Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.) in Ancient Near Eastern Philology

The conferral of a doctorate consists of an independent research supervised by the mentoring professor. It is built up of two parts

  • the writing of a doctoral thesis (monographic scientific dissertation) which displays the research method as well as the results
  • the participation in a ninety-minute examination colloquium.

Prerequisites

The general admission requirements are stated in the doctoral degree regulations.
Usually, the doctoral thesis has to be written in German. For an enrollment, applicants have to demonstrate a very good knowledge of the German language in form of the "Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang ausländischer Studienbewerber" or equivalents thereof (further information here).

The admission additionally requires the proof of ability in at least three ancient eastern languages (doctoral degree regulations, appendix p. 79, section A.) usually:

Akkadian, Hittite and Sumerian.

The languages can be acquired during the course of the conferral of the doctorate.

Modalities of examination

A doctor thesis in Ancient Near Eastern Philology has to fulfill the following requirements (doctoral degree regulations §10, p.11):

(1) The dissertation topic shall be within the responsibility of Department 07, research focus Ancient Near Eastern Philology.

(2) The dissertation must provide a new insight into the discipline in question.

(3) The following requirements apply to the dissertation: correct use of language, faultless external form complying with scholarly standards, typed and bound.

(4) As a rule, the dissertation is to be written in the German language. Exceptions from this rule require the approval of the supervisor and the respective department council.

(5) The dissertation may not have been published or submitted as an examination requirement as part of a different examination procedure.