Individual doctoral studies

This path to a doctorate is still the most common way of 'doing a doctorate' in Germany. Those interested in doing a doctorate contact a professor individually and write their dissertation in a self-organized manner and independently of a fixed programme (see Finding supervision).

A typical feature of an individual doctorate is the freedom to choose the topic of the doctorate, the milestones and the time frame. This applies in particular to individual doctorates that are carried out alongside a career or with external scholarships. How broad or narrow the requirements actually are always depends on the doctoral subject and your supervisor.

In the case of an individual doctorate, your supervisor is the first point of contact for all questions and concerns. However, the University of Cologne is increasingly implementing the principle of supervisory teams of two to three people for individual doctorates as well.

 

Designing your doctoral studies

As there are no fixed intermediate examinations or regulations for the individual doctorate, you organize your doctoral phase largely yourself. This doctoral path therefore requires a high degree of self-discipline and the ability to motivate yourself time and again.

You should actively endeavour to make contact with other doctoral candidates and engage in academic exchange. In addition to individual contact with your supervisor, participation in doctoral colloquia organized by the institute, department, research group or chair is an important part. In such colloquia, doctoral students can present their project progress to their supervisor and other doctoral students and discuss their hypotheses and their own (interim) results.