Doctoral studies

• To be eligible for either doctoral degree program, you must have completed:
  • a master's degree at a university with a grade point average of 2.5 or better, and
  • at least 300 ECTS (the faculty’s doctoral committee will decide on exceptions to these rules); and

• You confirm that you have not submitted your dissertation topic for a doctorate elsewhere.

Steps for application and admission:

• You find two university professors to supervise your doctoral project, at least one of whom teaches at the Faculty of Business Administration.

• Within three months of having started your studies at the chair of your first supervisor, you officially submit a completed version of the form "Application for Admission to Doctoral Studies at the Faculty of Business Administration [PDF, fully accessible]" to the Office for Doctoral Studies. The form requires the signatures of both supervisors. The following documents are also to be attached:
  • a current, signed CV,
  • your master's certificate (original for copying), or certified copy, and
  • a language certificate (where applicable).

• The Office for Doctoral Studies will send you a written confirmation of the doctoral committee's decision:

1. that you are admitted to the faculty as doctoral student, or
2. that you are admitted to the faculty as doctoral student UNDER PRE-CONDITIONS, or
3. that your application for admission has been rejected.

• In case of a. or b., please enroll at the Campus Centre with
  • the confirmation of admission to doctoral studies at the Faculty of Business Administration, and
  • with a completed application form.

• Please inform the administration office of your matriculation number (if you have not already done so).

• The doctoral degree regulations of 9 July 2014 [PDF] ("Dr. rer. oec.") and amendment dated 12 December 2020 apply;

• If you enroll in the Graduate School Doctoral Degree Program, the academic regulations for the structured doctoral degree program in Business Administration Research [PDF] also apply;

• The "Bylaws for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice and Avoiding Scientific Misconduct at Universität Hamburg [PDF]" apply;

• To complete a doctoral degree:
  • Doctoral Degree Program: at least 12 credit points (CP) in doctoral courses must be successfully completed.
  • Graduate School Doctoral Degree Program: at least 32 CP in doctoral courses must be successfully completed.

See the section "Doctoral Courses" below for further details.

• Upon successful completion of their doctoral studies, students are awarded the title "Doctor rerum oeconomicarum" ("Dr. rer. oec."). Students who complete the Graduate School Doctoral Degree Program are also awarded the certificate in "Research in Business Administration".

• About one year after having started your doctorate, you submit an exposé to your supervisors and discuss it. You will hold regular research meetings with your supervisors and prepare internal interim reports.

• Together with your supervisors, you develop a procedure for data management. Guidelines for data management can be found here. Your supervisors and you sign a separate agreement on your data management system, which you attach when submitting your thesis to the Office for Doctoral Studies.

• If your agreement included pre-conditions at the time of admission, you process and fulfill them.

• Students studying according to the 2014 doctoral regulations must complete at least 12 credit points (CP); students completing the Graduate School program must complete 32 CP (see "Doctoral Courses" below).

• If you decide to terminate your doctoral studies before graduating, please inform the Office for Doctoral Studies.

Step 1

• Register your research stays abroad via STiNE (instructions [PDF]). Please fill in all kind of stays (max. three), e.g. research stays, doctorial courses and/or conference stays.

• Email the following, completed documents to the Office for Doctoral Studies:
  • Verification of credit points for the doctoral regulations 2014 [PDF, fully accessible] (see also Information on credit points (teaching) for the doctoral regulations 2014 [PDF, fully acessible]), 
  • all related certificates (in one pdf, chronological order): proofs of courses (see "general information" under "doctoral courses"); conference programmes cover page and the page of your talk; teaching, if applicable, signed page 2 of "Recognizing credits (teaching) for doctoral degree regulations of 2014 [PDF]",
  • the Transcript of Records [PDF, fully accessible] (see also "Doctorial Courses" as to conditions of acceptation).

• Once the documents have been checked, you will receive confirmation of your credit points and the Transcript of Records. You can then proceed to Step 2.

Step 2

• Submit to the Office for Doctoral Studies:
  • The dissertation (5 printed copies, and one digital copy); it must include:
  • a title page [PDF, fully accessible],
  • synopsis,
  • list of your work share,
  • summary in English and German,
  • signed affidavit [PDF, fully accessible] together with the
  • Proposal for the Examination Commission [PDF, fully accessible]
    Please note that the majority of the members of the examination commission must be from Universität Hamburg and that at least one must be from a different area of specialization. In case of a cumulative dissertation, a co-author cannot act as chairman.

• Please also submit – in accordance with the above-mentioned current bylaws for safeguarding good scientific practice and avoiding scientific misconduct at Universität Hamburg [PDF] – your declaration to data recording and data management (see also "Doctoral Studies").

The doctoral thesis is formally checked by the Office for Doctoral Studies. The doctoral committee will set up the examination committee. You will be informed/kept up-to-date by the administrative office or the doctoral committee.

