How to become a Ph.D. student?

Here you will find the process how to become a Ph.D. student. Please don't sent general requests to the dean's office. Just follow the steps explained below.

Make sure you fulfill the admission requirements

The admission to the doctoral studies program PHYSICS is regulated by the doctoral degree regulations for the mathematics and natural sciences graduate school - Georg-August-University School of Science (GAUSS). There are no official application deadlines. The precondition for the admission is the successful completion of a consecutive master degree programme in a relevant field of mathematics and natural sciences with a standard course length of at least one year and a total study time of at least four years, the successful completion of a degree course relevant to mathematics and natural sciences with a standard course length of at least eight semesters or proof of an equivalent degree at a German university or at a university in a country belonging to the Bologna signatory states.
Degrees from countries outside the Bologna Signatory States, require the assessment of equivalence.

Find an Advisor and a Dissertation Topic

In addition you need a written declaration by an authorised examining member that he or she shall accept and supervise you ("Betreuungszusage").
You need to have a very good idea of what general research area you would like to persue. The research done in the Faculty covers practically the whole range of physical sub-fields, from particle physics to cosmology and from pure theory to hands-on experimental physics: a detailed list of research activities of the Faculty is available in this booklet.
Contact one of the professors or accredited docents of physics directly. The more you know about their activities and how you would fit into their research programme the better your chance at beeing accepted.

Form your thesis committee

After your eligibility has been checked and you have an advisor and dissertation topic, you need to assemble together with your advisor a thesis-committee of at least three eligible persons (min. PhD), at least one of which must be an authorised examining member (normally your advisor) of Physics. Please make sure that there aren't any dependencies between them (e.g. boss - employee or coauthors).

Submit your formal admissions forms to the dean's office

Please follow the steps at the GAUSS Website.

Find Funding

Independed from the formal admission you need funding to cover your living expenses. Your potential thesis advisor should be able to help you find the appropriate funding but may or may not have a funded position available. Some doctoral positions are available that are funded by external agencies like the German Research Foundation ("Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft", DFG) or the Max-Planck Society (e.g. IMPRES). You can obtain your own funding from external agencies that provide scholarships (e.g. the German Academic Exchange Service, "Deutsche akademische Austauschdienst", or DAAD).