Steps to a Doctoral Degree

The first step towards achieving a doctorate is to examine whether your previous academic studies and qualifications meet the formal admission requirements in accordance with § 5 of the Doctoral Regulations.

Normally, your most recent academic qualification must qualify you for a doctoral degree and the university – especially in the case of international or foreign universities – that awarded your most recent academic qualification must be entitled to award doctorates.

The grade of your qualification or qualifications must comply with the admission requirements specified in § 5 of the Doctoral Regulations. Several equal-value qualifications do not improve your grades as required by the admission requirements.

The final decision on fulfillment of the admission requirements is taken by the Doctoral Committee of the Zeppelin University.

If the requirements are met, you can take the second, subject-related and therefore decisive, step towards your doctoral degree:

Like many public universities in Germany, at Zeppelin University, as part of the admission requirements for a doctoral degree, we include a requirement that a ZU professor or junior professor agrees in writing to supervise the dissertation proposal.

Therefore doctoral candidates are advised to contact the potential academic supervisor in their selected subject field, explain their proposal and on this basis discuss whether it would be possible, both in terms of subject matter and capacity, for a professor to supervise their doctoral thesis.

As a doctoral candidate you should, if possible, already have studied this subject area, either in a specialized or an interdisciplinary way. Ideally, you should also come to the discussion equipped with ideas for the research framework of your dissertation proposal.

After you have obtained confirmation of a supervisor for your dissertation proposal, you can submit an application for admission to a doctoral degree to the Doctoral Committee in accordance with § 6 of the Doctoral Regulations.

Please enclose all of the documents listed on the reverse of the application form with your application. These include the written confirmation of supervision, which you must fill out together with your doctoral supervisor.

Participation in the partially-structured doctoral program begins after admission to the doctoral degree is granted by the Doctoral Committee. Zeppelin University is committed to sustained and effective supervision of its doctoral candidates. That is why the supervisor and the candidate must conclude a supervision agreement with each other within two months of the admission. The supervision agreement outlines the specific planning of the dissertation proposal with the goal of successfully achieving the doctorate. It also contains Zeppelin University's rules of good scientific practice.