Pursuing a doctorate at IPU Berlin

For questions about the doctoral programs at IPU Berlin please contact us via Email.
 

 

The IPU offers supervision of individual doctorates that come with a graduate IPU Doctoral Program, as well as supervision of subject-focused Doctoral Programs. It is now possible to do a doctorate directly at the IPU. In any case, the regulations of the university that awards the degree apply.

If you are planning on obtaining your doctorate on a topic of your own choice, please take note of the different research foci of our professors. This can be done through our homepage and our publications. If you find that your topic of choice is a good match, you are free to contact the professor(s) directly.

If and under which conditions supervision is possible is decided by each professor respectively. There are also job postings for research assistants. Here, you can obtain your doctorate in the context of a research project. The postings can be found on our homepage or on common career portals.

Through the IPU’s Doctoral Program Psychoanalysis in Discourse (see below), we organize events for doctoral candidates and cooperating institutions to facilitate exchange and further education. Events are based on the IPU’s research foci but also on Research Methods and Overarching Key Skills.

In the joint Graduate School with the Hans Kilian and Lotte Köhler Center (KKC) of the Ruhr University Bochum Trauma and Collective Violence: Articulation, Negotiation and Recognition, the focus is on the dialogue between psychoanalysis and cultural psychology as well as other (interdisciplinary) social and cultural science approaches.

A doctorate at the IPU and participation in the doctoral program “Psychoanalysis in Discourse” is not associated with any tuition fees. Doctoral candidates who are not employed as research assistants at the IPU must pay a one-time enrollment fee of €80, as well as a semester fee currently amounting to €349.80 (Germany Semester Ticket €226.80, Student Services contribution €113, student self-government levy €10).

It is possible to get funding through the participation in a research project (third-party funding, in-house employment) but the IPU also frequently offers doctoral scholarships. You can find out more about the calls for application on our website and in our monthly Newsletter. Of course, it is also possible to apply for scholarships via the usual foundations (more information on this can be found here).

A supervision agreement between doctoral candidates and their supervisors governs the supervision arrangement.

Formal affiliation with the IPU is established through an employment contract with the IPU or enrollment as a doctoral student. Enrollment is possible by June 30 for the summer semester and by December 31 for the winter semester. In the second half of the semester, admission to the doctoral program may be granted, followed by enrollment in the next semester.

With affiliation to the IPU, students can utilize the IPU’s resources (library, facilities, IT, etc.).

A prerequisite for admission to doctoral studies is the successful completion of studies in a degree program relevant to the doctorate. Further details can be found in the doctoral degree regulations of the IPU.

This is possible in principle, but must be reviewed by the doctoral supervision committee for each individual case. Please contact the doctoral supervision committee early on for clarification.

Feel free to contact the doctoral supervision committee of the IPU via email.

 

Admission to the doctoral program must be applied for at the IPU Berlin.

To apply, you will need the following documents:

• Application for admission to the doctoral program at the IPU Berlin (Appendix 1)
• Confirmation of doctoral supervision and admission to the doctoral program at the IPU Berlin (Appendix 2)
• Certificates / proof of qualifications (originals must be submitted)
• Curriculum vitae focusing on activities and experience relevant to the intended doctoral project
• A statement indicating whether you have previously registered your intention to pursue a doctoral degree or whether you have begun a doctoral program at another university, including, if necessary, complete details and a declaration of intent to withdraw from that program upon admission to IPU
• A statement that the applicant is familiar with the applicable doctoral regulations
• Proof of language proficiency, if necessary
• Supervision agreement with an IPU professor and, if applicable, other parties involved (may be submitted later)
• Exposé of the doctoral project (may be submitted later)

More detailed information on the documents to be submitted can be found in the doctoral regulations of the IPU Berlin.

Please send all documents to promotion(at)ipu-berlin.de.

The doctoral committee will review the documents and confirm your registration at the IPU by email.

 

The start of the doctoral program must be applied for at the IPU Berlin.

 

To start the program, you will need the following documents:

• Application to start the doctoral program
• Dissertation (six bound copies and one electronic version)
• Summary of the dissertation in German and English (abstract)
• Declaration of independence
• For cumulative work: Declaration of individual contribution per publication, must be countersigned by all co-authors
• Declaration that no doctoral program has been initiated at any other university and that the dissertation has not been submitted to any other university for review
• Curriculum vitae (in German or English)
• Proposal for the composition of the examination committee and for the review

 

More detailed information on the documents to be submitted can be found in the doctoral regulations of the IPU Berlin.

