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After you get a postition at the IMPRS Graduate Program, you need to get admission to doctoral studies at the university your supervisor is affiliated with. Usually, it is the Ludwig-Maximilians University München (LMU).
Once permission to enter the doctoral program has been granted by the University, students with direct access to the doctoral program may enroll at the University for up to 6 semesters at their own request. Application for admission to doctoral studies and enrollment at the university is done on the spot, after starting a position at one of our institutes.
Doctoral students with restricted access to the doctoral program (e.g. Integrated Master, excellent Bachelor) have to enroll in the Master program at LMU. For this, the regular enrollment deadlines must be met.
The admission and enrollment process at the LMU for a PhD includes three steps (similar at TUM):
1. Admission to the PhD studies
If your university degree and your grades match the requirements of the LMU or TUM to accept you as a PhD student is an academic question, which is decided by the Dean of the Department of Physics at the LMU or TUM. At the LMU, please contact Ms. Merita Shabanaj at the Faculty of Physics who is in charge to collect all information required for this process (certificate and degree certificate, and final Transcript of Records of your master’s degree, certificate and degree certificate, and final Transcript of Records of your bachelor’s degree, CV, confirmation letter of your supervisor). The address of Ms. Merita Shabanaj is:
Merita Shabanaj
Fakultät für Physik – Dekanat
Schellingstr. 4
80799 Muenchen
Germany
Tel: +49 89 2180-3340
E-Mail: promotion @ physik.uni-muenchen.de
The IMPRS office will guide you in this process if needed. You can see us first, before contacting Ms. Shabanaj.
2. The matriculation (or inscription) as a PhD student
This is an administrative procedure. You should address the 
International Office of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, located in the Ludwigstr. 27 / ground floor / Tel: 2180-2823. Here you will find further information on what is required for the immatriculation. You will see that there are differences between EU citizens and other students from foreign countries.
It is true that for the matriculation you need, among other documents, a written confirmation of the Faculty of Physics that you have been admitted to the PhD studies in physics. This confirmation is delivered by the secretary of the Dean in the Schellingstr. 4 / 4. floor / Tel. 2180-3340, once you have been admitted by the Dean (see step 1 above) and you have presented a statement of your professor that he/she supervises your PhD thesis.
It is important to note, that the regulations of the Faculty of Physics at LMU for the PhD studies do not require that you are inscribed as a PhD student. Nevertheless, doctoral students can enroll in the university for a maximum of 6 semesters. Inscription at the university implies some social benefits as e.g. cheaper tickets for the public means of transport, admission to the University Sport Clubs’ activities, etc.
3. Degree Requirements
Below, a very brief description of the requirements for being accepted at the LMU for the promotion to Dr. rer. nat. is given (similar requirements exist at the TUM). The complete text can be found at the LMU’s physics faculty website
In brief, one needs: A M.Sc. in physics or an equivalent university exam, a completed and accepted dissertation (PhD thesis), and a successful defense of PhD thesis in an oral exam.The PhD thesis has to be written in English. Students are expected to publish a minimum of two papers during their PhD period. The PhD (Dr. rer. nat.)
The PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) will exclusively be granted according to the rules of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, the Technical University Munich or another university. Which university is relevant depends on the affiliation of your supervisor, in most cases this will be the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. On application, students may work in Munich/Garching but receive their PhD from a university other than the LMU, though this requires supervisors at both universities/institutes.
Applying to a Master’s program at the Faculty of Physics
Application MSc Physics
Application steps and deadlines
The application for the MSc Physics includes the following steps:
1. Participation in the aptitude procedure for the MSc Physics (see below).
2. Depending on whether you belong to the group Germans and Bildungsinländer (students of foreign nationality who obtained a German higher education entrance qualification) or EU/EEA citizens or Non-EU citizens, further requirements for the application have to be considered. Please read the information on the LMU’s website carefully.
The application for the MSc Physics requires a first professional university degree or an equivalent degree from Germany or abroad in one of the subject areas physics, astrophysics or meteorology or in another mathematical-scientific subject area.
Application Deadlines:
Application for the winter semester: 15 July
Application for the summer semester: 15 January Aptitude procedure for the MSc Physics
Applicants must register for the MSc Physics via the online application portal and upload the following application documents and answer the questionnaire provided there. The portal usually opens three months before the application deadline:
1. a tabular curriculum vitae.
2. a copy of the degree certificate from the first degree (first professional university degree); if not yet available, a current trancscript of records.
3. an essay of no more than 1,000 words in German or English explaining the interest and skills for studying the MSc Physics programme with a detailed description of the previous achievements in the first degree programme (useful: information on special lectures attended in the first degree programme, information on the topic and content of the Bachelor’s thesis, special lectures attended during your first degree studies, and information on the areas you intend to focus on during the planned Master’s degree course).
4. a proof of subject knowledge in the form of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Scores in physics or mathematics (only for applicants whose first degree was not completed at a university in a country of the European Union).
5. a questionnaire (provided in the online application portal).
The results of the aptitude procedure are usually sent to the applicants by letter approx. 2-3 weeks after the application deadline. In this letter you will receive information for the further steps towards enrolment.
