- LMU Munich

Access Requirements

Acceptance as a doctoral candidate is generally possible with the following degrees and grades if the subject is from the subject catalogue of the doctoral degree regulations:

Master's / Magister / Diplom (Univ.) / Lehramt (1st state examination):

Overall grade: min. 2.50 (good)
Thesis: min. 2.50 (good)

Diploma (FH):

Overall grade: min. 1.30 (very good)
Degree in the same subject as the doctoral subject.

Bachelor's degree (240 ECTS):

Overall grade: min. 1.00 (very good)
Degree in the same subject as the doctoral subject.

Foreign degrees are recognised if they are equivalent.

Acceptance as a doctoral candidate is also possible with different degrees and grades or subject. Please contact the responsible administrator with your certificates attached.

Confirmation of Supervision (PDF, 61 KB) by or supervision agreement with at least one person entitled to supervise and examine.

The participating Faculties 09-13 specify the supervision and examination entitlement in various Resolutions (PDF, 147 KB).

Doctoral Subjects in the Dr. phil.

(Links to the faculties, departments, institutes or sections)

1. Beginning of the Supervisory Agreement

Basic information:

The application for acceptance as doctoral candidate refers to the status as doctoral candidate (Supervisory Agreement) and is to be separated from the status as student (enrollment).

The application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate can be submitted throughout the year, has no submission deadlines and is not bound to semester times or enrollment deadlines.

For enrolment we recommend that you submit your application

for the winter semester by the end of September
for the summer semester by the end of March

We recommend that you submit your application for a change of subject

for the winter semester by mid-September
for the summer semester by mid-March

Application:

With the Application for Acceptance as a Doctoral Candidate (online application), the following documents must first be uploaded and then submitted in original to the examination office (§ 3 Doctoral Regulations):

Additionally, for graduates without a German university degree or German language skills level B2 or higher:

Exemption from German language skills, which must be applied for in writing by the supervisor at the respective dean's office with reasons. The exemption is necessary for the following enrollment in the International Office.

You will be informed by the Examination Office by e-mail as soon as your application has been processed and you have been accepted as a doctoral candidate, depending on the presentation of original documents. From this point on, your Supervisory Agreement (doctoral candidate status) exists for an initial period of three years.

2. During Supervisory Agreement

Doctoral candidates who are pursuing a doctorate in accordance with the doctoral regulations for faculties 09, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of September 15, 2016 must provide evidence of enrollment in the doctoral program of at least two semesters when submitting the dissertation.In accordance with the Bavarian Higher Education Innovation Act (BayHIG), the duration of enrollment in the doctoral program has now been limited to a maximum of eight semesters since January 1, 2023. (Until 2022 it was six semesters). After eight semesters, the student is exmatriculated, even if the semester fees have been paid on time. This only terminates your status as a student.

At the time of the doctoral examination, doctoral candidates do not have to be enrolled; the status of a doctoral candidate results from the supervisory agreement, which can be renewed annually at the examination office after three years following the expiration of the supervisory agreement.

Upon application to the IT Service Desk, a campus ID is established or extended for doctoral students who are not (no longer) enrolled. The issuance of a library card at the university library for doctoral students who are not (no longer) registered is also possible upon request. For this purpose, the doctoral student status must be verified.

An extension of registration beyond the eight-semester period may be approved in individual cases. For this purpose, an application must be submitted to the relevant faculty in good time, stating the reasons. A favourable statement by the first supervisor must be attached to the application. The application shall be submitted to the office of the Dean. If, after reviewing the application, the faculty concludes that further registration is required, the Office of the Dean will issue a confirmation of this. With this confirmation, re-registration can be applied for at the Office of the University Registrar after timely payment of the semester fees.
Please also refer to the information provided by the Office of the University Registrar regarding doctoral studies.

Basic information:

The deadline of your Supervisory Agreement is written in your "Confirmation of Acceptance to a Doctoral Studies" to find out how long your Supervisory Agreement is valid or have a look at the Promotion Portal.

