Formal steps to becoming a doctoral student at LUE

In order to be eligible for a doctorate at our university, you need a relevant qualifying degree from a university or other institution of higher education. The exact requirements can be found in the doctoral regulations. The best thing to do is to have your eligibility for a doctorate checked in advance by our Academic Examinations Office along with your degree documents.

Perhaps you are already in contact with the person you would like to have as your supervisor. Otherwise, you should consider in which subject your topic ideas are located. You can then use our homepage and the research database to search for supervisors - i.e. professors who work on topics that match your interests and initial research ideas. Contact them and, if you are both interested, arrange an initial meeting to get to know each other and your respective ideas (topic, research question, supervision).

If it is a "good fit" for both of you, then, in consultation with the supervisor, start working on a short research proposal and the supervision agreement between the doctoral candidate and the supervisor. Both are necessary documents to apply for acceptance as a doctoral candidate with the relevant faculty.

Apply to the faculty of your supervisor with the required documents (see our doctoral regulations). To do this, submit the application with all necessary documents to the Academic Examinations Office. On the basis of the documents submitted, the doctoral committee of the faculty will then decide on your acceptance as a doctoral candidate at its next meeting. With your acceptance, you now have 3 years to complete your research, after which you can, if necessary, apply to the faculty for an extension of up to another 3 years.

With your acceptance as a doctoral candidate, you must now enrol as a doctoral student with the Studies Section of the university. This involves the payment of a student fee. As a doctoral student, you will receive access LUE’s facilities, an internal email address and the opportunity for discounted travel on public transport. You can also access the university's funding opportunities for your doctoral project. Your enrolment is only valid for one semester, i.e. you have to re-enrol for each semester.

If you have a job at LUE (full-time or part-time of 50% or more of a full-time position), you can also waive enrolment if you wish.