Regulations (only available in German)
- Satzung über das Eignungsverfahren für den Masterstudiengang Physik an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München vom 29. Juni 2009
- Satzung zur Änderung von Satzungen über Eignungsverfahren für Masterstudiengänge der Fakultät für Physik an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München vom 17. Dezember 2020
Application MSc Astrophysics
Application steps and deadlines
The application for the MSc Astrophysics includes the following steps:
1. Participation in the aptitude procedure for the MSc Astrophysics (see below).
2. Depending on whether you belong to the group Germans and Bildungsinländer (students of foreign nationality who obtained a German higher education entrance qualification) or EU/EEA citizens or Non-EU citizens, further requirements for the application have to be considered. Please read the information on the LMU’s website carefully.
The application for the MSc Astrophysics requires a first professional university degree or an equivalent degree from Germany or abroad in one of the subject areas physics, astrophysics or meteorology or in another mathematical-scientific subject area.
Application Deadlines:
Application for the winter semester: 15 July
Application for the summer semester: 15 January
Aptitude procedure for the MSc Astrophysics
Please send the application documents below by post or by e-mail to the following address:
Subject: Master in Astrophysics
Universitäts-Sternwarte München
Scheinerstr. 1
81679 München
Germany
e-mail: astromaster@usm.lmu.de
Please note that we wish to receive all documents in a SINGLE PDF-File.
1. a tabular curriculum vitae.
2. a copy of the degree certificate from the first degree (first professional university degree); if not yet available, a current trancscript of records.
3. an essay of no more than 1,000 words in German or English explaining the interest and skills for studying the MSc Physics programme with a detailed description of the previous achievements in the first degree programme (useful: information on special lectures attended in the first degree programme, information on the topic and content of the Bachelor’s thesis, special lectures attended during your first degree studies, and information on the areas you intend to focus on during the planned Master’s degree course).
4. a proof of subject knowledge in the form of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Scores in physics or mathematics (only for applicants whose first degree was not completed at a university in a country of the European Union).
5. Questionaire Application MSc Astrophysics (PDF, 10 KB).
Further details, in particular on prerequisites and form of application, can be found on the Astrophysics pages.
The results of the aptitude procedure are usually sent to the applicants by letter approx. 2-3 weeks after the application deadline. In this letter you will receive information for the further steps towards enrolment.
Regulations (only available in German)
- Satzung über das Eignungsverfahren für den Masterstudiengang Astrophysik an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München vom 29. Juni 2009
- Satzung zur Änderung von Satzungen über Eignungsverfahren für Masterstudiengänge der Fakultät für Physik an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München vom 17. Dezember 2020
Application MSc Meteorology
Application steps and deadlines
The application for the MSc Meteorology includes the following steps:
1. Participation in the aptitude procedure for the MSc Meteorology (see below).
2. Depending on whether you belong to the group Germans and Bildungsinländer (students of foreign nationality who obtained a German higher education entrance qualification) or EU/EEA citizens or Non-EU citizens, further requirements for the application have to be considered.
The application for the MSc Meteorology requires a first professional university degree or an equivalent degree from Germany or abroad in one of the subject areas physics, astrophysics or meteorology or in another mathematical-scientific subject area.
Application Deadlines:
Application for the winter semester: 15 July
Application for the summer semester: 15 January
Aptitude procedure for the MSc Meteorology
Please send the application documents below by post or by e-mail to the following address:
Subject: Master in Meteorology
Meteorologisches Institut der Universität München
Frau Barbara Baumann
Theresienstr. 37
80333 München
Germany
Email to: barbara.baumann@lmu.de
1. a tabular curriculum vitae.
2. a copy of the degree certificate from the first degree (first professional university degree); if not yet available, a current trancscript of records.
3. an essay of no more than 1,000 words in German or English explaining the interest and skills for studying the MSc Physics programme with a detailed description of the previous achievements in the first degree programme (useful: information on special lectures attended in the first degree programme, information on the topic and content of the Bachelor’s thesis, special lectures attended during your first degree studies, and information on the areas you intend to focus on during the planned Master’s degree course).
4. a proof of subject knowledge in the form of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Scores in physics or mathematics (only for applicants whose first degree was not completed at a university in a country of the European Union).
5. Questionaire Application MSc Meteorology (PDF, 10 KB).
The results of the aptitude procedure are usually sent to the applicants by letter approx. 2-3 weeks after the application deadline. In this letter you will receive information for the further steps towards enrolment.
Regulations (only available in German)
- Satzung über das Eignungsverfahren für den Masterstudiengang Meteorologie an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München vom 29. Juni 2009
- Satzung zur Änderung von Satzungen über Eignungsverfahren für Masterstudiengänge der Fakultät für Physik an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München vom 17. Dezember 2020
Application Elite Master Course Theoretical and Mathematical Physics
Detailed information on how to apply for the elite programme Theoretical and Mathematical Physics (TMP) can be found on the programme webpage.
Application MSc Quantum Science & Technology
Detailed information on how to apply for the MSc Quantum Science & Technology (QST) can be found on the programme webpage.
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