Admission as a Doctoral Candidate

Preferentially, please send us your documents by post or within the university by internal mail (also possible from University Medicine). If you wish to bring your documents personally, an appointment is needed and can be arranged by telephone or e-mail.

No official certifications are required for degrees of  JGU's Faculty of Biology. For external degrees you can either send us certified copies, or only copies at first, and you will have to submit the originals at a later date. In the latter case, the acceptance as doctoral student is then subject to the condition that the originals have yet to be submitted.

Doctoral students at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz are legally obliged to register in accordance with §34 of the Rhineland Palatinate University Act. Therefore, please note that the admission as doctoral student is preceded by a "registration process" via Jogustine online.

In Jogustine you have to "apply" for a doctorate at Johannes Gutenberg University in order to comply with the legally required registration. When registering, you can choose between two options that cannot be changed after the registration has been sent. You can choose between

- registration

- registration and enrollment.

The option of registration and enrollment means that you can later take advantage of the JGU students' benefits (semester ticket, day care center entitlement and other discounts and benefits). Please note that the matriculation is limited in time and associated with the payment of the semester fee.

Please note that your registration as a doctoral candidate at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz will automatically end with the successful completion of the doctoral project, the termination of the doctoral project, the cancellation of the supervision or the change of university.

In the application for acceptance as a doctoral candidate of the Faculty of Biology, which must be completed with the online registration in step 1, the topic and supervisor as well as co-supervisor of the doctoral thesis must be specified. If you are writing the dissertation outside of the Faculty of Biology (working groups at university medicine, MPI etc.), the co-supervisor must be a full-time member of the Faculty of Biology (e.g. habilitation or professorship required) and is also the examiner of the main subject.

After completing the online registration, you must print out the documents and sign your supervisor at the appropriate place. In addition, please fill out the supervision agreement (download in the right column) and have it signed by the supervisor. Then bring the application together with the documents required to check the requirements for acceptance as a doctoral candidate:

1. Registration application from Jogustine (completely filled in and signed)

2. Proof of admission requirements in accordance with § 7 (PromoO FB10 , March 2018), if applicable with a certificate of recognition of the same

3. University entrance qualification

4. Curriculum vitae and a presentation of the scientific background

5. Copy of your official photo ID

6. Declaration of ongoing or previous attempts at doctoral studies

7. Supervision agreement (completed and signed)

to the Dean's Office by post or internal mail (also possible from campus of University Medicine).

If the requirements for acceptance as a doctoral candidate are met, the Dean's Office issues a written confirmation of acceptance as a doctoral candidate. The date of the acceptance letter is the start of the doctorate. With the acceptance letter the registration and admission as a doctoral candidate is completed. If you applied for enrollment as a doctoral student when registering online, go to step 3.

If you selected the registration / enrollment option in step 1 and submitted the relevant documents relating to admission to the Dean's Office, the Dean's Office will forward these to the Student Secretariat of the JGU. From there you will receive further information regarding the registration. With the enrollment you receive the status of a student at JGU with all related rights and benefits.
The application for admission should be submitted as early as possible, i.e. at the beginning of the experimental dissertation phase.
If you have obtained your degree qualifying for your doctorate abroad, your diplomas/degree certificates must first be recognized by the International Admissions Office. Remember that this recognition can take up to 6 weeks and is a prerequisite for admission as a doctoral candidate to the Faculty of Biology.
You can switch to the new doctoral regulations at your own request. A corresponding written application can be made informally to the Dean's Office.