The University of Arts Karlsruhe is fully authorized to award academic doctorates degrees (Dr.phil.) in the areas of art theory, media theory and philosophy. The doctorate is a mark of distinguished ability to work academically, and is based on an independent academic dissertation and an oral examination on the same subject.

General admission for the doctorate requires proof of prior academic studies in art, culture, humanities, media or social studies to a Masters or Magister level (with an overall mark of “good” or 2.0 or more) at a university, educational training college, or art university.

Potential applicants are asked to hand in the following documents in the initial phase

1. A CV (with detailed information on previous academic background) and copies of all previous university degree certificates;

2. A proposal describing your planned dissertation. This should include:

   • The motivational interest for the planned dissertation
   • The theoretical context and the current status of research on the chosen theme – please provide selected literature
   • The innovative nature of the content and/or method of the project

The proposal should be around five to seven standard pages, the usual scope for such purposes, and contain literature references on the research subject as well as a list of own publications (if any).

Admission as a doctoral student is decided by the PhD committee of the university following an assessment of the proposal and at a later stage, the completion of a written doctoral agreement.

For further questions regarding admission requirements, please contact the university examination office. For questions regarding the thematic content of the planned dissertation, please contact the department office.