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Hamburg at a glance
Hamburg is one of the richest metropolitan areas in the European Union, along with Brussels and London and an important financial and industrial centre in Germany. It is the biggest trading hub in all of Germany, and Europe’s third largest port, maintaining business connections worldwide. Studying in Hamburg you will gain excellent academic training and further on you will increase your chances of successful employment in whatever field you want to specialise in. You will benefit from a multicultural and welcoming atmosphere and enjoy numerous leisure activities in your spare time. Enjoy the eventful nightlife, beautiful landmarks matching Berlin’s – including a large number of bridges and channels, as well as many parks and tree lined avenues, with relatively few skyscrapers. Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany, situated on the river Elbe and is the second largest container harbour in Europe.
Studying
Studying in Hamburg
Universities in Hamburg use German as language of instruction for most courses. English taught programmes are mostly found for Master’s and PhD courses.
The choices for Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes cover specialisations like: computer science, business administration, food chemistry, economics, industrial engineering, aeronautical and automotive engineering, European business law, journalism, nanoscience, psychology, and more. Attends interdisciplinary Master’s degrees, a part-time Master’s or a double degree MBA.
Students may also consider following a distance learning degree either fully online, or with periodic on campus visits. Short courses are another study option that lets students benefit from introductions on relevant topics, or in-depth specialised studies.
Career
Career opportunities in Hamburg
Hamburg has been an important financial, information, media and industry centre in Germany. Local economy is supported by highly specialized industries, like medical technology and biotechnology and is one of the world centres for aircraft construction. Over 120,000 enterprises from around the world have settled in Hamburg.
One of the world’s oldest bank, Berenberg Bank has its headquarters in Hamburg. Other companies with local offices include: M.M.Warburg & CO, HSH Nordbank. Airbus, Blohm+Voss, CaptainTravel GmbH, Warner Bros. Records Germany, Adobe Systems, Google, Air Hamburg, Otto, Praktiker, Signal Iduna, Steinway &Sons, Tchibo, Tom Tailor.
Students have plenty of internship opportunities to choose from, in various industries, as universities are constantly focusing to combine lessons with practical activities, these include collaborations with local companies.
Life
Hamburg city life
Hamburg has a thriving rich cultural heritage and a vibrant night life so anyone can find pleasant leisure activities.
An emblematic monument is the Speicherstadt (‘City of Warehouses’), which was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.
Many parks are distributed over the whole city, the biggest ones are the Stadtpark, the Ohlsdorf Cemetery and Planten un Blomen.
If you are interested in theatre, you can watch a play at the state-owned Deutsches Schauspielhaus, the Thalia Theatre, or the English Theatre of Hamburg.
Out of many museums and galleries, you can visit:
- The Kunsthalle Hamburg – contemporary art gallery (Galerie der Gegenwart)
- The Museum for Art and Industry (Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe)
- The Deichtorhallen/House of Photography
- The Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg
- Miniatur Wunderland –the world’s largest model railway museum
Hamburg hosts several festivals and events, such as the Alster fair, the Hamburger DOM – Germany’s biggest fun fair, or Hafengeburtstag – a funfair to honour the birthday of the port of Hamburg .
Hamburg is Northern Germany’s shopping metropolis, so you can satisfy your shopping hobby in numerous fashion stores.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to take a ferry trip on river Elbe or admire the architecture of HafenCity, a long-derelict port area. Hamburg has a rich night scene, offering plenty options of entertainment in clubs, pubs or bars.
International atmosphere in Hamburg
Hamburg is an important tourist destination for both domestic and international visitors and also a huge trade and transport metropolis. Hamburg is home to over eighty consulates and embassies and hundreds of companies from Asia have set their headquarters or local offices here.
As far as the immigrant population, several ethnic communities coming from over 150 countries live in Hamburg, making up almost 30 % of the total population. A significant crowd comes from Asian countries, Turkey, UK, U.S., Poland and Afghanistan, as Hamburg hosts the largest Afghan community in Germany and Europe.
Our doctoral programs are highly structured and interdisciplinary.
We offer efficient support and key qualifications. Doctoral students will profit from our high scientific standards and can finish their degree within three to four years. We encourage all doctoral students to take advantage of the Career Center’s education and training offerings.
Universität Hamburg offers the following doctoral programs:
Graduate programs in the faculties
Our graduate schools offer doctoral programs that are an integral part of Universität Hamburg.
- Graduate programs in the faculties
Thematic graduate schools
Thematic graduate schools have a very specific thematic focus and require an additional application.
School of Integrated Climate System Sciences (SICSS)
Part of clisap, the cluster of excellence funded by the Excellence Initiative of the federal government and the federal states.
