Information you will have to supply with your online 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, neurology, psychiatry, computer science, biology, law, economics, or related fields).

Research Proposal

The central requirement for admittance to the School is the applicant’s proposal for a doctoral project that was developed by him- or herself.

All research proposals must have clear mind/brain relevance. The focus should be on the interface between the humanities and/or behavioral sciences with the neurosciences. Typical projects will investigate research questions that are of relevance to more than one discipline. The main research topics of the School pay tribute to that approach:

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

Interdisciplinarity
Philosophy
Molecular and cellular neuroscience

Successful project proposals will draw on findings from the complementary side of mind and brain research. Results from the complementary field should play an essential role in achieving the objectives described in the research proposal such that “brain”-related research will also cover mental phenomena, and, conversely, “mind”-related projects incorporate findings from brain research. This requires sufficient grounding in the complementary field. Formal training or a degree in this field would be most welcome but is not mandatory.

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, Ms Inken Dose, for additional advice (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 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. The minimum score required for a TOEFL paper-based test is 550. The minimum score for the TOEFL computer-based tests is 213, for internet-based test 79–80. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin’s TOEFL code is 8167 (please point out that your test is for the Berlin School of Mind and Brain at Humboldt-Universität). For 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.