Planning a doctorate

You can realise your doctorate in different ways – depending on the research field, the research project or the faculty you will belong to: You can realise your doctoral project as an (individually supervised) research project or become a member of a structured doctoral programme. Structured doctoral programmes are offered by the faculties, doctoral training groups or collaborative research groups at RUB. 

Under the roof of the university-wide graduate school RUB-RS we encourage all doctoral candidates at RUB to participate in a structured doctoral training programme that can be specified and designed according to the needs of the individual research projects and research qualifications. You will be supported by a broader, interdisciplinary research qualification and be integrated in a research exchange beyond disciplines.  

In all these cases your doctoral research project will be supervised by a first supervisor who is responsible for all scientific details and should provide the necessary research environment/equipment. A second supervisor is in most doctoral regulations at RUB obligatory.

To start your doctorate at RUB you should – as a rule - have a very good qualification equivalent to a Master’s Degree or Diploma on university level completed after eight semesters of study. In exceptional cases you may also be accepted with a very good Bachelor’s degree (fast-track programme). 

If you have a degree from a university or research institute outside of Germany or finished your studies in a research subject that is not represented at RUB you should ask for recognition of your final study degree at the respective faculty after you have found a supervisor (see also “Successful start of your doctorate” on this webpage).

As a rule you should have good English or German language knowledge – depending on the research project and research environment you are interested in. It could be helpful if you can document this by a language certificate if you are no native speaker.

You will find a detailed description of all formal requirements, responsibilities and procedures of a doctorate in the doctoral regulations of the faculties. The faculties are responsible for all formalities concerning the doctorate. 

• Please note that you are not directly accepted as doctoral candidate at RUB if you meet the formal requirements of the doctoral regulations. At first you have to find a supervisor and then follow the next steps to start your doctoral project at RUB. The formal requirements are a prerequisite to do a doctoral project at RUB. 

• If you have general questions concerning the formal requirements of a doctorate after you checked the doctoral regulations of the respective faculty you might contact the Central Coordination Office of RUB-RS:

  Dr. Ursula Justus (Ursula.justus@rub.de)

The most important step to start a doctoral project at RUB is to find a supervisor at our university. Supervising a doctoral project is an individual agreement by both – the doctoral candidate and the supervisor. Therefore, we would like to recommend you to contact a potential supervisor on your own initiative and explore the opportunities for a doctoral project. You should contact the potential supervisor personally (we recommend to send an email) and ask for supervision by presenting your academic performance, your research interest and academic goals and outline the research project/ field you are interested in. You can also make use of the contact form we developed to facilitate your presentation to a supervisor by summing up the most important information. In addition, you can send 1-2 pages describing your research interest more detailed.

To get in contact with a supervisor we recommend you the following steps: 

1. get an overview over the research fields and areas at our university
2. decide for yourself which professor you would like to contact to supervise your doctorate
3. get acquainted with the information from the faculties and institutes about the doctoral degree regulations by checking the faculty’s website
4. you can use the contact form or write an individual email to get in contact with a potential supervisor

We would like to recommend you to take care for some important organizational steps to start your doctoral project at RUB:

1.  Each faculty has it’s own doctoral regulations. They outline the requirements, responsibilities and procedures of a doctorate. You will find these regulations on the website of each faculty. Please check these regulations at the beginning of your doctorate. If you have questions please contact the Dean’s Office of the respective faculty.
   
   
2. In nearly all faculties you should apply for acceptance as a doctoral candidate right at the beginning of your doctorate. You will find a detailed description of the application in the doctoral regulations of the faculty. If you have questions please contact the Dean’s Office of the respective faculty.
   
   
3. An important question is the recognition of your final university degree in case you did not finish your study courses at RUB or finished in a subject that is not represented at RUB. Please check the doctoral regulations of the respective faculty for first information and contact the Dean’s Office for detailed information.
   
   
4. After you are accepted as doctoral candidate at the faculty you can enroll as doctoral candidate at RUB at the Registrar's Office.
   
   
5. Regulations of structured doctoral programmes: If you take part in a structured doctoral programme please check the regulations of your programme as soon as possible (like IGB, GSCB, IGSN, faculty-wide programmes in philosophy etc.). 

• Here you will find the doctorate regulations of the faculties.
  Here you will find the 20 faculties at RUB.

• If any unanswered questions are left how to plan or start your research project at RUB or you might have additional questions concerning the realization or funding of your research project please contact the Central Coordination Office of RUB-RS.
  Contact: Dr. Ursula Justus (Ursula.justus@rub.de)
  
  

If you come from abroad to RUB you can make use of special support and counseling offers that might be helpful for you. For detailed information please contact the institutions mentioned hereafter and check the indicated websites:

You have questions about the formal requirements and procedures of your doctorate? 
Please contact the Dean’s Office of the faculty.

You need support to organize your stay in Bochum? 
Please contact the Welcome Center for International Researchers

You have questions concerning your doctoral studies or situation at RUB? 
You are looking for funding opportunities for your doctorate? 
You are most welcome to contact the Central Coordination Office of RUB-RS – Dr. Ursula Justus (ursula.justus@rub.de)

You want to join your community? 
Get in contact with your tutors.

You are interested in additional offers to facilitate your integration into your new research and living environment?
STIBET Programme offers great opportunities.

You are looking for German Language Courses?
ZFA offers courses at Ruhr-Universität Bochum.

You are looking for English or other Language Courses?
ZFA offers courses at Ruhr-Universität Bochum.