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Regulations for the Conduct of Doctoral Examinations

On May 24th, 2018 the Dr. phil./Ph.D. Regulations of the Department of Political and Social Sciences have come into force. They replace the Common Dr. phil./Ph.D. Regulations of the Freie Universität Berlin (interim regulations see below) and are valid for doctoral candidates in the

    • Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology
    • Otto-Suhr-Institute of Political Science
    • Institute for Media and Communication Studies and
    • Institute for Sociology

Doctoral candidates in Political Science (and in no other doctoral subject the Otto-Suhr-Institute for Political Science have established) are free to choose between the Dr. phil. / Ph.D. and the Dr. rer. pol. / Ph.D. regulations.

The Central Institutes are not authorized to confer doctoral degrees. If you have completed a Master´s programme in one of the Central Institutes and/or wish to write a doctoral thesis with a focus on regional topics, you have to decide on the subject and the respective department you wish to do your doctorate in. Should you have already come to an agreement with a prospective supervisor please take into account which department she or he is affiliated with. For further information please get in touch with the department your doctoral subject belongs to. If your chosen field is represented in the Department of Political and Social Sciences please observe the a.m. information on the current regulations. 

Regulations for the Conduct of Doctoral Examinations
(Legal Documents, exclusively in German)

English Versions of the Regulations for the Conduct of Doctoral Examinations
(Not legally binding, for your information only)

 Notice

    • Doctoral students who have been admitted on May 24th, 2018 or later pursue their doctoral procedure either according to the Dr. rer. pol./Ph.D. Regulations of 2008 (including the amendments of 2012) or the new Dr.phil./Ph.D. Regulations of 2018.
    • Doctoral candidates whose admissions had been granted according to the former Common Dr. phil./Ph.D. Regulations of the Freie Universität Berlin - i.e. before May 24th, 2018 - have the right to complete their doctoral procedure according to the former regulations within a transition period of four years. Doctoral candidates who fail to do so until May 23rd, 2022 will have to complete their doctoral procedure in accordance with the new regulations. An earlier transition into the new regulations can be granted by the Committee for Doctoral Examinations upon request.
    • For doctoral candidates who have been admitted according to the Dr. rer. pol./Ph.D. Regulations 2008 there is no change so far. But it is to be expected that these regulations will be revised as well in the near future - with a view to providing the same conditions and regulations for all doctoral students in our department.