cologne university phd

Official Regulations

All documents covering the procedures and examination regulations for the PhD are available on the pages of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.  In particular, we recommend the step-by-step guide from registering in Docfile to publishing the thesis.

For questions regarding Docfile please have a look at the FAQ page of the AMC.

UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE

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a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne

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University of Cologne

The University of Cologne is a modern university in the heart of Europe. Academic excellence, internationality and widely varied curricula create a vibrant and inspiring environment for students, scientists and scholars. The University of Cologne has six Faculties covering a broad spectrum of disciplines and has developed internationally outstanding research profile areas on this basis.

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59 English Study Programs at University of Cologne

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University of Cologne

The University of Cologne, officially known as the University of Cologne, is one of the oldest and largest universities in Germany. Founded in 1388, it has a rich history spanning six centuries. As a public university, it offers a wide range of academic programmes to its more than 50,000 students. Located in the vibrant city of Cologne, Germany, the university's urban campus is close to major landmarks such as the famous Cologne Cathedral. The campus environment is a blend of historic buildings and modern facilities, providing students with a unique and inspiring learning environment. The University of Cologne is renowned for its comprehensive academic offerings across six faculties: Business, Economics and Social Sciences; Law; Medicine; Arts and Humanities; Mathematics and Natural Sciences; and Humanities. It is particularly strong in areas such as economics, law and the humanities.

It  also boasts several interdisciplinary research centres, including the CECAD (Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-associated Diseases) cluster of excellence and the Cologne Centre for Genomics. The University of Cologne consistently performs well in international rankings. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2022) and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Ranking, 2021) place it among the top 200 universities worldwide. Nationally, it is recognised as one of the eleven Universities of Excellence in Germany.

The University is proud of its distinguished alumni and faculty, including several Nobel Laureates and Leibniz Prize winners. Notable alumni have made significant contributions in a variety of fields, including politics, business and the arts. For example, the renowned composer Karlheinz Stockhausen studied at the University of Cologne.

What sets the University of Cologne apart is its strong commitment to research and innovation. With numerous collaborative research centres and a thriving start-up culture, the university fosters an environment that encourages entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer. In addition, its location in Cologne, a major economic and cultural centre, provides students with ample opportunities for internships, networking and career development.

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List of English-taught Study Programs offered by University of Cologne

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Frequently asked questions about doctoral research at TH Köln

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Mirjam Heetkamp

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Doctoral Programs

The TH Köln pursues the goal of promoting young academics and improving the quality and framework conditions of cooperative doctorates. "Doctoral Programs" have been established as part of this further development of doctoral structures.

Definition of a doctoral program

• A doctoral program is a documented and structured program with a thematic focus.
• The establishment is possible across faculties. At least two professors and five doctoral researchers are part of a doctoral program.
• As part of a doctoral program, thematic qualification courses are offered for doctoral candidates, which are put together individually with the doctoral candidate. In addition, further components of a doctoral program must be documented (from the spheres: supervision, thematic work, disciple-related qualification offers, qualification across other sectors and additional further education).

Doctoral programs of the TH Köln

Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics

The Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (ITT) at Cologne University of Applied Sciences aims to enable people of various technical and cultural backgrounds to better solve the complex issues related to environmental problems. Show more

Institute for Data Science, Engineering, and Analytics

Scientists from the disciplines of computer science, mathematics, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, statistics, automation and electrical engineering work in the strongly interdisciplinary institute IDE + A. The institute was founded to make research results from the fields of data science, AI and ML usable in practice. Show more

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The Republic of North Ossetia-Alania shares a federal border with South Ossetia which is recognised by Russia and a few other states as an independent country, but most view it as part of Georgia. Both Ossetias make up the home of the Ossetians - a people who are descended from the Alans (hence the addition of Alania in the republic’s name) and speak Ossetian, a language belonging to the Iranian family of languages. The Ossetians are predominantly Orthodox Christian.

The republic’s capital is Vladikavkaz which was founded in 1784 as a Russian fortress during the Russian conquest of the Caucasus. Its name translates as ‘Lord of the Caucasus’.