The extension of the Supervisory Agreement is regulated by § 6 (3) of the doctoral degree regulations 2016 and is at the earliest possible three months before the expiration of the Supervisory Agreement.

If necessary, please also update your deposited address, otherwise the confirmation of the extension of the doctoral relationship will not reach you.

Application:

Please log in to the Promotion Portal and click on "Applications" under "My Doctorate" and then on the symbol in the "Extension" line on the right to create an application page. Please do not create multiple application pages for one renewal application, as applications may remain unprocessed.
Upload: Report on the progress of the dissertation (max. 2 pages). In the progress report, the systematic progress (e.g. data collection and/or evaluation completed) is to be presented. Substantive progress is less relevant, as it cannot be assessed. You can also provide further information in the report (planned submission; phases of illness or other private situations that affect the progress).
Upload: Statement of your supervisor. Please note that the statement of your supervisor should also be issued only in the last quarter of your Supervisory Agreement.

If all prerequisites for an extension are fulfilled, you will receive a Confirmation of the Extension of the Supervisory Agreement (only German language) by post. Please keep this confirmation in a safe place.

Notice:

No doctoral examination (registration for the doctoral examination) can be started without an ongoing Supervisory Agreement (see § 6 (2)).

Basic information:

Dissertations are usually written as one scientific thesis.

Exceptionally, in reasoned cases, a dissertation can consist of several publications or papers accepted for publication (cumulative dissertation) or another medium (media dissertation).

Please first check whether and under what basic conditions cumulative dissertations are possible at your faculty. Please refer to the current resolutions of the faculties.

Requirements:

The requirements for cumulative dissertations can be found in § 9 (2) of the doctoral degree regulations:

Research design:
- qualitative-empirical/theoretic dissertation: at least four papers (a)
- quantitative-empirical dissertation: at least two papers (b)
- or a mixture of (a) and (b)
First authorship:
- 3 out of 4 articles (a) or 1 out of 2 articles (b)
Publication status:
- published (peer-reviewed)
- accepted for publication (peer-reveiwed)
- (exceptionalley) submitted for publication

Application:

If you wish to submit your dissertation as a cumulative dissertation, please submit at least one month before the planned registration for the doctoral examination a

Informal written application on your part, in this application provide information about research design, first authorship and publication status for each article, name as far as possible the usual literature references (authors, year, title, journal etc.) and briefly explain the research context
Informal written statement of the supervisor: endorsement, equivalence to a monographic dissertation, and compliance with the faculty guidelines
Approval of the Faculty Council, if neccessery (see Faculty Resolutions).

The application and statement as well as, if necessary, the approval of the Faculty Council are to be submitted together to the Examinations Office by e-mail (as a PDF attachment). The Examinations Office reserves the right to request original signed applications.

If necessary: Applications to the Faculty Council are to be submitted in a similar form to the Dean's Office.

Basic information:

In the humanities the dissertation is usually written in German or English.

According to § 9 (5) of the doctoral degree regulations it is possible to write the dissertation in a language other than German or English.

Requirements:

There are good reasons for writing the dissertation in a foreign language (common scientific language of the respective subject, subject of the dissertation).
The language is common among the members of the humanities and social sciences faculties who are entitled to take the examination.
According to the doctoral regulations the examiners are entitled to view the dissertation and the reports (see § 11 (2) of the doctoral degree regulations). This right of viewing and statement must not be undermined.

Application:

Informal written application with reasons
Informal written endorsement and statement: First supervisor and probable second reviewer of the dissertation

The application and the statements must be submitted together to the Examinations Office by e-mail (as a PDF attachment). The Examinations Office reserves the right to request original signed applications.

Notice:

Dissertations have so far been written in the following languages: French, Italian, Spanish and Russian.

If a dissertation is not written in German, a German summary must be included in the dissertation.

The Graduate Center regularly offers workshops, information events and other offers on the topic of doctoral studies.

