Admission process

The proposal is a description of your doctoral project of no more than five pages, and should include the provisional title of your thesis that you have agreed in preliminary meetings with your supervisor. Your proposal should outline your project in more detail, in part by answering the following questions:

• What question are you seeking to explore?
• What methods will you use?
• What is the current state of the art?
• What is the key literature?

Students applying for a doctorate should have a Diplom, Magister or Masters degree from a university or university of applied sciences, or have passed the 1st or 2nd Staatsexamen examination. Students must have passed their first degree with a grade higher than 2.6 (at least "gut" [good]).

For the first law Staatsexamen examination, a final grade of at least "befriedigend" [sufficient] is required.

Please make sure that your final grade is clearly stated on your certificates/transcripts. You cannot submit your grade at a later stage.

The equivalence of degrees from foreign universities shall be established on the basis of the recommendations by the Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen [Central Office for Foreign Education] at the Ständiges Sekretariat der Kultusministerkonferenz [Permanent Secretariat of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs] (https://anabin.kmk.org/anabin.html), provided the degree in question is listed there. Please note, the university cannot carry out a preliminary examination on this regard.

For information on entering the doctorate with a Bachelor's degree (parallel admission to Master's and doctorate) Doctoral Track website.

No proof of proficiency in Germanis required for admission to the doctoral programmes. You can write your thesis either in German or in English. However, the greater part of the doctoral courses are held in German. We therefore strongly recommend that you acquire the necessary level of German before starting your doctorate (e.g. DSH level 2 or TestDaF). You can also attend the International Center's Summer University to bring your German up to the required level, and the Language Centre can provide more information on the German classes on offer.

Please note:
For admissionsfrom the winter semester 2023/24 onwards, formal proof of English language skills is no longer required. Nevertheless, English remains an important academic language at Leuphana. An agreement on sufficient English language skills is regulated in the supervision agreement.

There are no deadlines for doctoral applications. Applications can be submitted at any time for the current semester or subsequent semesters.

The Doctoral Regulations set out in detail the applicable prerequisites and procedures for doctoral candidates at Leuphana University of Lüneburg. The Doctoral Regulations define:

•  the admission requirements,
• the procedure for thesis submission,
• the thesis defence procedure and
• criteria for thesis publication

The Doctoral Regulations also describe the structure of the doctoral courses and the responsibilities of the doctoral boards, reviewers’ committees and doctoral research groups at Leuphana University of Lüneburg.

Please read the Doctoral Regulations carefully as they are the legal basis for your doctorate.

For information on a cumulative thesis as an alternative to a monographic thesis, see ways of doing a doctorate.

To apply for admission for a doctorate, please use our digital campus management system myCampus (starting September 1, 2025).

If you encounter technical difficulties with myCampus while filling out the form or have questions about the process, please contact Student Services via email to adminpromotion@leuphana.de or via phone

initial letter A - H → Melanie Maselkowski | Phone: 04131-677-1407
initial letter I - O → Johanna Wille | Phone: 04131-677-1409
initial letter P - Z → Svenja Höwler | Phone: 04131-677-1417
 

Your application will be assessed by Student Services and passed on to the competent doctoral board by the dean's office for the relevant school. The boards, which decide on admissions, generally meet at least twice a semester. Decisions are made on the basis of academic criteria and there are no quotas or limits. We are unfortunately not currently able to provide a preliminary assessment of your application.

Within two to three months (depending on when the competent doctoral board meets), you will receive information via our myCampus platform.

If you have been accepted, all you need to do is complete the formal enrolment process with Student Services. Upon enrolment, you as a doctoral candidate also become a member of the school in which you were admitted to the doctorate. As a doctoral candidate, you are thus granted certain rights (e.g. access to the intranet, e-papers in the library, public transport ticket, qualification fund) and obligations (e.g. payment of the semester fees), which only  end when you are de-registered and your membership ends. Proof of membership is the student card or the certificate of enrolment.

Your acceptance letter will state the deadline for enrolment; it is usually 14 days from receipt of the admission.

• Studentenwerk contribution: 150,00 €
• Contribution towards administrative expenses 75.00 €
• Student body contribution: 259,24 € (of which € 226,80 for the semester ticket, € 22,00 contribution for student self-administration, €10,44 for StadtRad etc.)
• TOTAL: 484,24 €

For doctoral students who receive a scholarship from public funds, a reduced semester fee applies:

• Studentenwerk contribution: 150,00 €
• Student body contribution: 259,24 € (of which € 226,80 for the semester ticket, € 22,00 contribution for student self-administration, €10,44 for StadtRad etc.)
• TOTAL: 409,24 €

In order to be eligible for the reduction, you must present proof of your scholarship to Student Services (a copy of the scholarship approval is sufficient here).

If the semester contribution arrives on Leuphana University Lüneburg’s account by the deadline, you are enrolled and later re-registered. By paying the contribution, you declare that you want to begin or continue your degree programme. The day on which payment is received on the university account counts, the so-called value date. Please ensure that the correct amount is transferred and that the reference is indicated correctly and in full. In the case of a re-registration, please indicate your matriculation number (7 digits) as a reference. If you are enrolling, you must provide your applicant number (9 digits). Your surname and first name follow afterwards in each case.

Example:

• for a re-registration: 1234567, Smith, John  or
• for an enrolment: 123456789, Smith, John.

Bank details of Leuphana University Lüneburg:

After your transfer of the semester contribution you will receive your student card and  public transport ticket in your Leuphana App. The registration or re-registration is now complete.