Doctorate via the Graduate School for Applied Research in North Rhine-Westphalia (PK NRW)

Since the the  Graduate School for Applied Research in North Rhine-Westphalia (PK NRW) was granted the right to award doctorates in autumn 2022, it has been possible to realise a doctoral project in a structured doctoral programme at the PK NRW. In this case, the doctoral candidates carry out their doctorate at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and are supervised by a supervisory team consisting of professorial members of the PK NRW. The doctoral degree is awarded by the PK NRW.

Admission requirements

As a general rule, the prerequisite for doctoral studies is a Master's degree or comparable degree in accordance with § 67 section 4 of the Higher Education Act (HG) NRW. The PK NRW is divided into various departments which assess admission to doctoral studies in individual cases if the legal requirements are met. The exact regulations can be found in the doctoral regulations of the individual departments of the PK NRW.

Doctorate via the Graduate School for Applied Research NRW

You have decided to do your doctorate through the PK NRW's own doctoral programme? Here you will find important information, step by step, on how to do your doctorate via the PK NRW.

1. Find a supervisor at the PK NRW

  • Research professorial members of the PK NRW who are suitable for the supervision of your doctoral project. The professorial members and their research specialisations are presented on the department websites under Contributors.
  • Contact the professor you are considering for supervision. For the first contact, it is advisable to send an email to the professor in which you briefly introduce yourself, outline your doctoral project and ask for an appointment. If possible, attach a short synopsis of your planned doctoral project to the email.
  • Find out about the department and the doctoral programme(s) offered by the department in which the potential supervisor is a professorial member. Check whether you meet the admission requirements for the programme.
  • Once you have found a supervisor, think together about the other specialist and the third supervisor. Take the requirements of the current RPO and APO into account when putting together the supervisory team.
  • Once you have found a complete supervisor team, fill out the Supervision Agreement with the supervisors. Please use the binding template of the department of which the person is a member for the first supervisor; have this confirmed by the PK NRW. For the second and third supervisor, you can use the (non-binding) templates; a confirmation by email to the professor's work address is also sufficient.

Please note that the supervisor must also be a professorial member at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and not only a professorial member at the PK NRW.

Before an application, admission and enrolment at the university can take place, the information must be confirmed by the PK NRW office. You will need the confirmed Supervision Agreement from the PK NRW for your application to the university. To get the confirmation, send the form signed by your supervisor to the respective contact person of the PK NRW.

2. Application and Enrolment as a doctoral student at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences

As soon as you have found a supervisor and received the confirmed form back from PK NRW, ou can submit an application for admission to the doctoral programme and enrol conditionally or one of the (PK NRW) doctoral programmes at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences.

Enrolment at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences is conditional until acceptance at PK NRW has taken place.

Documents to be submitted for the application:

  • Application for admission to a doctoral programme
  • Confirmed Supervision Agreement: The Supervision Agreement that needs to be signed by the departments of the PK NRW can be found here. 
  • Proof of Master's degree or equivalent degree according to § 67 section 4 HG NRW
  • Proof of valid ID or passport

Please send the application documents by e-mail to Student Services of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (stu@hsrw.eu).


If you have obtained your admission requirements outside Germany, please apply for the doctoral programme via uni-assist and upload the required documents when applying.

Please note that there may be extended processing times when examining foreign degrees.

After successful admission, enrolment takes effect at the beginning of the semester in which the application was submitted to the university.  The date of enrolment is recorded to the day the enrolment was complete.

After successful enrolment, you are obliged to re-register for the duration of your doctorate for the respective next semester at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences by paying the respective applicable semester fee.

3. Enrolment and Acceptance as a doctoral student at the PK NRW

After conditional enrolment at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, you have to apply for enrolment as a doctoral candidate at the PK NRW within four weeks.

Apply for acceptance as a doctoral candidate at the same time as you apply for enrolment at the PK NRW, but at the latest within three months of enrolment at the PK NRW.

Please note that the conditional enrolment at the university will only be lifted as soon as confirmation of acceptance at the PK NRW has been received.

Further information on enrolment, acceptance and completion of the doctorate can be found on the website of the PK NRW.

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For questions regarding the content and organisation of the doctoral programme as well as research and innovation needs, you can contact the Centre for Research, Innovation and Transfer at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences. 

For questions and concerns regarding the application and enrolment for doctoral studies, please contact the Student Services.

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