Informationen zu Workshops des Graduate Centers

There are workshops

for the different phases of the doctorate (initial phase, working phase, writing phase and final phase)
for doctoral students of all subjects
for doctoral students in specific fields (humanities, social sciences or natural sciences)
to teach skills for scientific work
to develop general competences

General information:

In particular, if the grades deviate (admission requirements) or the degree is not related to the doctoral subject, conditions (additional examinations) amounting to 15 to 60 ECTS are usually imposed. The amount is determined by the supervisor.

For (enrolled) doctoral candidates there is no possibility to register for courses and examinations via the LSF.

You must approach the lecturer independently and ask for participation and examination confirmation. Your supervisor will help you with this.

The lecturers are asked to use the following examination certificate, or at least to provide the same information in their own examination certificate:

Template: Examination Certificate (PDF, 102 KB)

Submission of Examination Certificates:

Options:

by official e-mail from the lecturer as a PDF attachment
in the original to the examination office (in person or by post)

3. Doctoral Exmanination

Basic information:

Possible submission periods for personal/postal submission of originals.

Before submitting the application for admission, please check whether you have an existing Supervisory Agreement. Information on extending the Supervisory Agreement can be found under the page section "2. During the Supervisory Agreement".

Some faculties require certain combinations of reviewers (dissertation) and examiners (disputation). Please check this under the current resolutions of the faculties.

Application:

With the Application for Admission to the Doctoral Examination (online application: under "My applications"), the following documents must first be uploaded online and then submitted in original to the examination office:

Proof of enrollment in the doctoral program at LMU Munich for at least one year (e.g., through course of study certificate or enrollment certificates)
acurrent curriculum vitae
basic certificate of good conduct (not older than three months) or proof of a current employment contract in the German public service (except for auxiliary contracts)
List of all publications (if available), in which the publications related to the dissertation are specially marked (separate list, not integrated in the curriculum vitae), signed and dated
Declaration in lieu of an oath regarding the independence of the scientific achievements (is automatically generated in the online application)- does not have to be included in the thesis (remains in the examination file).
identity card/passport (in case of postal submission: simple copy)
three identically bound copies of the dissertation
- in DIN A4
- paginated, table of contents and bibliography
- if the thesis is not written in German, a German abstract must be included in the thesis (in all three copies). Recommendation: approx. two pages per 100 pages (min. 5 pages, max. 10 pages)
- adhesive binding, no spiral binding, no hardcover
- If necessary, split into several volumes. Mark several volumes accordingly, e.g. "Volume 1/2").
- There are no further requirements for printed dissertations on the part of the examination office. Please check with your reviewers if necessary.
- You can already upload your dissertation in the online application (PDF); recommended.
- Please note that only two copies are provided for review. The third copy remains in the examination office for archiving.
- Please clarify in good time whether your third examiner also requires a copy of the dissertation for the disputation and, if so, provide this yourself. For organizational reasons, the Examinations Office cannot take over the forwarding.
- An example of a title page is available for download (.docx) at the end of the page.

You will be informed by e-mail as soon as your application has been processed. After that you can come to the examination office with the original documents or submit them by post*. Please bring the original and a copy (to be kept in the examination office) of all originals that were not uploaded with the application.

We recommend submitting the online application approx. 14 days before the respective submission deadlines so that there is sufficient time for queries if necessary and delays in the procedure can be avoided.

Notices:

Appointments that have already been made remain valid irrespective of the response to the online application.

As a rule, you will then receive your letter of admission.

* Please send the documents and printed dissertation copies to the following address:

Prüfungsamt für Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften, Abteilung Promotion, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, 80539 München

After submission:

Review: approx. 8-10 weeks

Invitation to display: 2 weeks (lecture-free period), 1 week (lecture period)

Display: 2 weeks

Statements for display: 5 days

Invitation to the defence: 2 weeks

Disputation period: 2-4 weeks

Preparation of certificate: 2-4 weeks

Total: 18 - 25 weeks

The actual duration is determined by numerous individual factors, so you should calculate enough time for your further planning after the examination.

For the submission of dissertations that have been written within the framework of a cotutelle agreement, some instructions must be observed. Please read the following information carefully and also inform the other parties involved, especially the two supervisors of your dissertation!

