Doctoral progammes

A doctoral programme usually results in the title Doctor of Natural Sciences  (Dr. rer. nat.). Alternatively, you can choose to graduate as a Doctor of Social Sciences (Dr. rer. soc.) or a Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.).

Instead of doing an individual programme, you can also obtain a doctoral degree at the Graduate School of Decision Sciences or via the doctoral programme Clinical Psychology, Neuropsychology and Psychotherapy.

Doctoral programmes

Individual programme

Individual doctoral programme means that you work independently on an agreed topic, without a structured programme (e.g., a graduate school) but in cooperation with your supervisor. 

It is up to you to find a supervisor and obtain approval as a doctoral candidate at the Department of Psychology. Depending on the funding, your position as a doctoral researcher may include a certain teaching load, departmental or project-related duties, or participation in the university's self-administration. 

The admission requirements usually ask for a "good" overall grade in the subject-specific final exam of your master's degree.

Fast track

The fast track offers excellent students the option to shorten their duration of study and start their doctoral programme without first obtaining a master's degree. 

The requirement for graduates of a 4-year bachelor's programme at a university or a university of teacher education is a subject-specific degree with a final grade of 1.2 or better. The grade of the bachelor's thesis must be 1.0. Equivalent grades are required for international degrees.

Doctoral programme Clinical Psychology, Neuropsychology and Psychotherapy

The doctoral programme Clinical Psychology, Neuropsychology and Psychotherapy is an 8-semester programme. This includes a 1-year master's programme in the first 2 semesters as well as the time to write up your doctoral thesis and complete the oral doctoral exams.

The Scope and content of the programme are designed in a way that permits the approbation as a psychological psychotherapist after an additional year of practice (PT 1) – that is, after a total of 10 semesters. Our collaboration with the Bodenseeinstitut für Psychotherapie (bip) in particular enables this linking of doctoral programme and psychotherapy training. 

Graduate School of Decision Sciences

The Graduate School of Decision Sciences (GSDS) offers doctoral candidates an interdisciplinary environment for training and research on topics of decision making and their application to important issues of society.  

The graduate school is structured into four interdisciplinary research areas with various cross-connections: 

(A) Behavioural Decision Making
(B) Intertemporal Choice and Markets
(C) Political Decisions and Institutions
(D) Information Processing and Statistical Analysis

Please find further information on programme contents and admission requirements on the GSDS website.

For further information on admission, please refer to the general and subject-specific provisions of the doctoral regulations.