Frequently Asked Questions

Here you can find the answers to several commonly asked questions regarding our International Doctoral Program "Computational Neuroscience".

If you can not find the answers to your questions, please contact the graduate program teaching coordinator (graduateprograms (AT) bccn-berlin.de)

Question: What is a doctoral program?

In Germany you can either do an independent, unstructured doctoral degree or a structured degree.

Unstructured degrees involve you working solely on your doctoral project whereas structured degrees are done within with a doctoral program.

Doctoral programs provide support to students during their doctoral studies by structuring their projects. Often, doctoral programs will fund your doctoral studies and provide access to additional funding for conferences, workshops, publications, coaching, etc.

With the BCCN Berlin's Doctoral Program, this support is provided by (1) requiring regular meetings between the doctoral student and their supervisor, (2) requiring the student to set up and have regular meetings with a committee to monitor progress on the doctoral project and provide advice, (3) requiring students to complete 30 ECTS in training.

The goal of the training is to support the doctoral student's academic and personal development. The BCCN Berlin's Doctoral Program requires doctoral students complete 20 ECTS of so-called "hard skills" and 10 ECTS in transferable, or "soft skills".  Students are free* to choose which courses they complete to satisfy the program regulations. Generally, hard skills are courses, workshops, etc. that provide students with the skills necessary to better address their scientific question whereas soft skills are courses which encourage the development into a better scientist (scientific writing, presenting, time management, supervision, etc.).

The program regulations can be found here.

*Free to choose most of the coursework, however there are some courses which all doctoral students must complete. See the regulations for details.

Question: Does the BCCN Berlin Doctoral Program have funding?

Unfortunately no.

Presently we do not have funding to provide scholarships or contracts for doctoral students.

Moreover, we no longer have funding for our doctoral program. This means that we can not cover costs related to travel, research, etc.

However, we are able to offer 2 DAAD scholarships in 2026. Please see our application webpage for more information on application criteria and how to apply.

Question: How are BCCN Berlin doctoral students funded?

Presently, the BCCN Berlin doctoral students are funded directly by their supervisors.

Question: How are doctoral degrees funded in Germany?

Generally there are three options for funding your doctoral studies:

  1. Directly from the PI (Principal Investigator / Professor)
  2. From a research grant
  3. From a doctoral program
  4. Scholarships: check databases like the DAAD, will depend on your specific background (political, social, etc.)

All will advertise the funding similarly via their respective websites, mailing lists, social media, etc.

For computational neuroscientists, we recommend the following mailing lists:

Question: How to apply to the BCCN Berlin doctoral program?

Due to our current lack of funding, we will not consider applications from students who have not secured a doctoral position in one of our member groups.

Students who want to join the BCCN Berlin Doctoral program need to have secured funding and begun developing a doctoral project with a member group of the BCCN Berlin by the application deadline: March 15th.

We will contact your supervisor to confirm that they are willing to supervise your doctoral project and will provide you with the necessary research equipment and funding.

If you are having trouble getting in contact with members of the BCCN Berlin, please contact the graduate programs coordinator (graduateprograms(at)bccn-berlin.de) for assistance.

Question: Who can award the doctoral degree?

In Germany, only Universities can award doctoral degrees.

In Berlin, this means that the Technical University, the Humboldt University, and the Free University can award doctoral degrees (Dr. rer. nat or Ph.D.)

The Charité (Charité-Universitätsmedizin) is a special case and is able to award:

  • Ph.D. (same as the Universities)
  • Dr. med. = Doctor of medicine (for medicine students)
  • Dr. rer. medic. = Doctor of medical science
  • not allowed to award Dr. rer. nat.

Other institutes such as the Max Delbrück Centers (MDC), Max Planck Institutes (MPIs), and Frauenhofer, etc. are not allowed to award doctoral degrees.

Question: What kinds of doctoral degrees are available?

In Germany, there are generally two kinds of doctor titles available: Dr. rer. nat. and Ph.D.

  • Dr. rer. nat (Doctor rerum naturalium) is the German doctorate of natural sciences
  • Ph.D. (Doctoral of Philosophy) is from the American system and generally only awarded if you complete a doctoral program

The degrees are practically equivalent and are, generally, interchangeable.

Other titles are available, the focus of the dissertation will depend on the degree:

  • Dr. rer. nat. = natural sciences and mathematics
  • Dr. -Ing = engineering science
  • Dr. phil. = humanities and social sciecnes
  • Dr. rer. oerc. = economics or business administration

Question: What are the regulations surrounding a doctoral degree?

Generally, you will complete your doctorate with the faculty where your professor and working group is based. Unless you are based at a non-University institute (MPI, MDC, etc.) in which case your supervisor has a 2nd affiliation at a university faculty or you will need to find a 2nd supervisor who is based at a university.

Generally, doctoral regulations specify:

  • the duration of your doctorate: 3 years (5 if you are expected to teach)
  • the composition of your doctoral committee (who will evaluate your thesis)
  • what is accepted as a doctoral thesis, importantly this differs across faculties and universities

Please make sure to carefully read the doctoral regulations before enrolling as a doctor student at the specific faculty.

The regulations (Promotionsordnung) can always be found on the relevant faculty's doctoral office (Promotionsbüro) website.

Question: Do I need to do an English test?

If you are a native English speaker (according to the TU Berlin's definition of English-native countries) or if you have / will have successfully completed a degree which was taught in English, then you don't need to do an additional English test.

Please make sure that the language of instruction is explicitly stated on your transcript or that you include a letter from your program coordinator stating that the language of instruction was English.

English native countries (as of 07.2022): Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Cook Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, Philippines, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Vincent, Singapore, Trinidad & Tobago, United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland), United States of America.

For a list of the English tests that are accepted, and the minimum score required, please see the Prerequisites section which can be found at the bottom of the "Application" sub-page.

Finally, the test must be submitted together with your application documents or your application is not considered complete.

Question: Do I need knowledge of the German language?

No, you do not need any German knowledge to apply to our program - our program is taught entirely in English.

However, it can be helpful to learn some German for navigating the city and everyday life. We do not organize any German courses ourselves, instead you can take a course at one of the Berlin Universities (Humboldt-University of Berlin, Technical University of Berlin, Free University of Berlin) or at a Volkshochschulen. Note that all of these courses cost money.