Enrolment for doctoral candidates

Mandatory enrolment

In accordance with Section 38(5) of State University Law (Landeshochschulgesetz, LHG), doctoral candidates must enrol at their faculty once they have been accepted as PhD students. This also applies to doctoral candidates who have an employment relationship with the University of Freiburg (e.g. research assistants). The Registration Office in the Service Center Studium is in charge of enrolment.

On enrolment, doctoral candidates become members of the University and thus gain an active and passive voting right in the doctoral candidates status group.

The doctoral examination can only be taken if you are enrolled or legally exempted from mandatory enrolment. If the doctoral process has been commenced but you are not enrolled or are no longer exempt (Section 38(5) LHG), it will be suspended. After completing the doctoral project, doctoral candidates may remain enrolled until presentation of the doctorate provided they actively re-register.

Landeshochschulgesetz [de]

Re-registration

Exemption from mandatory enrolment: Doctoral candidates who were already accepted at their faculty as PhD students before 30 March 2018 may enrol but are not obliged to do so (the date of the letter of acceptance as a PhD student at the faculty applies. Doctoral candidates who are employed at the University of Freiburg or who work for Freiburg University Medical Center on a state contract of employment for at least half the regular work hours of a full-time employee may be exempted from mandatory enrolment.

Applying to enrol as a doctoral candidate

You can be enrolled if you have applied for enrolment properly and provided all necessary documents in full.

Enrolment for doctoral candidates takes place immediately after acceptance as a PhD student and may be applied for at any time in the semester; the normal enrolment deadlines for students do not apply.

Documents necessary for enrolment

A completed and signed application to enrol for a doctoral candidate
A copy of the letter of acceptance as a PhD student (from the faculty)
An original or officially certified copy of the university entrance qualification (this will be returned). If you already are/were enrolled at the University of Freiburg, you do not need to resubmit a certified copy of your university entrance qualification in order to enrol as a doctoral candidate.
An original or officially certified copy of university degrees (Bachelor and Master) as well as a full transcript of records. If you took your Master’s degree at the University of Freiburg, we do not need a certified copy of the Master’s degree certificate.
Proof of payment of semester fees

Semester fees and tuition

A certificate of proper unenrolment (not an ex officio certificate of unenrolment) from all German universities previously attended, if you did not study exclusively at the University of Freiburg. The certificate must state the degree programme, study semester, academic semester, period of enrolment, date of unenrolment.
If you submit documents by post: please include a properly stamped, self-addressed DIN C4 envelope (for Germany €1.80) for the return of your original documents.

Submitting enrolment documents

As soon as enrolment is completed you will receive the initial password for your student account (by email) and your UniCard (by post, provided you have recorded a postal address in Germany). Once you have received your account details, you can access your certificate of enrolment yourself in the Campus Management System HISinOne.

UniCard

Certificate of enrolment

Exemption from mandatory enrolment as a doctoral candidate

If you are not subject to mandatory enrolment and have decided not to enrol, you must apply to be exempted from mandatory enrolment. Your application should be made, like enrolment, after acceptance as a PhD student.

Necessary documents for exemption from enrolment

A letter of acceptance from the faculty
A completed and signed application to enrol or for exemption for a doctoral candidate
A copy of the contract of employment. The contract of employment must be made with the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, represented by the University of Freiburg or by the University Medical Center. Contracts of employment with any other partners do not provide grounds for exemption from mandatory enrolment.

Submitting enrolment documents

Please note: the exemption only applies for the duration of the contract of employment you submit. If you are issued a new contract of employment and want to be exempted for a longer period, please submit your new contract of employment to the Registration Office in the Service Center Studium. If your contract of employment runs out before your doctoral process is completed, you must enrol for the remaining period.

If you have any questions whether you are subject to mandatory enrolment, or which status is more advantageous to you, or what advantages and disadvantages there are to exemption/enrolment, please contact: Hanna Mahler (Freiburg Graduate Center).

Freiburg Graduate Centre (GraCe)

Concluding phase of your doctorate

Mandatory enrolment applies until completion of the viva. In addition, doctoral candidates may remain enrolled on a voluntary basis until the doctorate is completed with presentation of the doctorate. If you no longer want to be enrolled after your viva, please apply to be unenrolled at the Registration Office in the Service Center Studium. If you do not apply to be unenrolled and do not re-register, you will be automatically unenrolled ex officio at the end of the semester.