Several Western governments advise against all but essential travel to the republic due to safety concerns and risks of terrorism.

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Nosu stands for north ossetian state university (vladikavkaz, republic of north ossetia-alania, russia).

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UNIVERSITÄT ZU KÖLN International

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International International

  Finding accomodation in Cologne is difficult! Find out about the housing situation as early as possible on our  websites  and get in touch with students from Cologne .  

  Prospective Doctoral Students

Information for international graduates interested in earning a doctorate in Cologne

  The University of Cologne offers numerous opportunities to obtain a doctorate: in structured programmes , in the traditional German individual doctorate under supervision as well as in cooperation with non-university research institutions .

"German PhDs have an excellent reputation and are internationally recognised."

Structured vs. individual PhD    

Range of studies.

Browse through the websites of the Albertus Magnus Center (AMC)  to learn about the possibilities at the University of Cologne or contact the faculties directly:

Albertus Magnus Center for Early Career Researchers

Graduate Schools and Doctoral Programs

Doctoral studies at the university of cologne, 1. general requirements, general requirements for recognition of your university degree:.

• Meeting the requirements for a PhD program at your university in your home country
• Completion of at least 4 years at an university followed by an exam and usually a Master thesis.

German language proficiency

Generally, you can earn your PhD in  German  and  English  at all faculties. In case you want to persue your doctorate in any other language than German please be aware that some faculties require an application and the approval of the supervisor.

Please confirm with your doctoral advisor

a)    which language you want to write your dissertation in

b)    which language your oral examination (Disputatio or Rigorosum) will take place in.

2. PhD / MD Regulations

Please inform yourself about your PhD / MD program requirements and process by carefully reading the regulations for the degree of your choice. For certain programs you need to have particular language skills or participate in doctoral student courses or lectures.

Below you will find the PhD regulations for each faculty:

Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences

• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Medicine
• Faculty of Arts and Humanities
• Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
• Faculty of Human Sciences

3. Contacting Your Doctoral Advisor

If you decide to pursue an individual PhD at the University of Cologne, you will need a doctoral advisor ("Doktorvater","Doktormutter").

Professors who can fulfill this function may be found on the web pages of the individual faculties. Please contact the desired advisor as early as possible.

When you contact a potential doctoral advisor, please enclose the following documents:

• Complete C.V.
• Description of your scientific research development
• Draft/outline of your research project.

If the professor accepts you as a doctoral advisee, he or she will issue a confirmation of academic supervision.

4. Contacts in the Faculties

https://cgs.uni-koeln.de/en/doctoral-phd-programmes

Contact: Ms Astrid Greuel Phone: +49-221-470-3213 E-Mail: [email protected]

  Graduate School of the Faculty of Law

https://www.jura.uni-koeln.de/7229.html?&L=1

Contact: Dr. Tatiana Chekushina Phone: +49-221-470-6204 E-Mail: jura-promotion(at)uni-koeln.de

  Faculty of Medicine

  faculty of arts and humanities - central phd office of a.r.t.e.s. graduate school for the humanities cologne.

http://artes.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/18302.html?&L=1

Contact: N.N. Phone: +49-221-470-1259 E-Mail: [email protected]

  Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

https://mathnat.uni-koeln.de/en/phd

  Faculty of Human Sciences

http://hf-promotionen.uni-koeln.de/31554.html?&L=1

Contact: Ms Karin Schüller Phone: +49-221-470-4619 E-Mail: [email protected]

5. Application

The application processes at the different Faculties vary. Please inform yourself on the respective websites or contact the contact persons at the Faculties, view point 4.

6. Enrollment

After receiving the admission from the responsible Doctoral Office, you can enroll at the International Office of the University of Cologne.

Checklist for enrollment for doctoral students

Mail account Every registered doctoral student has a student e-mail account . The mail address of the account is composed of the name of the student account and the ending "@smail.uni-koeln.de" (e.g. Max Mustermann has the mail address "[email protected]). In your own interest, you are obliged to regularly read your mails in this account, as all university communication runs via this address and you receive important information via this address (e.g. about upcoming exmatriculations due to non-payment). You will not receive any information on your "uni-koeln.de" account.

