After graduating from university, doctoral studies can be the next step. The training of young academics is a major concern for the Faculty of Social Science at the RUB. A close cooperation with PhD students is an essential feature of our support for scientific education and scientific dialogue.
Before you plan your doctoral studies, you must first find out if you meet the requirements for pursuing doctoral studies at our faculty and if there is a supervisor at the faculty who is suitable for the field you are pursuing. After that, you will need to contact possible supervisors before proceeding with the other steps listed below.
Doctoral studies are very important for a scientific career and often even a prerequisite for a career at a university. If you already have the ambition to remain dedicated to science, a completed PhD is a further step towards a scientific career.
Please direct all questions
about your doctorate exclusively to:
Till Stefes
Office: GD E1/620
Phone: +49 (0)234 32 - 22782
Office hours:
Wednesday 9 - 12
Thursday: 9 - 12 (by telephone)
Or also by appointment
by e-mail to: sowi-WissManagement@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
Generally
1. Find a suitable supervisor for the doctoral project in the faculty - whether the requirements for acceptance as a doctoral candidate are met can be found in the doctoral regulations (see below).
2. In order to be officially accepted by the faculty as a doctoral student and thus be able to enroll, the following documents must be submitted:
3. After successful acceptance by the doctoral committee, the doctoral candidate will receive a letter of confirmation. This is required for enrollment in the doctoral program.
4. After the completion of the dissertation, you can apply for admission to doctoral studies. Therefore, the dissertation has to be submitted in six copies as well as an electronic version.
5. Along with the submission of the dissertation, an application for admission must be submitted. The required documents for the structured doctoral studies have to be submitted at this point at the latest:
6. Proposals for examiners can be made (after consultation with the proposed examiners). In addition to the first and second examiners, two further university lecturers and a member of the faculty with a doctorate must be nominated. For the main subject (the subject in which the dissertation was written) two examiners are to be nominated, and for each minor subject one examiner.
The doctoral committee holds three meetings per semester.
Applications must always be submitted at least 14 days in advance.
For a list of our completed dissertations please visit our German site
If you need support regarding your doctoral studies, you can contact the RUB Research School. The RUB Research School is the campus-wide graduate school for all PhD students at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. It supports researchers in various areas such as funding, networking as well as skills development.
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Last update: Jan 22, 2025
