Step 1: How do I find a topic for my doctorate?

Try to assign your doctoral topic to a subject or department. The list of departments represented at Freie Universität Berlin provides an overview. Go to the page of the department you are interested in. All subjects or institutes in the department are listed there. Select the page of the subject/institute you are interested in. Large subjects are subdivided into work areas, the page of the subject then contains a link to these areas. Small subjects often only offer a link to the chairs, whose specific areas of work and research interests are then listed.

Step 2: How do I find potential supervisors?

Who exactly is allowed to supervise a doctorate is determined by the doctoral regulations of the respective department. As a rule, university professors, junior professors and private lecturers at Freie Universität are eligible. Select the persons or fields of work that are suitable for you. You should not act too hastily at this point. On the contrary, take your time, read the information provided thoroughly and check each time whether the description and details match or could match your expectations. Also use the information on publications and research projects to get as accurate a picture as possible.

Once you have found what you are looking for, write an email. This first email should not be too long. Introduce yourself (name, university of origin, subject), describe your doctoral project in one or two sentences and explain why you are addressing your email to this particular person. Finally, ask for an appointment at one of the next office hours. In your email, pay particular attention to using polite language and correct spelling and grammar.

It is not advisable to attach detailed descriptions of your academic career or your CV and dissertation exposé, if you have one, to this first email. You will usually be asked to provide these documents after the first interview anyway.

Unfortunately, the “cold” approach via email is not always successful - this becomes understandable when you consider that supervisors receive many such requests every day. It can therefore be helpful to establish indirect or direct contact before making a supervision request. Is there someone at your home university who is already in contact with the supervisor you have identified for the dissertation? If necessary, you can ask for a letter of recommendation and refer to this mutual contact in your email. Or you can find out whether the person you have identified will be attending a specialist conference in your area in the foreseeable future, where you could then try to talk to them directly. Tips and recommendations from lecturers you already know at your home university can also be valuable here

Finding a supervisor for a doctorate in a structured program

For a doctorate in a structured program, the application is usually addressed to the program itself. The program will offer you possible supervisors upon acceptance. Alternatively, some programs require the acceptance of a doctoral project by a supervisor, in which case the advice described above applies.

It is often only possible to apply for one or two terms per year. Furthermore, additional and higher requirements than those specified in the doctoral regulations - such as a higher grade point average or special language requirements - may be a prerequisite for applying to a doctoral program.

Application deadlines and requirements for the relevant program can be found on its website. A list of doctoral programs can be found on the Dahlem Research School website, other programs in the Berlin science region can be found on the Doctoral Programs in Berlin portal.

The personal meeting

If, on the other hand, you are not convinced that you have found the right supervisor based on the information available to you on the Internet, you can only continue your search in personal discussions.The homepage of each department or institute lists a secretariat, which you can regard as the “department secretariat”, and which deals with general matters relating to the department. Call them and describe your problem as precisely as possible. You will not receive direct advice there, but the secretarial staff will recommend contacts who can help you further because they know the staff of the department / institute and can assess what academic expertise is required for your doctoral project. If a supervisor is recommended to you in this conversation, write an email ... This time, you are welcome to refer directly to the advice of the person who referred you if you want to explain why you are contacting somebody directly with your request.