A cotutelle doctorate enables doctoral students to carry out their doctorates in two countries. They are supervised jointly by a faculty member of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and a professor at an international partner university. A research stay of at least 6 months at the participating foreign university is obligatory. After the successful completion of the doctorate, the doctoral degree is jointly awarded and recognised by both partner universities.

The particular advantage of a cotutelle lies in the promotion of intercultural exchange, the improvement of language skills and early international networking. In addition, the jointly recognised doctoral degree simplifies formal access to the higher education systems of both countries. The terms of the cooperation are negotiated individually for each doctoral candidate and set out in a cooperation agreement signed by representatives from both universities.

In general, one of the participating universities acts as the home university, at which the main part of the doctoral phase is spent and which is in charge of the negotiations of the agreement. If you have already been admitted to doctoral studies at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, the University of Cologne will act as your home university.

All information about the procedure of a cotutelle doctorate is available here.

FAQ are answered here.

A fact sheet for supervisors can be downloaded here.

For questions about co-tutelage doctorates, please contact:
Aiko Wolter
cotutela-phil-fak(at)uni-koeln.de