The chair supervises doctoral theses, preferably within the scope of its main research areas. This page provides information about starting a doctoral programme, the requirements for a doctoral degree, and the supervision formats offered by the chair. On the subpages, you will find current job advertisements and information about ongoing and completed doctoral theses.

There are various contexts in which a doctorate is possible.

The chair publishes

• job advertisements that enable a doctorate
• doctoral topics without an associated position.

You can find the current vacancies → on the corresponding subpage.

Finally, you can also submit a cold application for a topic of your choice. An application is particularly promising if it is compatible with the chair's main areas of research.

The basis for the decision on whether you will be admitted to the doctoral programme is the preparation of an abstract. This document, which should be no longer than 15 pages, outlines the research questions you wish to address, the theories on which you will base your work, the methods you will use, and the time frame in which you plan to complete your research. You do not need to have a finished abstract in order to apply. We will assist you in writing the abstract, but the decision on whether to accept or reject your doctoral programme application will only be made after this step has been completed.

If you are accepted for a doctoral candidate at the chair, you can enroll as a doctoral student at the university. Further information can be found at → the website of Uni Passau.

As part of your doctoral studies, you must attend additional seminars. We expect one of these seminars to focus on research methodology; you can complete one of these assignments as part of the research colloquium (see below).

You are free to choose additional seminars based on your interests.

The basic requirements for an admission as a doctoral candidate at the University of Passau have to be met (https://www.uni-passau.de/en/apply/enrolment/enrolment-as-a-doctoral-candidate). This includes a completed degree in a subject related to the research questions (e.g. education, history, cultural studies, sociology, teaching) that is recognized by the university.

Applicants are expected to carry out their project independently and to have basic methodological knowledge. Practical or theoretical preparatory work on the dissertation topic is helpful.

You will receive intensive supervision during your doctoral studies at the chair.

The main format of supervision is the research colloquium, which is held bilingually in German and English and which you are required to attend throughout your doctoral studies. During the semester, the research colloquium usually meets every other week. There is an alternating schedule of main and in-depth sessions.

The entire group meets in the main sessions. In these sessions, doctoral candidates present their project progress to the entire group, either in presentations or in text discussions, and receive feedback from their peers and the supervisory team.

In the in-depth sessions, individual questions, such as those concerning the theoretical design or methodological structure of the doctoral thesis, can be explored in greater depth in smaller settings. In addition, a themed workshop is held once per semester.

As part of the research colloquium, you must present the progress of your doctoral thesis each semester. Assuming a standard duration of three years for a doctoral thesis, the following examples illustrate the presentation of project progress.

The first year is primarily devoted to deepening your theoretical background and acquiring the necessary methodological knowledge. Accordingly, the following assignments are planned:

• Introduction of yourself and abstract
• Presentation on your research question and theory
• Text section on theory

You can receive one of the certificates required for your doctoral studies for the combination of presentation and text section on the theories underlying your doctoral thesis.

In the second year, you will finalise the methodological structure of your doctoral thesis and collect empirical data. Therefore, the following tasks are planned:

• Presentation of research design and methodology
• Presentation of initial findings

The third year is used to finalise the data collection and discuss your results. You must also prepare to defend your doctoral thesis. The following tasks are therefore required:

• Presentation on your results and their discussion
• Mock defence

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