To be admitted to a doctoral program, you must first be successfully admitted to a doctorate in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Basel. You can then apply to the executive board of the doctoral program for admission.
For more information, please consult the doctoral program websites.
To be admitted to a doctorate, applicants must hold a master’s degree in a field related to the desired subject of doctoral research with an average grade of at least 5.0 rounded to the nearest tenth (the Swiss system awards grades from 1 to 6 with 6 being the highest grade and 4 being a “pass”). Other degrees from a higher education institution recognized by the University of Basel may be deemed partially or fully equivalent on the condition that the applicant acquires any missing credits. Acontinuing education program qualification from a university (e.g. Master of Advanced Studies) does not entitle an applicant to be admitted to a doctorate.
Admission applications must be submitted online to the university’s Student Administration Office. Applications can also be submitted after…
moreThe doctorate comprises
In the curriculum-based section of the doctoral training, doctoral students must generally earn a minimum of 12 credit points in an individual doctorate and 18 credit points in structured doctoral programs. At least two thirds of the credit points must come from the area of subject-specific and methodological skills; a maximum of a third can be earned for transferable skills (see doctoral agreement fact sheet).
The precise structure of the academic program to be completed is agreed between the Doctoral Committee and the doctoral student, and defined and documented in the Individual Plan of Study. Insofar as possible, the academic program should be distributed throughout the duration of the…
moreYes, cumulative dissertations are also possible. The format of the cumulative dissertation is defined in the Doctoral Agreement. For cumulative dissertation requirements, please see the relevant information sheet.
The academic achievements required are set out in an Individual Plan of Study, which forms part of the Doctoral Agreement. Specialist/methodological courses comprise 2/3 of the program and a maximum of 1/3 may consist of transversal competences (as recommended in the doctoral agreement fact sheet). This is regulated in the study and training programs for the structured doctoral programs.