Information for prospective doctoral students
If you wish to do a doctorate at the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences, please first read the Subject-Specific Doctoral Degree Regulation (FPromO) and the General Doctoral Degree Regulation (APromO) carefully to learn about the acceptance requirements and the legal framework of the procedure. Please note that you must find a supervisor for your doctoral research project at the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences before you can apply for acceptance as a doctoral candidate.
The Dean's Office of the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences will be happy to answer any administrative questions regarding doctoral study.
The Graduate Centre is the University's first port of call for general and interdisciplinary questions relating to doctoral study and offers advice as you start out on your doctoral journey. It also advises on funding opportunities before and during your doctoral study and offers a range of continuing education and qualification measures.
Below you will find important administrative information and all application forms and templates for your doctoral procedure. Please also carefully read the Doctoral Degree Regulation that applies to you as well as the statements and information from the Board of Examiners for Doctoral Awards.
All new applications for acceptance as a doctoral candidate are governed by the Subject-Specific Doctoral Degree Regulation of the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences of 24 March 2023 (FPromO) in conjunction with the General Doctoral Degree Regulation of 3 August 2018, as amended on 1 December 2020 (APromO)
Process steps
After you have informed yourself of the acceptance requirements and legal framework and have found a supervisor for your doctoral research project, you must submit a written application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate.
The following documents must be enclosed with the application in accordance with § 8 APromO and § 4 FPromO:
- supporting documents certifying fulfilment of the admission requirements as set forth under § 4(1) FPromO in the form of certified true copies (degree certificate issued by a university on the basis of which the application for admission is being made; for non-German university degree certificates, a Diploma Supplement and Transcript of Records must additionally be provided)
- supporting documents certifying previous qualifications in the doctoral subject in accordance with § 4(3) FPromO
- a declaration pursuant to § 8(2) sentence 1 no. 2 APromO
- form for data collection for the purpose of compiling the doctoral student statistic according to Art. 4 BayHIG;
- an original supervision agreementsigned by hand
- appendix to the supervision agreement indicating the subject in which the doctorate is to be carried out – original document, signed by hand
- a curriculum vitae in German or English with a description of the candidate's academic development
- in duly justified cases: proof of German or English language skills
Please submit the original signed application together with all listed documents either in person or by post to the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences.
Pursuant to § 8(4) sentences 1 and 2 APromO, the Board of Examiners for Doctoral Awards decides on admission in writing, usually 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 all year round if desired. Enrolment offers you a number of benefits, including a university e-mail address and CampusCard. The Graduate Centre has compiled detailed information on enrolment and alternative arrangements for you. If you have any questions about the enrolment process, please contact the Student Registration Office.
Doctoral thesis
The form of the doctoral thesis is regulated in § 6 FPromO and must be agreed between the doctoral candidate and the supervisor in the supervision agreement. Generally, a doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences of the University of Passau may be submitted in the following formats:
1. as a previously unpublished monograph. Please note the statement of the Board of Examiners for Doctoral Awards on prior publication (monographs) [German content].
2. as a publication-based thesis that is equivalent to a monograph. The minimum number of articles to be published must be specified in the annex to the supervision agreement. Please read our notes on publication-based doctoral theses [German content].
3. as part of a jointly authored thesis (joint doctoral procedure). Please be aware that, before you can commence work on the thesis, the Board of Examiners for Doctoral Awards must formally confirm the suitability of a topic for a joint doctoral thesis at the applicant's and the supervisor's request and after hearing them.
As a general rule, the thesis must be written in German or English; the Board of Examiners for Doctoral Awards can, however, decide to allow other languages. For this purpose, the candidate should apply in writing to the doctoral Board of Examiners for Doctoral Awards (no specific form; a simple letter is sufficient).
Submission of the doctoral thesis, application for admission
The application for admission [German content] to the doctoral examination must be submitted once you have completed your doctoral thesis and would now like to submit it for appraisal.
The following documents must be enclosed with the application:
- a short curriculum vitae in German or English along with an account of the candidate's academic development and the doctoral project;
- proof of successful participation in three advanced seminars (Hauptseminar) in a field of study related to the subject area of the doctorate (dissertations/theses written for an undergraduate or postgraduate degree programme considered equivalent to an advanced seminar if they were written in the relevant subject area);
- the notice of acceptance as a doctoral candidate;
- proof of the applicant having been found worthy of using academic degrees by an official certificate of good conduct or enrolment certificate, if the applicant has been de-registered for a period in excess of three months at the time of application and is not employed in public service or with an equivalent employer;
- three bound typewritten or print copies of the doctoral thesis, which must include a signed written assurance (see p. 3 of the application), as well as an electronic copy (to be submitted on a USB flash drive or via Cloud or a digital folder);
- (if the doctoral thesis is not written in German or English:) two summaries in German, which make up about one tenth of the length of the doctoral thesis.
Please submit the original signed application together with all listed documents either in person or by post to the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences.
The referees are appointed once the candidate has been admitted to the doctoral examination. The appraisals should be submitted four months after the appointment. The referees check whether the submitted work fulfils the requirements for a doctoral thesis and propose a grade or rating. If both referees propose the grade "1* = summa cum laude (excellent)" for the submitted thesis, a third referee must be appointed. The third appraisal should be submitted two months after the appointment.
Once all appraisals have been received, they are made available for inspection by the authorised examiners for a period of two weeks, together with the doctoral thesis and the proposed grade. The doctoral candidate can also inspect the appraisals during this time. The display period will be announced at least one week before the start of the display. After the end of the display period, the authorised examiners may lodge an objection to the acceptance or rejection of the doctoral thesis and the proposed grade or rating within two weeks.
If no objections are raised after the end of the objection period, the doctoral thesis deemed to have been accepted or rejected.
This means that if all referees are in favour of accepting the doctoral thesis and no objections are raised, the oral examination may take place at the earliest five weeks after the announcement of the submission deadline.
If the doctoral thesis has been accepted, the doctoral examining committee will conduct the oral examination. The oral examination should take place no later than three months after acceptance of the doctoral thesis in accordance with § 11(2) sentence 2 APromO. Further details are regulated in § 7 FPromO.
Please contact the Dean's Office and discuss the next steps to facilitate scheduling.
Publication and doctoral degree certificate
Upon successfully completing the doctoral examination, the doctoral candidate is obliged to make the doctoral thesis available to the academic public by reproducing and disseminating it. Further details are regulated in § 9 FPromO. For more information, read our notes on publication [German content].
A doctoral certificate authorising the use of the doctoral degree will only be issued once the publication obligation has been fulfilled. This is sent to the doctoral candidate by post.
The Chair of the Board of Examiners for Doctoral Awards may, subject to revocation, permit the doctoral degree to be awarded in advance if the doctoral thesis is to be published by a publishing house and the doctoral candidate provides evidence of the conclusion of the publishing contract or other binding acceptance for publication by the publishing house and the other obligations in connection with the publication of the doctoral thesis are also fulfilled.
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