Binational doctoral degrees

All of FAU’s faculties and schools supervise bi-national doctoral degrees in collaboration with universities in other countries. This procedure is especially suitable for doctoral candidates who wish to ensure recognition of their academic achievements in the participating countries. The two universities work together closely in selecting, supervising and assessing the candidate and recognise the work completed at the partner university.

A bi-national doctoral degree through the cotutelle programme

• requires an individual contract to be concluded between the universities involved
• is a doctoral degree which is awarded by two universities in separate countries
• is based on doctoral research that is conducted at both universities

• Description of the cotutelle programme (German)
• Cotutelle programme guide (German) summarising the most important information
• Cotutelle programme check list (German) with an overview of the stages of the procedure
• An agreement template is available from Dr. Christian Schmitt-Engel.

FAU’s conditions

1. Bi-national doctoral degrees must be in FAU’s interest but are generally possible at all schools and faculties.
2. The partner university must meet FAU’s high academic standards.
3. The option of supervision in a cotutelle programme must be documented in the doctoral regulations of the relevant faculty. The only exceptions to this are the School of Theology and the School of Law.
4. The supervisor must receive the agreement of the faculty and the relevant Doctoral Affairs Committee that a bi-national doctoral degree with the partner university is desirable and can be expected to benefit the University and the faculty (e.g. through future collaborations and partnerships).
5. An individual contract is concluded for each doctoral candidate. English and German templates are available from the Graduate Centre upon request. The contract should be negotiated by the supervisors and determines important aspects such as the language of the thesis, the members of the Examinations Committee, publication of results and durations of stays. It is then checked by the FAU Graduate Centre in collaboration with the Office of Doctoral Affairs. The contractual partner at FAU is usually the faculty, represented by the dean.