Recognition of degrees from foreign universities
Applicants with a foreign university degree who wish to do a doctorate at TUM (and in Germany) must prove that their degree directly entitles them to do a doctorate in the country where they obtained the master’s degree and is comparable to a German academic university degree (diploma, magister, state examination or master's degree).
As a general rule, the master’s degree must be obtained in a two-year master’s program including a master’s thesis, amounting to 120 ECTS credits in total. Based on TUM’s bachelor's and master’s programs, applicants seeking doctoral admission should have obtained at least 300 ECTS credits in total after their studies.
Equivalency is directly decided by the university in question. At TUM, the TUM School responsible for the doctoral applicant (usually the home school of the intended doctoral supervisor) will decide on the equivalency of the foreign degree. In certain cases, the responsible TUM School may also decide to offer a preliminary admission. In this case, candidates can already start their doctoral research but must simultaneously fulfill additional requirements like coursework or publications, etc., before final admission.
At TUM, the decision on the possible recognition of your foreign university degree will be made during your application for entry on the doctoral candidacy list. You can only apply for entry on the doctoral candidacy after you have already found a professor at TUM to supervise your dissertation. A preliminary examination to determine whether your master's degree can be recognized as equivalent is not possible. For more information on how to apply for a doctorate, please visit the section Application Steps.
Certification / Notarization
Please do not submit original documents with your application, only certified copies. TUM will only accept official certifications from public agencies, universities, notaries or embassies. Please take care of these certifications before you arrive in Germany!
Documents issued in a language other than German or English must also be translated and certified by a sworn translator (with an official seal!). In addition, we will always need a certified copy of the original document.
Some countries are subject to special regulations:
- China
Certified copies from China must bear the round red stamp and the round embossed stamp of the university or a notary. For a detailed description, please see the information sheet for Chinese applicants.
- Iran
The legalisation of documents from Iran has now been completely outsourced to the external service provider VISAMETRIC. You can find corresponding information on the website of the German Embassy.
- United Kingdom
For applicants from the UK, we only need certifications from a notary, since universities there do not provide certifications.
All of the important information can be found on the information sheet "Notarization of application documents" displayed on the right-hand side of the screen as well as on the official TUM website.