[email protected]  

For e-mail enquiries please use our contact form . Address: Universität zu Köln Dezernat Internationales, Team Zulassung Studierenden Service Center, EG Universitätsstr. 22a 50937 Köln SSC (Student Service Center) < ground floor Mailing address: Universität zu Köln Dezernat 9 Internationales, Team Zulassung Albertus-Magnus-Platz 50923 Köln Service Point and telephone availability: General enquiries: Opening hours: Mondays till fridays  9:30 am - 12:30 pm wednesdays 1:30 - 3:30 pm Telephone: 0221-470-7797 Personal consultation (digital and in presence) with appointment booking/registration: Prospective students - Bachelor/State Examination (for non-EU citizens): tuesdays (in presence, address above) 10 am  - 12:30 pm ( registration ) wednesdays (digital, zoom) 4 pm - 6 pm ( registration ) Prospective students - Bachelor/State Examination (for EU citizens and and citizens on equal terms, Germans with foreign Entrance Qualification): tuesdays (in presence, address above) 10 am  - 12:30 pm ( registration ) wednesdays (digital, zoom) 4 pm - 6 pm ( registration ) Prospective students - Master: By appointment:  ( registration ) Prospective Doctoral Students: Faculty of Management, Economis and Social Science; Faculty of Law, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Faculty of Human Sciences tuesdays (in presence, address above) 10 am  - 12:30 pm ( registration ) wednesdays (digital, zoom) 4 pm - 6 pm ( registration ) Faculty of Medicine tuesdays (in presence, address above) 10 am  - 12:30 pm ( registration ) wednesdays (digital, zoom) 4 pm - 6 pm ( registration )

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UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE

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Department of Geography

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

The Ph.D. is a different kind of degree from the master’s degree. A doctoral candidate in geography must be capable of making original contributions to knowledge and scholarship. For the students to make such contributions, they must concentrate on a narrow and clearly defined field of study. We require, however, that doctoral candidates know more of geography than their particular specialties; thus, any aspirant for a doctorate must obtain master’s training or its equivalent before being admitted to doctoral candidacy. In short, admission to doctoral candidacy is official recognition that a student’s general foundation in the breadth of geography is satisfactory. Students then devote their attention to developing depth in chosen specialties.

The general requirements for a doctoral degree in geography are more rigorous than those for a master’s degree. At the same time, the greater flexibility of the doctoral program allows advanced students to pursue programs of study tailored to their special interests and needs.

Progress through the degree is marked by: 

• Successful performance in a verbal qualifying exam; 
• Four-day written comprehensive exam, with a verbal portion after the written answers have been assessed by the committee;  
• Formal dissertation proposal; and 
• Verbal defense of a completed dissertation.

The four-year Ph.D. program is reserved for students who have a master’s degree from another graduate program. That can be another geography program at another university, a non-geography program at another university, or a non-geography program at Penn State.

Students entering the four-year Ph.D. program must take the doctoral qualifying exam in their first year. A committee from three of the four fields of geography and formally appointed by the Graduate Program Officer will administer the qualifying exam. The qualifying exam can take place any time during the year, but students in the four-year Ph.D. program typically take it during spring semester.

Students in the four-year Ph.D. program complete a comprehensive exam and defend their dissertation proposal in the second year. Depending on the needs of their research, and in agreement with their doctoral committee, students can fulfill these two requirements in either order. Once students have successfully passed their comprehensive exam and defended their proposal, they typically take two years to research, write, and defend their dissertations.

Our online Graduate Student Handbook explains the program requirements for all degrees.

Aug. 19, 2024

Musical powerhouses strengthen offerings at rice’s shepherd school of music, cristian măcelaru appointed distinguished visiting artist, while patrick summers joins as distinguished lecturer in opera studies.

Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music is celebrating the appointment of alumnus Cristian Măcelaru and the addition of opera luminary Patrick Summers to its faculty. Măcelaru will serve as distinguished visiting artist from the 2025-26 season through 2027-28, building on the conductor’s array of international roles in classical music. Summers, the artistic and music director of Houston Grand Opera (HGO), will assume the role of distinguished lecturer in opera studies, collectively bringing unparalleled expertise and a deep commitment to nurturing the next generation of musical talent.