As a rule, the submission deadlines at the two universities involved are not the same. Therefore, the submission of a dissertation within the framework of a cotutelle should be announced to the examination office of LMU and the corresponding institution of the partner university in time to avoid possible problems.Cotutelle candidates share responsibility for the flow of information, as they are in direct contact with their supervisors.

Please review the Cotutelle agreement when scheduling your submission. This usually states,

whether an abstract must accompany the dissertation and in which language it must be written,
the location of the defense (cannot be changed without an amendment to the agreement), and
the members of the examination committee (defense).

Please provide feedback to the Examinations Office if the current schedule of your examination does not match what is specified in the Cotutelle Agreement.

As a rule, the university where the defense is to take place is the lead university for submission. In all cases, the dissertation must be submitted to both universities according to their respective regulations. Please inquire at both universities which deadlines are relevant in each case and also inform the Examinations Office of LMU (PAGS) of the dates and deadlines of your doctoral procedure at the partner university.

Basic information:

External reviewers (dissertation) or examiners (disputation) are not provided for under the doctoral degree regulations 2016.

The doctoral degree regulations permit exceptions under very specific conditions that require meaningful reasons when submitting applications. Each application must therefore be examined and decided individually by the doctoral committee.

Before you submit an application,

discuss your application with the first supervisor of your dissertation and
clarify whether a member of your faculty or of another faculty is entitled to write a evaluation or to take the oral examination.

Since the LMU has numerous scientific disciplines, it will rarely happen that no examinar is available at the LMU.

Application:

If you would like to submit an application,

informal written application: please explain in detail why an reviewer/examiner from another university is indispensable for the second evaluation or for the disputation, and
enclose a detailed endorsment with given reasons by the first supervisor, and
enclose a list of publications and the curriculum vitae of the reviewer/examiner you are seeking.

Both the application and the endorsement of the supervisor must be signed and submitted together to the Examination Office by e-mail (PDF attachment). The Examination Office reserves the right to request original signed applications.

Incomplete applications will not be decided by the doctoral committee. Admission to the doctoral examination can thus not take place, this may possibly mean postponing the submission of the dissertation to the next period.

We recommend submitting the application at least one month before the planned registration for the doctoral examination and submission of the dissertation.

Special notices:

External reviewers/examiners within a Cotutelle-Agreement are already aproved.

First supervisors who have left the LMU to move to another university are also appointed. The doctoral regulations stipulate that supervisors can continue their supervision and exercise their examination rights for a period of up to five years (see § 7 (2) of the doctoral degree regulations 2016 (only German)). The first supervisor must apply for a continuation of the examination right informally, in writing and signed in the original. The doctoral student must also support the application of the supervisor informally, in writing and signed in the original. Please submit the application and the confirmation of support together to the Examination Office.

In some cases, the resolutions of the faculties require certain combinations of reviewers (e.g. participation of a full-time LMU professor from the subject of the doctorate). If an external reviewer no longer complies with this combination, the Faculty Council must approve this in advance upon application (application to the Dean's Office).

4. Publication of the dissertation

Genera information:

According to § 16 (1) of the doctoral degree regulations the dissertation must be published in an adequate way within one year after passing the doctoral examination (day of disputation).

For regulations on the way of publication, please refer to the following notes.

In special cases, the doctoral degree regulations provide for an extension of the publication deadline to up to three years after passing the doctoral examination.

Application:

An informal application stating the reasons why the publication will be delayed and when the publication is expected to take place.
The application must be uploaded in the doctoral portal under "My applications" > "Publication" > “Applications”.
The publication deadline will be extended by one year for the first time if the above requirements are fulfilled. A second application for an extension of the publication deadline is possible under the abovementioned conditions.

Special notes:

If the dissertation is not properly published within three years, the rights acquired through the doctoral examination will expire.
Only after proper publication the doctoral diploma will be issued and handed over. Only the doctoral diploma entitles the holder to the permanent academic degree of a doctor of philosophy "Dr. phil. (doctor philosophiae).

