Detailed information about admissions requirements, applications, supervisors, examinations, and related information can be found in the doctoral degree regulations.

Once you have completed your dissertation, on the University of Hohenheim’s doctorate portal you can submit a request for opening the doctoral process. You then sign it and submit it to the Dean's Office with the required documents.

The chair of the doctoral committee initiates the doctoral examination process:

• Appointing the examination board
• Evaluation of the dissertation by the reviewers
• The summary (German/English) and the reviews are forwarded to all professors, lecturers, and privatdocents working for the faculty.
• Oral examination consisting of a presentation open to the public and a non-public disputation/colloquium
• Evaluation and result of the doctorate
• If the oral examination is not passed, it may be repeated at the earliest after one month and at the latest after six months.
• Publication of the dissertation (within 12 months of the examination date)
• Certificate and use of the doctorate title

Before starting your work, check whether you fulfill the admission requirements for being accepted as a doctoral candidate. Please make sure gather information at an early stage. All regulations can be found in the doctoral degree regulations. Colleagues at the Graduate Academy will also be happy to advise you. The Graduate Academy is the central, cross-faculty institution to support all doctorates at the University of Hohenheim. It administers the doctoral procedures and is responsible for supervision and quality assurance at the interdisciplinary level.

You can submit your application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate online via the University of Hohenheim’s doctorate portal. Please sign and return the completed application, along with the required documents, to the Graduate Academy.

If you completed your studies abroad, then after you have submitted your request the Office of International Affairs will check whether your degrees entitle you to start doctoral work. For this process, please submit the certificates for all university degrees (e.g. Bachelor’s, Master’s, Diplom) and the respective transcripts of records. If your certificates are not in German, English, or French, submit them both as an officially certified translation and in the original language. The certified translation seals must bear both the signature and the official seal (with emblem) of the authority authorized to certify the translation.

The decision about your acceptance as a doctoral candidate is made by the doctoral committee. You will be informed in writing about the decision (approval or rejection).

If approved, you will have the opportunity to enroll in the Doctoral Degree Program in Natural Sciences, which you can complete as you prepare your dissertation (more information below).

In very rare cases, there might be a dispute between supervisor and doctoral candidate that cannot be solved to mutual agreement by themselves. In these cases, the ombudsperson of the Faculty of Natural Sciences is the first contact. The ombudsperson will try to mediate between the persons involved and to smooth out the dispute. If even this step should not be of success, the ombudsperson reports to the dean of the faculty about the dispute.

Both supervisor and doctoral candidate can contact the ombudsperson in case of dispute.

The ombudsperson is appointed by the doctoral committee. The term of office is related to the mandate of the doctoral committee and actually settled on four years.

In the academic year 2023/24, accepted doctoral students of the Faculty of Natural Sciences will again have the opportunity to apply for a grant for participation in research conferences.

Please note:

Only conferences taking place between November 2023 and October 2024 will be funded. A grant can only be awarded for participation fees and travel costs (travel and flight), not for accommodation costs.

We look forward to supporting you in your participation in research conferences!

To apply for a travel grant, please submit the following form by June 30, 2024

Application for a travel grant

Please also attach a brief explanation of the connection between the event and the doctoral project.

Please send both in digital form to promotionnatur@uni-hohneheim.de.

After June 30, 2024, the Dean's Office will review the applications received and decide to what extent a grant can be approved. Only travel expenses that have been approved in the course of this process can then be settled. We will inform you of this separately.

In order to reduce the administrative burden, this year for the first time there will be no rebooking requests. The amounts will be allocated directly to the respective institute after approval.

Please submit the documents for refunding costs to the Dean's Office as soon as possible after the trip, but no later than October 31.

Incomplete and/or late applications cannot be considered in either case.

If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Aberut at promotionnatur@uni-hohenheim.de.

On the website "Service", we have compiled the most important documents for you, i.e. applications, documents, forms and flyers, among other things, on the subject of doctorate. You will also find helpful links here.