Frequently Asked Questions

In the List of Open Positions I didn't find an offer which suits me, what can I do?

I would like to apply to Freie Universitaet Berlin in order to get a letter of invitation. Do I need to contact the professor in advance?

I am not eligible for a CSC scholarship and therefore cannot apply for the CSC-Freie Universitaet Berlin Joint Program. Are there other possibilities for getting funding for PhD studies at Freie Universitaet?

Freie Universitaet Berlin is requesting a research plan as part of the application documents. What do you mean exactly? Do I have to submit the research plan to the German professor first for approval?

I don't quite fulfil the Foreign Language Requirements. May I still apply?

I want to apply for admission to one of the structured PhD programs. How can I do this?

I hold a Chinese Bachelor Degree only. What is Freie Universitaet's admission policy for doctoral studies?

I don't have an IELTS or TOEFL certifcate, but I have passed the CET. Does Freie Universitaet Berlin also recognize the CET?

Further Information

In the List of Open Positions I didn't find an offer which suits me, what can I do?

The choice is not limited to professors who contributed to the List of Open Positions. In principle, each professor of Freie Universitaet Berlin could become your PhD supervisor. To find out the names of potential supervisors you have to check out the professors individual research interests.  A good starting point is the List of Homepages of the Departments of Freie Universitaet.

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I would like to apply to Freie Universitaet Berlin in order to get a letter of invitation. Do I need to contact the professor in advance?

It is not necessary to contact a professor before making an application to the Beijing Office of Freie Universitaet. The Beijing Office will contact the professors you would like to work with anyhow. This is part of the evaluation process. All decisions about the acceptance of individual candidates for a doctorate at Freie Universitaet Berlin are made by the potential supervisors in Berlin.

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I am not eligible for a CSC scholarship and therefore cannot apply for the China Scholarship Council - Freie Universitaet Berlin Joint Program. Are there other possibilities for getting funding for PhD studies at Freie Universitaet?

In terms of the number of scholarships availabe, the CSC's programs are certainly your best option. But there are some alternatives:
The DAAD - German Academic Exchange Service - is offering scholarships for doing a doctorate in Germany, too. Check out the details on the DAAD Beijing Office's homepage.

Some of the structured doctoral programs and research training groups of Freie Universitaet Berlin have there own scholarships programs. These scholarships are given away on a competitive basis. Calls for application are open to German as well as international applicants. Calls are published yearly, in the case of some programs only every 2 to 3 years. For information about these scholarship opportunities see the homepages of the individual programs. A suitable starting point is the List of Graduate Schools and Research Training Groups at Freie Universitaet Berlin.

Finally, in some cases the German supervisor could be able to cover your living expenses from his own third-party funding.

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Freie Universitaet Berlin is requesting a research plan as part of the application documents. What do you mean exactly? Do I have to submit the research plan to the German professor first for approval?

A research proposal is not a letter of motivation, or a personal statement. It should describe a potential research project you might like to carry out.

In the research plan we would like to read about your ideas for doing research under the supervision of the professor you would like to work with.  In writing a research plan we want you to demonstrate that you are sufficiently familiar with a subject area to develop scientifically sound ideas for doing research. Please keep in mind, that your proposal has to fit into the professor's research interests.  Your research plan should not exceed 5 pages in length. It is not necessary to submit the research plan to the professor for approval first. You should send it directly to the Freie Universitaet Berlin Office together with other application documents.

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I don't quite fulfil the Foreign Language Requirements. May I still apply?

You may apply. The requirements given here are not strictly binding. If you fulfil them, you should be "on the safe side". However, the individual professor can accept you also with a weaker language test result. The chances of getting accepted will also depend on your subject area.

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I want to apply for admission to one of the structured PhD programs. How can I do this?

If you want to apply for admission to one of the structured PhD programs (click here to see the list), you don't need to apply to the Beijing Office of Freie Universitaet Berlin.

You have to apply to the program you are interested in, instead. In order to do this, you have to go to the homepage of the program first and check out their admission policy towards foreign PhD students coming with their own scholarship, i.e. in your case a CSC scholarship. Then you should write to the contact person of the respective program.

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I hold a Chinese Bachelor Degree only. What is Freie Universitaet's admission policy for doctoral studies?

Admission requirements for doctoral studies vary at different departments. Students who are admitted to doctoral studies at Freie Universitaet Berlin with only a bachelor degree are rather the exception, not the rule. In some departments admission to doctoral studies requires a master's degree. In other departments - especially in mathematics and computer science, in part also in the natural sciences - admission for outstanding candidates holding a bachelor degree only might also be possible.

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I don't have an IELTS or TOEFL certifcate, but I have passed the CET. Does Freie Universitaet Berlin also recognize the CET?

Freie Universitaet Berlin does not recognize the CET. The test is not known outside China. 

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Further Information

Please contact the Beijing Office of Freie Universitaet Berlin:
email: beijing@fu-berlin.de, phone: 010-6590 6676 ext. 33

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