A student will be awarded the title typically conferred by the department in which he or she is enrolled. Which department a student chooses will depend on the student’s earlier degrees and on the affiliation of his or her main supervisor. Exact requirements for the final examinations (doctoral thesis or series of peer-reviewed publications, expertise, thesis defense) depend on the regulations of the respective department. Generally, doctoral theses may be written and defended in English or German.

To give examples: a biologist will be awarded a Doctor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat.) and a psychologist a Doctor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat.), a Doctor philosophiae (Dr. phil.). Psychologists or biologists enrolled in a medical department will be awarded a Doctor rerum medicinalium (Dr. rer. medic.). A doctoral candidate in philosophy or linguistics will be awarded a Doctor philosophiae (Dr. phil.), an economist a Doctor rerum politicarum (Dr. rer. pol.), and a physician a Doctor medicinae (Dr. med.).

All above-mentioned doctoral degrees are highly respected nationally and internationally.

We hope to be able to award the Ph.D. in the near future (probably late 2011).

Certificates, supplements, transcripts

To highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the Mind and Brain graduate program, a special Mind and Brain certificate will be issued, together with the university’s doctoral certificate. A supplement will describe the educational concept (teaching program, lecture series, presentations, etc.) and the quality standards of the Berlin School of Mind and Brain doctoral program and degree. A transcript of records will list seminars, courses, and conferences successfully attended.