• The reviewers may take up to three months to review your dissertation.

If, contrary to expectations, one or both reviewers decide not to grade your dissertation, it will be returned to you with a deadline for revision.

If both reviewers grade your dissertation with "summa cum laude (with distinction)" or the reviews differ in their marks, the doctoral committee appoints a third-party reviewer.

• As soon as all expert reports are on-hand, the dissertation and reports are available for review for a two-week period.

If any requirements are formulated during the review period, we will let you know. You will have to fulfil all conditions (if any), and the examination commission has to confirm fulfilment before the process can continue to the disputation.

• At the end of the review period, we will inform you on the grading of your dissertation, and invite you to the disputation. The examination committee agrees upon this date among their members and with you. You confirm receipt of the invitation to the Office for Doctoral Studies. The chair or the doctoral student is responsible for reserving the room for the disputation.

• You orally defend your research project(s).

•  The Examination Commission
  • assigns the grade for the disputation and the overall grade,
  • approves the thesis for publication, and
  • issues an interim certificate to you, stating in advance the grades and your examination board. The interim certificate does not yet qualify you to use the title of "Dr. rer. oec.".

•  The doctoral certificate is printed and sent to be signed off.

• You publish your dissertation within one year at the State and University Library (SUB) or via a publishing house (see our information on the publication of dissertations [PDF] as part of the doctoral procedure). Proof of publication is a pre-requisite for receiving the doctoral certificate. Only after having been issued with the certificate is one legally allowed to use the title "Dr. rer. oec.".

• You acknowledge receipt of the certificate and confirm that the content of the published dissertation fully corresponds to the version reviewed.

• Doctoral Degree Program students must complete at least 12 credit points (CP) in doctoral courses.
• Graduate School Doctoral Degree Program students must complete at least 32 CP.

For study program regulations, see Downloads

In order for doctoral courses to be credited, students must submit documentation that includes the following information:

• proof of participation,
• the duration of the course (hours/days),
• the agenda/module description, and
• the study achievement(s) completed, e.g. own presentation, term paper, seminar paper, written examination.

Certificates that confirm "successful participation" without any further specification of the evaluation criteria cannot be accepted.

If a form of study achievement is optional, the certificates of attendance must state the criteria for passing the course.

The information on recognition of credit points [PDF] will guide you on the evaluation of the courses according to the Doctoral Regulations 2014 for our faculty.

The Graduate School Doctoral Degree Program is divided into three elective courses:

A.   Methodology courses.

Graduate School Doctoral Degree Program students must complete at least 10 CP (at least 2 of the 6 courses offered). All courses are 5 CP (2 credit hours).

B.   Specialzation courses 

Graduate School Doctoral Degree Program students must complete at least 10 CP (4 credit hours).

Seminars/workshops on content, methods, software, theories (general or subject-specific). Examples can be found below under "Other doctoral courses at the UHH". 

C.   Supplementary courses

Graduate School Doctoral Degree Program students must complete at least 12 CP (2 credits awarded per course day).

Seminars/workshops from the UHH PhD qualification program ("Academic Writing", "Project Management", etc.) or courses offered by HRA and at least one lecture at conferences/colloquia, etc. 

Courses abroad

• IRWS International Research Workshop Methods for Ph.D. Students
• Essex Summer School
• University of Michigan: Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research
• Universtität St. Gallen: GSERM - Summer School in Empirical Research Methods
• University of Ljubljana: GSERM Ljubljana
• DART – Doctoral Program in Accounting, Reporting and Taxation

 Further doctoral programs

• VHB Doktorandenprogramm
• Courses within the "PhD Network"

The Graduate School Media and Communication offers an innovative and diverse doctoral program for young academics. At present, ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius are providing a short-term scholarship to establish a new research area called “Repeat, Remix, Remediate: Formen und Normen der Wiederverwendung digitaler medien” (forms and standards to reutilize digital media).

More information can be found here.

The European Doctorate in Law and Economics is a common doctoral program of Universität Hamburg, the University of Bologna and Erasmus University of Rotterdam. The program aims to educate doctoral students on the highest academic level in the area of “law and economics”. Prospective doctoral students shall be able to participate competently at academic debates in this field of research.

Course content and concept

The economic analysis of rights (law and economics) is gaining more and more importance on an international level. The three participating universities are part of the leading institutions in this research area in Europe. “Law and Economics” deals with the effects of different legal norms and their rating based on the criteria of efficiency. The main research subject of EDLE is “Tensions between efficiency and other goals of general interest”. Doctoral students within this program spend one (or more) semesters in Bologna, Rotterdam and Hamburg each and take part at the courses offered. All courses are held in English.

General information

Each year, seven or more full scholarships are awarded. The requirements for admission to the program are a degree in laws or economics as well as excellent English-language Experiences in the area of “Law and Economics” are preferred. Further information can be found here.