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Eva-Maria Pfeiffer
C1-Chemistry in Resource and Energy Management (C1-REM)
State graduate school funded by the State Excellence Cluster of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Gerrit Luinstra
Estuary and Wetland Research Graduate School Hamburg (Estrade School Hamburg)
State graduate school funded by the State Excellence Cluster of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
Spokespersons: Prof. Dr. Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Junior Prof. Dr. Kai Jensen
Graduate School Media and Communication
State graduate school funded by the State Excellence Cluster of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Spokespersons: Prof. Dr. Michael Clement, Prof. Dr. Uwe Hasebrink, Prof. Dr. Knut Hickethier
Research Training Groups
Research Training Groups of the German Research Foundation (DFG)
International Max Planck Research School
IMPRS on Earth System Modelling
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Martin Claußen
Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
Bundesstraße 53
20146 Hamburg
Tel: +49 40 41173-226
Fax: +49 40 41173-366
martin.claussen@mpimet.mpg.de
International Max Planck Research School for Ultrafast Imaging & Structural Dynamics (IMPRS-UFAST)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dwayne Miller
Max Planck Advanced Study Group for Structural Dynamics at Universität Hamburg Hamburg
Center for Free-Electron Laser Science
c/o DESY, Bldg. 49a
Notkestraße 85
22607 Hamburg
Tel: +49 40 8998-6260
Fax: +49 40 8998-1958
E-Mail: dwayne.miller@mpsd.cfel.de
Marie Curie Initial Training Networks
Marie Curie – Particle Detectors (Participation)
Network coordinator: Dr. Christian Joram
CERN PH Department
Tel: +41 22-76 78909
Fax: +41 22-76 69068
Christian.Joram@cern.ch
Universität Hamburg represented by: Prof. Dr. Robert Klanner
Institute of Experimental Physics
Tel: +49-40-8998-2558
Fax: +49-40-8998-2170
Robert.Klanner@desy.de
Doctoral studies
The eight faculties of Universität Hamburg are in charge of the doctoral application and admissions procedure. All formal matters are laid down in the Faculties’ doctoral regulations.
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Admissions procedure
Your application for admission to doctoral studies must contain the following documents:
university degree certificate
tabular CV
exposé of your doctoral project
further documents in accordance with the faculties’s regulations
Please download detailed info from the respective faculty:
Faculty of Law
Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences
Faculty of Medicine
Faculty of Education (in German only)
Faculty of Humanities (in German only)
Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences
Faculty of Psychology and Human Movement Science (in German only)
Faculty of Business Administration (Hamburg Business School)
If your application is approved, you will be admitted to doctoral studies and allowed to enroll at Universität Hamburg.
Enrollment
After receiving your admission to doctoral studies, please submit the corresponding online application form in our application portal STiNE (registration at www.uni-hamburg.de/online-application) with the following documents for enrollment:
university degree certificate (simple copy)
current confirmation from your doctoral supervisor at Universität Hamburg
doctoral studies at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Studies require an admission confirmation from the respective graduate school: http://www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de/en/einrichtungen/graduate-school/
doctoral studies at the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences require an admission confirmation from the respective Academic Office: https://www.promovieren.uni-hamburg.de/en/min/promotion/voraussetzungen.html
doctoral studies at the Faculty of Humanities require an admission confirmation from the doctoral studies office of the faculty (Dr. phil.) or the doctoral studies office of the department of protestant theology (Dr. theol.). As an interim measure, a supervisory commitment may be submitted, and the admission confirmation submitted later: www.gwiss.uni-hamburg.de/en/studium/promotion.html
doctoral studies at the Faculty of Business Administration require an admission confirmation from the faculty: https://www.bwl.uni-hamburg.de/en/forschung/promotion
doctoral studies at the Faculty of Medicine in the area of medicine or dentistry require a confirmation of registration for doctoral studies from the faculty.
doctoral studies in the PhD programs at the Faculty of Medicine require an admission confirmation from the faculty.
proof of health insurance, see here for more information
Important note: your doctoral admission may state an enrollment deadline! Please meet the deadline!
The Campus Center reserves the right to request a current project confirmation from your doctoral supervisor at appropriate intervals.
Doctoral students with disabilities or chronic diseases
Funding sources for doctoral students with disabilities or chronic diseases are very limited, particularly if you are in need of special assistance. We recommend that you seek advice at the Office of Affairs for Students with Disabilities or Chronic Diseases (information in German only).
Visa
Are you an international doctoral student who needs an entry visa for Germany? If that be the case, please apply timely for your visa at the responsible German consulate or embassy; visa processing may span two to three months.
Important note: three-months Schengen visa (tourist visa) cannot be extended for study or research periods in Germany!
Further visa information:
DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) info on entry and visa regulations, residence and work permits
Visas, residence permits and work permits before, during and after your studies (PDF)
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