Doctoral Procedure and Graduate School

The Graduate School (GS) coordinates, promotes and supports the doctoral processes of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences. The GS is in charge of the entire supervision process associated with a doctoral procedure. It provides a framework in which doctoral candidates at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences are supported in a structured manner and integrated into a research environment.

Admission to the doctoral procedure

Admission to the doctoral procedure at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences is possible on condition that a professor at the faculty is willing to supervise the thesis. Usually, this is the professor with whom you are employed.  As soon as a written confirmation of supervision has been provided, you can apply for admission to the doctoral procedure at the Graduate School. This supervision agreement must be oindependently obtained by the doctoral applicants.

Applications for admission to the doctoral procedure must be submitted online via Docata, University of Hamburg's online tool for doctoral students. Please register on Docata.

Graduate School Membership and Enrollment

As soon as the doctoral subcommittee has approved your application for admission to doctoral studies, you will automatically become a member of the Graduate School. Please note, however, that after you have been admitted to doctoral studies, you still have to enroll as a doctoral student at University of Hamburg. Enrollment is required in accordance with Section 4 subsection 5 of the doctoral degree regulations of 18 January 2017 and is handled by University of Hamburg’s Campus Center.

Structured Doctoral Program

The Graduate School offers structured doctoral studies within the scope of the doctoral program at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences. Doctoral researchers at the Graduate School can choose their courses from an extensive curriculum. Every year, courses covering at least 50 credit hours per week are available.

The programme is divided into the following subject areas:

1. Theories of business, economics, and social sciences
2. Research methods
3. Key skills

As part of the doctoral program, doctoral researchers must complete courses earning at least 12 ECTS. As a rule, a course totaling one credit hour per week corresponds to 2 ECTS credits. The regular period of study for doctoral studies is 3 years (6 semesters).

Financial Support

In recent years, the Dean's Office has provided funds for the financial support of doctoral candidates at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences. Funding can be applied for from the Graduate School for:

• participation in (online-) scientific conferences
• participation in (online-) summer schools or (online-) workshops
• fieldwork and research stays
• direct research needs (acquisition of data sets or assumption of transcription costs)
• proofreading of English-language texts

Most recently, the maximum funding amount per doctoral candidate was €750 per year. Further information and the application forms can be found here (support).