If it is advantageous for you, you may continue to re-register after your viva until the presentation of the doctorate. This allows you e.g. continued access to your student email as well as to information in HISinOne, storage locations, e-resources and other university services. In this case, please apply to unenrol after presentation of the doctorate. If you do not apply to be unenrolled, you will be unenrolled ex officio at the end of the semester.

Unenrolment normally comes into effect at the end of the semester, regardless of when it is applied for. Unenrolment can only come into effect immediately in exceptional cases. Retroactive unenrolment for a past semester is not possible.

Disenrolment

Doctorate in Medicine concurrent with studies

If you are already enrolled on the Human Medicine or Dental Medicine State Examination degree programme and are taking your doctorate concurrent with studies in Human Medicine or Dental Medicine, you must complete the application to switch subject and submit it to the Registration Office at the Service Center Studium.

Change of subject or degree programme

Enrolment as international visiting PhD student

In order to enrol at the University of Freiburg, please bring the following documents during office hours to the Registration Office at the Service Center Studium. Please submit the documents in German, English or French. If your certificates are issued in another language, we need one copy each of the translations.

A completed and signed application to enrol
A letter of endorsement from your supervisor at the University of Freiburg (simple letter, no special form needed)
Evidence of German statutory health insurance or exemption from the requirement to take out insurance (in the case of privately-insured parties): must in both cases be sent to us electronically by the statutory health fund. To do this, please request ‘Meldegrund 10 für die Universität Freiburg’ from your German health insurance fund. The University’s sender number is H 0000099. A chip card/EHIC or written membership certificate cannot be accepted.

Health insurance

An original or officially certified copy of the university entrance qualification
An original or officially certified copy of university degrees (Bachelor and Master) as well as a full transcript of records
If you previously studied at a university in Germany: Certificate of unenrolment
Proof of payment of semester fees

Semester fees and tuition

Re-registration

Registration Office

Application to enrol for short-term studies for international students and international visiting PhD students

FAQ

Although there are fixed enrolment deadlines for students, it is possible for doctoral candidates to enrol all year round. Therefore you can submit your enrolment application immediately after acceptance by the faculty as a PhD student.

When you are enrolled, you can

elect representatives for the doctoral candidates in the University elections
stand in the University elections yourself
benefit from cover under the student liability and accident insurance
eat in the Mensa at a reduced rate for students
receive discounts in a wide variety of places with your student pass
benefit from the Studierendenwerk’s services and advice (e.g. psychotherapeutic advisory service, halls of residence)

If you were already enrolled at the University of Freiburg or took your Master’s degree here, you do not need to resubmit certified copies of your university entrance qualification or your Master’s degree certificate in order to enrol as a doctoral candidate.

No, international doctoral candidates only have to pay the normal semester fees.

Semester fees and tuition

Re-registration

You must remain enrolled until you have passed your viva (or definitively failed). You do not have to remain enrolled until your paper is published. If you no longer want to be enrolled after your viva, please apply to be unenrolled at the Registration Office in the Service Center Studium.

You can download your certificate of enrolment yourself from HISinOne.

Yes, if you are employed by the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, you can be exempted from mandatory enrolment.

No, only doctoral candidates who are employed full-time at the University of Freiburg are entitled to exemption from mandatory enrolment.

Enrolment is handled by the Registration Office in the Service Center Studium. You can obtain information about the process, e.g. including about the necessary documents, from the Registration Office.

Registration Office

Freiburg Graduate Centre (GraCe)

Leave of absence is in principle possible for doctoral candidates, but you should consider it very carefully, as a change in your enrolment status does not affect the ongoing doctoral process. It does not affect the maximum amount of time you can take for your doctorate in accordance with the doctoral regulations.

Leave of Absence

To remain enrolled doctoral candidates must re-register regularly each semester within the re-registration periods, by paying the semester fees to the University for the coming semester. Doctoral candidates who are exempted from mandatory enrolment do not have to re-register.

Semester fees and tuition

Re-registration

When you have successfully passed your doctoral examination and no longer want to be enrolled, please apply to the Registration Office at the Service Center Studium to unenrol. Unenrolment always takes place at the end of the semester. Once your application to unenrol has been approved, you will receive a certificate of unenrolment from the Registration Office at the Service Center Studium. This includes information that is relevant to your statutory pension insurance. If you do not apply to unenrol and do not re-register, you will be automatically unenrolled ex officio at the end of the semester.

Disenrolment

You can find a list of IT services in this brochure.

RZ-IT-Services [de]

Enrolment data protection declaration

Information according to Art. 13/14 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) [de]