...

Detailed information (PDF, 94 KB)

5. Promotion

General information:

Under certain conditions the candidate may be temporarily permitted the right to hold the academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.) after passing the doctoral examination, even if the dissertation has not already been published.

Application:

There are specifice requirements to provisional hold the academic degree "Dr. phil." according to § 17 (3), 3 of the doctoral degree regulations:

An informal application for provisional holding of the academic degree "Dr. phil.".
The first supervisor gave the permission to print.
There is a contract or confirmation that the publication is guaranteed (e.g. publishing contract).Publication takes place within one and a half year after passing the doctoral examination (corresponding details in the contract or confirmation or your own written declaration in the application).
The application, the printing permission and a copy of the contract or confirmation must be submitted in the doctoral portal under "My applications" > "Publication" > “Applications”.

In special circumstances for which the doctoral candidate herself or himself is not responsible, the deadline in No. 4 may be extended by an informal application.

Special instructions:

If no. 4 is not fulfilled and there are no special circumstances which would justify an extension of the deadline, the provisional right to hold the academic degree "Dr. phil." expires.

The doctoral certificate is issued in accordance with § 17 of the doctoral regulations after publication of the dissertation. The doctoral certificate will be issued in German only.

The completion including the signature process usually takes 4-6 weeks.

We have no influence on the duration of the signature process (chairperson of the doctoral committee, dean of the faculty, president of the LMU).

We will contact you by e-mail as soon as your doctoral certificate is ready. If necessary, please update your email address in the promotion portal.

Deadlines, Forms, further Information

Dates / Deadlines

General Information:

Anleitung zum Öffnen der Formulare

Acceptance as a Doctoral Candidate:

Application for Acceptance as a Doctoral Candidate (Online-Application)

Confirmation of Supervision (PDF, 61 KB)

Confirmation of Supervision (PDF, 67 KB) for Faculty 10, incl. second reviewer in case of first supervision by apl. Prof./PD. Dr.

During Doctoral Studies:

Statement (PDF, 53 KB) (Frist Supervisor): Extension of the Supervisory Agreement

The form should be uploaded and submitted to the Doctoral Portal together with an progress report.

Zulassung zur Promotionsprüfung:

Application for Admission to Doctoral Examination (Online-Application)

For the Examination Commission (Examiners of the Disputation):

Protocoll (PDF, 117 KB) (Disputation)

Protocoll (PDF, 118 KB) (Disputation, Co-tutelle)

After the Doctoral Examination/Publication of the Disseration:

Permission to print the Dissertation (PDF, 19 KB)

Must be signed by the first reviewer after submission of the final publication manuscript and submitted to the examination office together with the publication copies.

Information regarding the publication of the dissertation (PDF, 94 KB)

...

Promotionsordnung der Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität München für die Fakultäten 09, 10, 11, 12 und 13 (2016) (PDF, 123 KB)

Satzung zur Änderung der Promotionsordnung der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München für die Fakultäten 09, 10, 11, 12 und 13 (2016) vom 17. August 2017 (PDF, 38 KB)

Zweite Satzung zur Änderung der Promotionsordnung der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München für die Fakultäten 09, 10, 11, 12 und 13 (2016) vom 1. Juli 2021 (PDF, 30 KB)

Prof. Dr. Claudia Wiener (Chairwoman, Fakultät 13)

Prof. Dr. Martin Sökefeld (Vice Chairman, Fakultät 12)

Prof. Dr. Dieter J. Weiß (Faculty 09)

Prof. Dr. Dr. Hannes Leitgeb (Faculty 10)

Prof. Dr. Markus Maier (Faculty 11)

Please get in Contact with the Doctoral Committee via the Examination Office.

Contact

Faculties 09, 10 and 11

Faculty for History and Arts (09) || Faculty for Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Religious Studies (10) || Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (11)

Dipl. sc. pol. Univ. Phil Lucien Hänßler, M.A.

Examination Office for Humanities and Social Sciences

Administrator

Examination Administration

Send an email

+49 (0)89 / 2180 - 3828