Information you will have to supply with your application

Academic Background

In order to be considered as an applicant for the School, students must have completed (or be in the process of completing) a Master's degree, Diplom, Staatsexamen, or Magister in a field related to mind/brain research (e.g. philosophy, linguistics, psychology, medicine, computer science, biology, law, economics, or related fields).

Research Proposal

Applications must include a detailed research proposal in one of the following research fields for the Berlin School of Mind and Brain:

Conscious and unconscious perception
Decision-making
Language
Brain plasticity and lifespan ontogeny
Brain disorders and mental dysfunction

Philosophy
Molecular and cellular neuroscience

Research proposals must have clear mind/brain relevance. The focus should be on the interface between the humanities and/or behavioral sciences (e.g. philosophy, social sciences, linguistics, behavioral and cognitive psychology) with the neurosciences (e.g. neurophysiology, psychiatry, neurology, computational neuroscience, neurobiology).

Proposals must contain a detailed project idea, and include a summary of previous research, a justification for the relevance of the current project and the proposed research methodology, a summary of the hypotheses and research questions to be addressed, and a relevant bibliography. Proposals should be no longer than five pages.

If in doubt, please turn to the Admissions officer of the School for additional advice on your project (admissions-please remove this text-@mind-and-brain.de).

Supervisors

Final acceptance into the graduate school presupposes that each doctoral project is supported by two supervisors. Usually the matching between students and their reseach projects and suitable supervisors will have been completed by the end of the admission process. At least one of the supervisors, preferably both, should be a member of the School’s faculty. Before applying, or while the admission process has started, students should therefore either contact members of the School’s faculty directly to enquire about the possibility of supervision or turn to the Admissions officer of the School for advice on how to find a suitable supervisor (admissions-please remove this text-@mind-and-brain.de).

Proof of proficiency in English for non-native speakers

Our doctoral program is conducted in English. If you are a non-native English speaker we require proof of your proficiency. Please upload in the space below either a TOEFL or an IELTS certificate. The minimum score required for a TOEFL paper-based test is 550. The minimum score for the TOEFL internet-based test is 95. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin's TOEFL code is 8167. For the IELTS the overall band score should be 6.5.
Knowledge of German is not a prerequisite for studying at the School. We would, however, like to know your proficiency (if any) in the language.