Minimum Entry Requirements

• Qualified university degree (Master or an equivalent to the German Diploma or Staatsexamen) with an overall grade equivalent to 2.7 (fully satisfactory) in the German grading system after completion of relevant studies with a duration of at least 4 years.
  
  

• Qualified degree with an overall grade equivalent to 1.3 (still very good) in the German grading system after completion of relevant studies with a duration of at least three years plus preparatory studies for the PhD of usually three semesters.
  
  

Admission

• Quality of research proposal
• Supporting academic references
• Relevance and overall grades of previous studies
• Proficiency in English

Documents That Have to Be Submitted for Application

• Application letter which should give an idea about the motivation for applying to the PhD in International Development Studies
• Research proposal of PhD project of max. 5 pages (Guidelines for writing a research proposal - Download)
• Full Curriculum Vitae (see templates as PDF, Word)
• Certificates and transcripts of university studies, certificate of secondary education
• Official certificate confirming applicant's English language proficiency equivalent to CEFR level C1 (e.g. IELTS Band 7 or TOEFL iBT 94 or above). If English has been your language of instruction since your secondary education, a proof of your English language proficiency is not compulsory but nonetheless recommended.
• Two recent academic recommendation letters. At least one of the letters has to be provided by a lecturer of the study programme which qualifies for the PhD application, e.g. Master or equivalent.