 

Please make an appointment to submit your documents at promotion(at)ipu-berlin.de.

As part of the doctoral program "Psychoanalysis in Discourse", we offer doctoral candidates from the IPU and cooperating institutions events that serve to promote exchange and further training for doctoral candidates. In addition to doctoral colloquia along the IPU's main research areas, the focus here is on events in the areas of "research methods" and "overarching key qualifications". The doctoral program does not consist of a compulsory curriculum but aims to support doctoral students individually where they and their supervisors see a need. Documentation of participation via ECTS points is possible.

Module 1: Research Colloquia

I Colloqium „Psychotherapy Research and its foundations“
Coordinators: Profs. Christian Sell & Christiane Steinert (contact & register: christian.sell@ipu-berlin.de; christiane.steinert@ipu-berlin.de)
Date: 5.12.26 (block event, time tba)

II Colloqium „Analysis of cultural and social transformation processes“ 
Coordinator:  Prof. Phil Langer (contact & register: phil.langer@ipu-berlin.de) 
Date: Wednesday, 18-20h (weekly, Alt-Moabit 91a, Conference Room) 
Details: "The doctoral colloquium takes place weekly on Wednesdays from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The IPU’s semester-opening event on October 14 will kick off the series. All doctoral candidates in the research focus area “Analysis of Cultural and Social Transformation Processes” are invited. However, the colloquium is aimed in particular at those whose doctoral dissertations I supervise as a primary or secondary advisor. Regular attendance is a prerequisite for participation. Anyone who already anticipates being able to attend only every second or third session should please choose a different colloquium for the winter semester. For all doctoral candidates for whom I serve as primary advisor, presenting their own project in at least one session is mandatory. We structure the sessions based on the group’s interests and current research needs. Examples of what can be presented include:

• empirical-qualitative material for joint interpretation,
• sections of the dissertation already written or individual articles from cumulative projects,
• presentations to be tested and discussed with peers prior to a conference,
• key theoretical texts,
• the current status of a project, including open questions, difficulties, or decisions for which support is desired.

Depending on your needs, slots of 40 or 80 minutes are available for your own presentation. Please email me by the end of September with two or three possible dates and your preferred time slot. You can choose from the Wednesday sessions between October 21, 2026, and February 3, 2027, excluding December 23 and 30. I will not be present on December 9; however, on that date, the colloquium will be conducted largely autonomously by the group.

In three of the sessions, we will discuss with guest speakers who are expected to provide new insights for our thinking and work. We have invited Lea Schlude, author of the new book *Lustdenken*; Rainer Winter from Klagenfurt; and Rolf Pohl.

Hybrid participation is possible for every session, for example, in case of a temporary absence from Berlin or a longer stay abroad. If an English-language project is presented, the corresponding slot—or, if necessary, the entire session—will take place in English. Otherwise, the common working language is German; if needed, we can easily provide on-the-spot translation."

Further events in the context of the KKC-IPU graduate program will be announced soon.

III Colloqium “Conceptual research with a focus on psychoanalytic subject and epistemology”
Coordinator: Prof. Christine Kirchhoff ( contact & register: christine.kirchhoff@ipu-berlin.de)
Dates will be announced via email list.

If you are interested in participating, please get in touch with the relevant contact person.

Doctoral students at IPU may apply for the following funding options:

• Fellowships from the Foundation to Promote University Psychoanalysis
• Open Science Publications
• Travel expenses for staff members (by application to the Chancellor of the IPU

• Email distribution list for doctoral candidates (join via email)
• PhD Student Representation
• Regulars’ table
• PhD Day (“PhDay”)

The Academic Senate of the IPU Berlin has appointed a Doctoral Supervision Committee to supervise doctoral procedures at the IPU. It consists of at least three full-time university professors and one academic staff member with a doctorate. The Doctoral Supervision Committee coordinates the doctoral program and is available via e-mail for questions concerning the doctoral procedure at the IPU.

• Application for admission to the doctoral program at the IPU Berlin (Appendix 1)
• Confirmation of doctoral supervision and admission to the doctoral program at the IPU Berlin (Appendix 2)
• Supervision agreement with an IPU professor and, if applicable, other parties involved
• Application to start the doctoral program
• For cumulative work: Declaration of individual contribution per publication, must be countersigned by all co-authors
• Proposal for the composition of the examination committee and for the review
• Doctoral Degree Regulations