Admission to the PhD programme
Previous exam
To be admitted as a PhD student, an applicant must have satisfactory results from one of the following exams:

A Danish Master’s degree in engineering. (Corresponding to an MSc in Engineering)
A Master’s degree (based on two years of master’s studies equivalent to 120 ECTS points) from a Danish, long-cycle higher educational programme which, in the estimation of the relevant PhD school, gives the applicant the qualifications necessary to complete the course of study in question. An individual evaluation will always be made in relation to the planned PhD study programme.
A degree from abroad which, in the estimation of the head of the PhD school, is equivalent to one of the degrees/examinations mentioned above in 1) and 2). Admission may also depend upon submission to tests which are further determined by the head of the PhD school.
Or, if the head of the PhD school concludes that the applicant in some other way has acquired the necessary academic qualifications, which may require documentation by means of special tests.
If you already have a PhD degree, you are not eligible for advertised PhD positions. Instead you may apply as a non-employed, privately funded PhD student, if you find a supervisor at DTU.

Grade average
In order to obtain academic approval, a student must have an MSc grade point average of at least 8 (7-point grading scale) in addition to having received a high grade on the master’s thesis (10 or 12). DTU does not admit PhD students with a grade point average below 6 (7-point grading scale). If the student’s grade point average is between 6 and 8, aptitude for research must be demonstrated, e.g. through publication of scientific papers.

Applicants, who wish to obtain academic approval based on a grade point average on the Danish 13-point grading scale, must calculate their grade point average by using the spread sheet ‘Danish weighted average” to the right and then converting the result to the corresponding average on the 7-point grading scale by using the table, which is found by following the link ‘Conversion from the 13-point grading scale’ on the right.

Admission of international students to the PhD programme
The examinations of international students are evaluated on the basis of information as to the length and content of their studies. Such examinations must at least be at a level equivalent to a Danish examination qualifying the holder for direct admission. The evaluation of the level of an applicant may take place using tests conducted by the potential PhD school and approved by the head of the PhD school.

The PhD school and PhD committees request that foreign grades are translated into the 7 grade scale. On the right you can find a link to an Excel sheet for calculating the weighted average. The sheet must be enclosed with the application.

An official translation of the foreign MSc diploma must be submitted together with the application.

We recommend that if possible, applicants include a statement from their home university regarding their relative ranking (e.g. what percentage of the student population of their year they belong to, e.g. top 5%, or 10th place out of 250).

Transfer of credit and work experience
If an applicant has at least two years’ work experience from DTU or another research institution/company, this person may receive a transfer of up to six months of academic credit, although the applicant was not enrolled as a PhD student. In such a case the student will be enrolled for two and a half years.

Other rules regarding academic approval, study plans, funding plans, etc. remain in effect.

In addition to this, transfer of academic credit is only granted for periods when the applicant has been enrolled as a PhD student at another relevant institution.

Transfer of academic credit is approved by the relevant PhD committee. The application is processed together with the application for admission to DTU.

In certain cases a credit transfer may be granted for courses if these are not a part of another degree and if they have been completed before the beginning of the PhD programme. You can apply for a transfer of credit for these courses when you submit the study plan.

Contents of the PhD guide
Organization of the PhD programme at DTU

Enrolment procedure

Admission
Supervisor
During the PhD studies

Study plan
Half-year reports
Thesis
Completion of the PhD studies

Assessment committee
Supervisor’s report
Preliminary assessment
Defence of thesis
Recommendation by assessment committee
Conferment of the PhD degree
Diploma
Employment conditions for PhD students

Salary etc.
Tuition
Non-employed PhD students
Illness
Maternity/paternity leave
Leave
Extension
Externally employed PhD students

Technical University Of Denmark Acceptance Rate

#235 of 14,160	In the World
#85 of 2,789	In Europe
#3 of 27	In Denmark
#1 of 1,016	For Biochemical Engineering
Top100	For 47 other topics

Quick Review

Enrollment7,500TypeNon-profitFundingPublic-private
partnershipHighest DegreeDoctorateWebsitewww.dtu.dkLanguagesDanish;EnglishAcceptance rate13%*

* The Technical University of Denmark is among the institutions that don’t provide data on acceptance rates. This might happen because a university has programs where an applicant only needs to meet admission requirements to enroll and doesn’t necessarily competes with others.

Acceptance rate & Admissions

Admissions Requirements	Secondary school certificate (studentereksamen) or foreign equivalent with defined levels of education in mathematics, physics and chemistry
Academic Calendar	September to July (September – January; February-July)
Enrollment	7,500

Publications & Citations

Publications 68,520Citations 2,579,428

Technical University of Denmark majors

by publication & citation count

Engineering	27,663 / 845,808
Chemistry	21,181 / 867,223
Physics	19,640 / 680,206
Biology	13,243 / 839,711
Materials Science	12,865 / 370,086
Environmental Science	8,926 / 367,397
Computer Science	6,078 / 270,567
Medicine	4,823 / 173,403
Optical Engineering	4,089 / 99,631
Liberal Arts & Social Sciences	2,290 / 91,115
Business	2,242 / 70,396