Information for prospective doctoral students
Before Applying for Admission as a Doctoral Candidate
If you intend to pursue a doctorate at the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences, please first read the Faculty Doctoral Regulations (FPromO) and the General Doctoral Regulations (APromO) carefully. Familiarize yourself with the admission requirements and the legal framework of the procedure.
Please note: You must find a supervisor for your doctoral project at the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences before submitting your application for admission as a doctoral candidate.
You are welcome to approach the professors of our faculty independently for this purpose.
Questions regarding the administrative process
For administrative questions regarding your doctoral studies, please feel free to contact the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences.
Further Support
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.
Process
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)
Required Steps
1) Registration and Application via the Campus Portal
Please begin by submitting an application for admission via the Campus Portal. Kindly ensure that you have the documents listed below ready, as they must be uploaded as part of the application process.
Further information and guidance regarding registration and application can be found on the website of the Graduate Centre for Doctoral Candidates.
If you have any technical questions regarding the Campus Portal or doctoral management, please contact:
doc-management@uni-passau.de
2) Submission of Documents to the Dean’s Office
Once the application has been submitted online, the original signed application form along with all required documents must be submitted to the Dean’s Office either in person or by post.
Please note that your application can only be processed once all documents have been received in full.
The following documents must be enclosed with the application (in accordance with § 8 APromO and § 4 (1) FPromO):
- Certified copies of documents demonstrating fulfilment of the admission requirements pursuant to § 4 (1) FPromO (e.g. university degree certificate on the basis of which admission is requested; for foreign degrees, including Diploma Supplement and Transcript of Records). If the original documents are presented in person at the Dean’s Office, a confirmation of authenticity may be issued, making a certified copy unnecessary.
- Proof of three prior academic qualifications in the field of the intended doctorate pursuant to § 4 (3) FPromO (e.g. via a Transcript of Records).
- A declaration pursuant to § 8 (2) sentence 1 no. 2 APromO.
- A supervision agreement, signed by hand in original (only one copy required).
- The annex to the supervision agreement indicating the subject area of the doctorate, signed by hand in original (only one copy required).
- A curriculum vitae in German or English outlining your academic background.
- In justified cases, proof of German or English language proficiency.
In accordance with § 8 (4) sentences 1 and 2 APromO, the Standing Doctoral Committee will usually decide in writing on your admission 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. 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.
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);
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.
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).
The application for admission to the doctoral examination 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:
- A brief curriculum vitae in German or English, outlining your academic background and doctoral project;
- Proof of three prior academic qualifications in accordance with § 4 (3) FPromO, if not already submitted;
- Three printed copies of the dissertation in typescript, as well as one electronic version (on a USB stick or via cloud/digital folder).
Note: If a reviewer has formally waived the requirement for a printed copy, a digital version may be sent to the reviewer with the consent of the doctoral candidate. Accordingly, the number of printed copies to be submitted is reduced. However, at least one printed copy must always be provided for display and archiving by the faculty.
Please submit the original signed application along with all listed documents either in person or by post to the Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences.
The reviewers are appointed once the candidate has been admitted to the doctoral examination. The evaluations should be submitted four months after the appointment. The reviewers check whether the submitted work fulfils the requirements for a doctoral thesis and propose a grade or rating.
Once all evaluations 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 will receive copies of the evaluations together with the notification regarding the availability of the dissertation for public inspection.
The inspection period will be announced no later than one week before it begins.
During this time, individuals authorized to participate in the examination process may raise objections to the acceptance or rejection of the dissertation, as well as to the proposed grade or distinction.
If no objection is raised, the dissertation is considered accepted.
Please note: Due to legal requirements, the duration from submission of the dissertation to completion of the doctoral procedure is approximately six months.
Once the dissertation has been accepted, the Doctoral Examination Committee will conduct the oral examination.
Information regarding the procedure of the oral examination can be found in § 8 FPromO.
Please note: The disputation is open to members of the university only. Therefore, family members and individuals not affiliated with the university are not permitted to attend.
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 § 10 FPromO. For more information, read our notes on publication.
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 in a certified letter.
The Chair of the Board of Examiners for Doctoral Awards may, subject to revocation, grant permission to use the doctoral title prior to its official conferral if the dissertation is intended for publication in the book trade and the doctoral candidate provides proof of having concluded a publishing contract or other binding acceptance for publication by the publisher, and all other obligations related to the publication of the dissertation have been fulfilled, in accordance with § 14 (2) sentence 2 APromO.
Your Contacts
Dean's Office of the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences
Room: NK 222
Phone: +49 851 509 2601
Fax: +49 851 509 2602
dekanat@sobi.uni-passau.de
Office hours
Monday to Friday
9:00 to 12:00
and by appointment
Share this page
