculty, it is not necessary for you to have already determined your doctoral topic and found your doctoral supervisors before you are admitted to the program and doctorate at the Faculty, as this only takes place in the first year of program membership.

Please note that, depending on the doctoral field, not both types of doctorates are necessarily available at our faculty:

• Economics: Doctorate usually in a structured program
• Business Administration and Statistics and Econometrics: Doctorate possible as an individual doctorate and partly in a structured program
• Information Systems: Doctorate only possible as an individual doctorate

Please contact potential supervisors in your planned research area from the list of professors at the faculty to discuss possible supervision. When you first contact them, please also send them your CV and information about your planned research project for your doctorate (research proposal, if available). Once you have successfully found the supervisors for your doctoral project, you will conclude a supervision agreement with them and apply for admission to doctoral studies at the Faculty.

Please refer to the website of the desired doctoral program for information on its application process (application process of Berlin School of Economics PhD Program). If you have been accepted into a program, the program will support you with the admission to doctoral studies at the faculty.

According to the doctoral regulations, admission to doctoral studies is possible with a Bachelor's degree with the grade “very good” after an aptitude assessment procedure. Please contact the doctoral office in good time.

The doctoral work (dissertation and defense) can be completed in German or English in accordance with the doctoral degree regulations. As English is the predominant language in economics, this is also the predominant language in which the doctoral work is carried out. Proof of sufficient knowledge of English is not required for an individual doctorate. Structured doctoral programs may require such proof. Further information can be found on the relevant pages of the doctoral program.

If you are doing your doctorate in a structured doctoral program, you will receive a confirmation of admission from the program office after successfully completing the program's selection procedure. With this you can apply for admission to the doctorate at the Graduate Office.

For an individual doctorate, please first conclude a supervision agreement with your supervisors. You can then apply for admission to the doctorate at the Graduate Office.

Folgende Dokumente sind erforderlich:

• [04-F01] application for admission to doctoral studies
• [05-F01] supervision statement
• [05-M02] supervision agreement (see template)
• current cv
• all Bachelor AND Master degrees (certificates and transcripts)
• in case of structured doctoral program: Aufnahmebestätigung des Promotionsprogramms

All forms and templates are available for download in the HU box.

Please send all documents by e-mail to the Graduate Office (promotion.wiwi|at|hu-berlin.de). After the preliminary examination, you will be asked to submit the final documents (Bachelor's AND Master's certificates and transcripts) in the original or as an officially certified copy. If this is not possible, the Graduate Office may issue a 'provisional admission to doctoral studies' in justified exceptional cases. You must then submit the original documents within 6 months.

In the case of a foreign Master's degree, an equivalence proof is required before the letter of admission can be issued. This takes place within the university and will be arranged by the Graduate Office.

Unfortunately, the check can currently take up to 2 months. Therefore you are asked to submit your application documents to the Gradutate Office as early as possible.

After a successful equivalence proof, confirmation by the Doctoral Degree Board is required.

The Graduate Office will inform you about all necessary steps and deadlines.

In the case of a Master's degree from a different subject, confirmation from the Doctoral Degree Board is usually required. Please submit your application documents to the Graduate Office. The Graduate Office will inform you about all the necessary steps and deadlines.

You can apply for admission to doctoral studies as soon as you have successfully completed your Master's degree. If you have completed all examinations but have not yet received the certificate, the Graduate Office can issue a “provisional admission”. In this case, you will need to submit a proof that your Master's degree has been graded at least “good”.

Furthermore, the original final documents (certificate and transcript) must be submitted within 6 months.

Doctoral candidates are required to enrol at HU.

Exception: If you have an employment contract with the HU, a 'registration' (without the benefits of student status) with the SSC is sufficient. In this case, enrollment is optional. However, if your employment contract ends and you would still like to continue your doctorate, enrollment as a doctoral student is required in any case from the end of the employment contract.

You are obliged to matriculate or register within 4 weeks of the admission date. Otherwise your admission to doctoral studies will expire and you will have to apply again.

The responsible office is the Graduate Department of the Student Service Center (SSC). Further information can be found on the department's website.

IMPORTANT: After enrollment, please send a certificate of enrollment to the Graduate Office. In the case of 'registration', a short informal notification to the Gratuate Office is sufficient.

Yes, an application for an extension of the doctoral period can be submitted after consultation with the supervisor. Please complete it, let it sign by your supervisor and then send it by e-mail to the Graduate Office.

The Graduate Office then forwards the application directly to the SSC after it has been signed by the chairperson of the Doctoral Degree Board. You will get a notification.

In case of individual doctorate: Please write an (informal) letter signed by you and your supervisor in which you declare that you wish to terminate the supervisory relationship by mutual agreement, and send the letter to the Graduate Office. If mutual agreement is not possible, please contact one of the School's ombudspersons, who will endeavor to resolve the conflict.

In case of structured doctoral program: Please contact the office of your doctoral program with your concern.

In case of individual doctorate: Please conclude a supervision agreement with the second supervisor or add a supplementary agreement to the existing supervision agreement with the first supervisor. Inform the Graduate Office by enclosing a copy of the new supervision agreement.

In case of structured doctoral program: Please contact the office of your doctoral program with your request.

If you do not wish to move with your supervisor to her/his new institution to continue your doctorate there, the following applies:

Departing supervisors have the right to continue to supervise doctoral projects that have been started for up to 3 years after their departure and to participate in these doctoral procedures as faculty-internal reviewers. If you decide to continue your doctorate at our School, you must complete your doctoral project within 3 years (the date of submission of the dissertation is decisive). The same applies if your supervisor retires. An extension of the 3-year period is only possible in justified exceptional cases by resolution of the Doctoral Degree Board.

If you have a second supervisor who is an active member of our School, the doctoral project can be continued at the School even after the 3-year period has expired - with only one supervisor. If you want to appoint the former supervisor as an “external reviewer” at a later date, a resolution of the Doctoral Degree Board is required.

Please inform the Graduate office of your decision as to when you would like to discontinue your doctorate at our School.