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Faculty I: Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Here you will find all the information you need if you want to start, continue or complete a doctorate at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Siegen. The currently valid doctoral degree regulations are always binding.

 

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Important information

1

Find a supervisor

  • If you want to do a doctorate, you must first find a professor or private lecturer to supervise your doctoral thesis. Please contact a person in the field of your planned dissertation topic directly. You must agree on a topic for your doctorate. The first step is often to write an exposé.
  • You can find information about the professors/private lecturers at the Schools in the individual seminars.
  • Once you have found a supervisor, we recommend concluding a supervision agreement (sample). With this, you can make the relationship between you as a doctoral candidate and your supervisor transparent in terms of content and time.
2

Apply for admission to doctoral studies

  • Send a letter
    (sample incl. note on attachments) to the Doctoral Committee to officially apply for admission to doctoral studies at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
  • The doctoralcommittee
    will decide on your application. In the event of a positive decision, it will issue you with a certificate/admission to doctoral studies. If necessary, you can use the certificate to apply for a doctoral visa for Germany.
  • Applications for admission to doctoral studies must be submitted to Dr. Kai Naumann
    in the office of the doctoral committee. The date of the next meeting will be announced on the website of the doctoral committee
    website.
  • The application for admission is also possible via unisono
    possible.
3

Enrollment for a doctorate

  • Doctoral candidates can enroll at the University of Siegen. The enrollment
    takes place via unisono.
  • Enrolled doctoral students receive a student ID card and can use university services such as the library, workstations, computer rooms and sports facilities. They also receive discounts (e.g. in the canteen) and the Deutschland-Semesterticket
    for regional and local transportation.

 

4

Write your doctorate

  • Gather material, collect data, select literature or immerse yourself in reading - and above all: write your dissertation step by step. Through regular writing and realistic goals, your dissertation will gradually grow from many small texts, regardless of whether you are doing a cumulative doctorate or a dissertation.
  • In this phase, regular progress meetings and reports are also useful (see supervision agreement).
5

Open the doctoral procedure

  • Upon completion of the thesis, you submit an application to open the doctoral examination procedure to the chairperson of the doctoral committee. The doctoral examination consists of a dissertation and an oral examination. You can find an overview of the documents to be submitted in the sample application to open the procedure or in the doctoral regulations. You can find a sample title page here.
  • Your examination committee consists of four people: two reviewers and two other people. The members are professors, junior professors or private lecturers.
6

Oral examination

  • The oral examination lasts 90 minutes and usually comprises the dissertation and two other topics from the doctoral subject and is usually open to the university.
  • The examination usually begins with a short presentation on the central content of the dissertation.
7

Publication

  • The dissertation must be published within two years of the oral examination (please refer to the Publication Guidelines
    as well as the publication guidelines
    must be observed).
  • If the dissertation is published in book form, in a scientific series or journal, a minimum print run of 30 copies must be provided and three copies must be submitted to the Publication Support Team of the University Library. In the case of a cumulative dissertation, three copies with at least a title page, a table of contents, an abstract and a list with the Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) of all works must be submitted to the University Library.
  • It must be clear from the copies that it is a dissertation at the Faculty I: Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Siegen.

Further information

Meeting date of the doctoral committee:

  • Tuesday, April 14, 2026, 9:00 a.m.

Members of the doctoral committee:

Contact doctoral committee:

At the beginning of a doctoral or habilitation project, you often write a synopsis of your planned work. The exposé is intended to give other people, such as the supervisor or a scholarship provider, an overview of the project. It should not be longer than 10-15 pages (including cover sheet and bibliography). In order to write an exposé, you need to delve a little deeper into the topic - but do not work on it for too long (no longer than approx. 3 months).

The requirements for an exposé may vary depending on the subject area and topic. Some scholarship providers also have precise requirements. As a rule, however, the following structure is recommended:

Abstract

The abstract should describe the project in about half a page. It should contain the research question and the object of investigation and at least briefly address the larger research question for which the project is relevant and what is innovative about the work.

Research question

Describe the research question you wish to investigate in your thesis. Distinguish the research question from questions that are not to be investigated and justify the distinction. Make clear the scientific relevance of your topic in the context of a larger subject area. Show that your topic can lead to interesting and innovative results that connect to current research debates.

Current state of research

Give an overview of the most important contributions to your field of research in recent years. List the key literature and the theses put forward by various authors. Point out important controversies, unresolved questions and research gaps, and explain how your work can contribute to the progress of research.

Procedure / Research method

Explain how you would like to answer your research question. Which sub-steps do you want to work on? In the case of empirical work, it may be necessary to provide more detailed information on the methodological approach of your work. Mention possible objections to your approach and respond to them. If costs are involved in collecting or analyzing data, you should estimate them.

Access to material

This point is only necessary if you want to process material that is not easily accessible. Explain which material is necessary for your research question. Can you get access to the material and what costs are involved?

Work plan

Draw up a realistic plan of when you want to work on which steps. If possible, proceed in quarterly steps.

Literature

List the key literature on your topic.

If you are accepted for a doctorate, this does not mean that you will be funded by the University of Siegen for the duration of your doctorate. There are various ways to finance a doctoral project.

Employment at the university

  • Each subject employs research assistants who work on their doctorate alongside their work at the university. Research assistants support the respective subject in teaching, research and administration; some are employed as part of research projects without teaching duties. As the number of positions is limited, new positions are only filled irregularly.
  • Vacancies are published on the website of the University of Siegen
    and in relevant newsletters.

Scholarships within the University of Siegen

  • The integrated research training group of the Collaborative Research Center 1187 "Media of Cooperation"
    supports doctoral projects within the thematic focus. Applications can only be made if scholarships have been announced.
  • The Graduate Center of the University ofSiegen House of Young Talents (HYT)
    also announces scholarships (usually in June or December of each year).
  • The University of Siegen awards annual doctoral and habilitation scholarships to female doctoral candidates. Further information can be obtained from the Office of the Equal Opportunities Officer.

External scholarships

Most scholarships for doctoral candidates are awarded by external foundations and organizations. The requirements for applicants differ between the organizations. In most cases, applicants must submit an exposé, a letter of recommendation and relevant certificates. Some organizations accept applications on an ongoing basis, others on specific dates. Please note that the decision on an application can take three to six months. Some organizations conduct personal interviews with applicants. A number of foundations award scholarships that are funded by the German state. The largest foundation, the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, is politically and ideologically neutral; the other foundations are affiliated with a political party, a religious organization or social actors. Applicants are expected to share the values of the respective organization; however, membership in a political party is not required.

You can find further scholarships in these databases

Selection of courses offered by Faculty I

University-wide offers

Further subject-specific offers