Doctoral studies

Students who intend to register at LMU Munich for the first time in order to pursue their doctoral studies (students who are changing universities), please refer to the information provided at registration.

The same applies to former students who are re-registering (i.e. students who were already registered at LMU Munich in the past and earned their degree here as well), please also see this document (PDF, 55 KB).

The application for registration for doctoral studies must be submitted by mail to the Office of the University Registrar.

Please note that the registration dates and deadlines are binding. In order to register it is imperative that the following documents are submitted by mail: Information on registration.

In addition, the following documents must also be submitted by mail at the time of registration:

A note concerning the change of subject to pursue doctoral studies:

Those students who are currently registered at LMU Munich and intend to pursue postgraduate studies are required to submit the form for a change of subject with an written approval issued by the respective Dean’s Office/Doctoral Committee

The fees for the Studierendenwerk (Munich Student Union) must already be paid to and processed by LMU for the semester concerned.

A change of subject due to passing the final examination can only be processed upon notification of the examination results by the respective examination office.

Time limit concerning doctoral studies

In accordance with Art. 94 section 3 sentence 1 number 3 of the Bayerisches Hochschulinnovationsgesetz, students may continue their registration or re-register for the same degree program after passing their final examination if they apply to register or continue their registration in order to pursue a doctoral degree. On principle, however, registration for the purpose of earning a doctoral degree is limited to a maximum of four years.

If on an individual basis the doctoral studies extend beyond this time limit due to reasons of scientific research, students may submit an informal request within the specified deadline for the continuation of registration to SU 4 – Fees, Doctoral and Visiting Students asking for an extension of their registration; it is imperative that such a request is accompanied by a letter from the dean of the faculty approving the extension of registration.

Important: The legal limit refers to the period of registration (as a student) only. The preparation for and completion of all the requirements for the doctoral degree is not necessarily limited to this period; beyond these four years, however, students are not eligible to keep their status as a registered doctoral student.

By the way, according to the regulations on doctoral degrees, registration is not required at the time that the application for admission to the doctoral examination is submitted nor for the time it takes to complete all the requirements leading to the award of the doctoral degree.

If you need an LMU login ID and password even though you are not (or no longer) registered as a doctoral student, please refer to this information sheet:

Further information

Please also see: Wissenschaftlicher Nachwuchs: Promotionsphase

responsible for the content of this page: Office of the University Registrar

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