The application period for the intake in October 2025 is from December 15th, 2024 until March 31st, 2025 23:59 CET.

Following documents are required for the application:

1. CV
2. Letter of motivation explaining your reasons for being interested in the doctoral programme at CGS. Please discuss your goals and your research interests and refer to potential dissertation topics. Your letter should be in English (max 2 pages).
3. University entrance qualifications: a transcript from college ("Abiturzeugnis") is required.
4. Certificates of university degrees already obtained (B.Sc. and M.Sc. or equivalent)
5. Academic transcripts showing coursework taken and grades received. Where feasible, transcripts should indicate cohort rank or distinction. If you have not yet finished your current degree, please attach a preliminary grade report.
6. GRE/GMAT/TM-WiSo: all applicants can upload their general GRE or GMAT test copy in the online application to increase their admission chances, however, this is not mandatory.
7. Language proficiency certificate (i.e. TOEFL or IELTS): all applicants must upload a TOEFL or IELTS test copy in the online application. This requirement is waived for candidates from English-speaking countries and graduates from study programmes entirely taught in English. For this, please upload a document proving your citizenship of an English-speaking country or documentation by the university confirming that your degree’s language of instruction was English.
8. Two letters of recommendation: two letters of recommendation (in German or English) are required from evaluators who are able to assess your academic ability and potential. One of the reference letters must be written by a university professor.

A translation is required for any document not provided in English or German. At this stage of the application process it is not necessary to notarise the translations. Should you receive acceptance, you will need to provide notarised translations.

Applications including two reference letters need to be submitted by the deadline. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Applications need to be submitted online. If you want to apply, please take the following two steps:

Step 1: Submit your registration form on the online application portal and submit all required documents. Please note that you will not be able to change your data once it has been submitted.

Step 2: Once you have completed your application, your referees will receive an automatically generated email with an upload link. Please make sure that your two reference letters are submitted by the application deadline.

The admission committee will review all complete applications and decide on who will be interviewed. Interviews will be conducted online via Zoom. We ask all applicants to refrain from asking questions about the status of applications until the beginning of May.

Funding

All admitted students receive a scholarship of €1.515 per month. The scholarship is tax-free, but scholarship recipients are required to pay for their health insurance using this amount. CGS commits to funding its students for three years. Scholarships start with the course programme in October.

Fees

No tuition fee is charged. Each semester, all enrolled students of the University of Cologne have to pay a social contribution fee ("Semesterbeitrag").

CGS students who have a child and receive a scholarship can request a child allowance. This allowance is provided in addition to your grant and is currently €400 per month for the first child. In addition, you can apply for financial help for childcare. All these offers are designed to help you as a young researcher and parent, since we promote equal opportunities for students with children.