All prospective doctoral students must submit an application for admission. To apply,  please create an account in a.r.t.e.s. access and upload the following documents as pdf-files:

• Curriculum vitae
• Research proposal (3–5 pages)
• Certificate of recognition of acquired credits and passed exams by the managing director (“Geschäftsführende/r Direktor/in”) of your respective department at the University of Cologne (download here)
• Supervision agreement (download here). The supervisor must be entitled to confer doctoral degrees in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
• Final diploma and transcript of records for qualifying degree (a diploma supplement is not sufficient) (Certified copies of these documents must also be sent in the mail before the deadline.)
• If necessary, an authorized translation of the abovementioned documents. Only translations into German, English, or French will be accepted.
• Higher education entrance qualification (If necessary, please include certified translations of the documents into either German, English, or French).

Please note that the Doctoral Regulations of June 11, 2015, for admission to doctoral studies require that the candidate has attained an average grade of at least 2.4 (according to the German grading system) in their preceding degree. If the final grade of the preceeding degree does not meet the threshold of 2.4, the candidate must submit a separate application letter and a letter of recommendation from their primary supervisor in addition to the above-mentioned documents by post before the deadline. The doctoral board will decide on any requests for exception.

You are not required to provide proof of your proficiency in German at the time of your application for admission. However, when you hand in your dissertation, you will also have to submit proof of German language proficiency: If you wrote your dissertation in German, you will have to provide proof of German at the level C1. If you wrote your dissertation in a language other than German, German proficiency at the level B2 is sufficient. You may enclose a request for remission of the German language proficiency requirement with your application for admission. In this case, please send a letter stating your reasoning (addressed to the doctoral board) together with a letter of endorsement from your primary supervisor by post before the deadline. Please note that after admission a remission of the German language proficiency requirement will not be granted.

Only complete applications will be taken into consideration. The letter of admission to doctoral studies will be sent shortly after the meeting of the doctoral board.

By submitting the letter of admission to doctoral studies as well as the required supporting documents to the Central Registrar's Office or International Office you will be able to enroll at the University of Cologne. Please check in advance which additional documents you are required to submit to the registrar's office. If you wish to enroll at the University of Cologne for the first time, please submit your application via KLIPS 2.0. For more information concerning enrolment, please see the website of the Registrar's Office or the International Office.