Măcelaru, who studied with the late Larry Rachleff and received degrees from Rice in 2006 and 2008, is currently the music director of the Orchestre National de France and music director designate of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra . He recently led the Orchestre National de France in the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics. He also serves as artistic director of the George Enescu International Festival and Competition, artistic director and principal conductor of the Interlochen Center for the Arts’ World Youth Symphony Orchestra, music director and conductor of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and chief conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester in Cologne, Germany, where he will serve through the 2024-25 season and continue as artistic partner for the 2025-26 season. In 2020, Măcelaru received a GRAMMY® Award for conducting the Decca Classics recording of Wynton Marsalis’ violin concerto with Nicola Benedetti and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

With this new appointment, Măcelaru continues his work as an enthusiastic mentor and advocate for young musicians that includes his work with the Interlochen Center, his programs for young musicians and families at the Cabrillo Festival and the master classes he leads at the George Enescu Festival.

“It’s no secret to those who know me that I have always placed an important focus on education and meeting young musicians at all stages of their artistic development,” Mӑcelaru said. “I’m very happy to be more involved working with the highly accomplished young artists at the Shepherd School.”

In his annual residencies, Mӑcelaru will collaborate with Distinguished Resident Director of Orchestras Miguel Harth-Bedoya on a range of activities, including coaching ensembles, judging competitions, workshopping new compositions, guiding mock auditions, participating in special projects and helping to mentor both undergraduate and graduate students.

“Cristian Mӑcelaru’s return to the Shepherd School is a homecoming we’ve all been eagerly anticipating,” said Shepherd School Dean Matthew Loden. “Cristi is a brilliant musician and having him at Shepherd in a more official, ongoing capacity solidifies our commitment to attracting the world’s best talent for our students. We are honored to welcome him back to his musical alma mater to guide the next generation of musicians.”

Shepherd School audiences will have the privilege of experiencing his artistry firsthand when he conducts the Shepherd School Orchestras next February.

Summers, who has previously lectured in the Shepherd School’s Advanced Opera Studies course on subjects such as the history of opera and important historic singers, has also conducted operas for the Shepherd School such as Floyd’s “Susannah” and Handel’s “Agrippina” for the opening of Rice’s Brockman Hall for Opera. In his new role at Rice, Summers will collaborate closely with Joshua Winograde , director of opera studies, and opera students at the Shepherd School.

“The Shepherd School has a long history of engaging classical music’s most illustrious and innovative talent in leadership and faculty posts, and so having Patrick as a lecturer for our students is thrilling for us, and yet it feels only natural,” Winograde said. “He is an opera industry artist, educator, mentor and scholar like no other on Earth. As a graduate of the now Butler Studio of Houston Grand Opera, I was myself the beneficiary of Patrick’s unprecedented mentorship in all areas of opera and classical singing. It is a dream come true for our students to learn from and to develop a meaningful relationship with someone like Patrick who is so deeply connected to the global opera scene and responsible for so much of the success of one of America’s most important opera houses down the street from us. Patrick’s expertise and passion for opera will be an invaluable asset to our program.”

“I am thrilled to be joining Joshua Winograde’s new team at the Shepherd School’s Opera Studies program,” Summers said. “These brilliant young artists are part of opera’s future, and my task is to bring alive for them opera’s past, to give a sense of the legacy into which they are emerging. I am very excited to get started.”

Summers brings a wealth of experience with him, having served as HGO’s artistic director since 2011 and its music director since 1998. His notable achievements at HGO include conducting the company’s first complete cycle of Wagner’s Ring, the Verdi Requiem and the American premiere of Weinberg’s Holocaust opera “The Passenger.” Summers has also collaborated on numerous world premieres, including works by Tarik O’Regan, André Previn and Jake Heggie.

Beyond HGO, Summers has conducted for Opera Australia, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Metropolitan Opera. He has a long-standing relationship with the San Francisco Opera, where he was awarded the San Francisco Opera Medal in 2015. Summers is also co-artistic director of the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS.

Learn more about the Shepherd School of Music here .