Fast Track Doctorate

The duration of the scholarship in the Master's program is two years for students starting in winter semester 2024/25. If the Master's programme began in winter semester 2023/24, the funding period is reduced to one year.

For the following two years, employment as a research assistant at the University of Hamburg is intended.

Applications are open to outstanding BSc graduates who can provide proof of supervision by a professor at the Institute of Psychology at UHH.

Scholarship funding starts on: November 01,  2024

The scholarship amounts to a total of € 1,468 per month and consists of a scholarship of € 1,365 per month plus a lump sum for material costs of € 103 per month.

It includes an extensive accompanying programme with qualification and networking opportunities from the PB Faculty and the Hamburg Research Academy (HRA). During the scholarship phase, scholarship recipients can apply for a travel allowance of € 500 per year via the HRA for participation in meetings, conferences and other relevant travel within their doctorate.

• Outstanding completion of a Bachelor's degree, and outstanding university entrance qualification (e.g. Abitur).
• Candidates must have passed a Bachelor's examination in a degree program relevant to the dissertation project.
• Candidates require a confirmation of supervision from the head of the department in which the dissertation will be carried out.
• Candidates must apply for a Master's degree program in Psychology (M.Sc.) or Psychology with a focus on Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy (M.Sc.) from 01.06.-15.07. via the CampusCenter and receive a letter of admission.

Admission to the Fast Track doctoral program can only be granted if an assessment review has been carried out by the Committee for the Promotion of Young Researchers as well as the designated main supervisor and head of the department in which the project is conducted.

The Fast Track scholarship program stipulates that the dissertation project must be supervised by a five-member supervisory committee, consisting of a chairperson, a 1st dissertation reviewer (supervisor), a 2nd dissertation reviewer (co-supervisor), a 1st disputation reviewer and a 2nd disputation reviewer (Supervisory Committee Proposal Form PDF). Candidates are responsible for independently finding the supervision committee within the first year.

The fast-track scholarship program stipulates that in the first year after the start of funding, 60 credit points (CP) must be successfully obtained within the respective Master's program and that the Master's degree is obtained in the second year after the start of funding.

It is possible to apply at the beginning of the second year of the Master's programme if the prerequisites and conditions are met. This involves the acquisition of 60 credit points (CP) in the first year of the Master's program, which will be specified as a condition upon acceptance. These credits must be proven to the responsible doctoral office for psychology by the beginning of the grant period on November 1st. In this case, the Master's degree must be obtained in the first year after the start of funding.

Upon successful completion of the Fast Track Scholarship Program, candidates can apply for a PhD position limited to 24 months.

Application deadline: The application period ends on August 31, 2024

Candidates should have informally contacted the head of the department in whose area the dissertation is being carried out in advance with a curriculum vitae and a short letter of motivation to receive a confirmation of supervision and confirmation of follow-up funding.

The complete application documents must be submitted within the application deadline:

• Fully signed, informal application for admission to the doctoral procedure,
• Copies/scans of the final certificates (Abitur; Bachelor'sbachelor’s degree): Certificate, Transcript of Records, Diploma Supplement (if issued)[1]
• Completed and fully signed supervision agreement (form PDF),
• Copy/scan of the university entrance qualification,
• Completed and fully signed research outline (form PDF),
• Copy/scan of identification document (e.g. ID card, passport, visa),
• Curriculum vitae in tabular form,
• Only if applicable: A statement that you have previously applied for admission to a doctorate at another university, at another faculty of Universität Hamburg or at another department of the Faculty of Psychology and Human Movement Science of the Universität Hamburg (with complete information)
• List of publications (if available),
• Informal assurance from the responsible department head that continued employment to finance the last two years of the fast-track doctorate (with at least 50% of the regular weekly working hours) can be advertised, for which candidates can apply according to the above-mentioned information if they successfully complete the first two years of the fast-track doctorate (see above),
• Letter of motivation.

The responsibility for a complete and timely submission lies with the applicants. Please understand that late applications will be rejected for formal reasons.

Once a supervisor and admission to the Master's degree program have been confirmed and candidates have been admitted to the fast-track doctoral procedure by the relevant departmental doctoral committee, they will be placed in phase II of the application procedure. The responsible Office for Doctoral Studies in Psychology will forward you the letter of admission confirming that you have successfully completed Phase I of the application procedure and that your application documents will be forwarded to the Hamburg Research Academy (HRA) for the purpose of deciding on the award of the doctoral scholarship. The supervisory committee will be informed of the decision to appoint them as a supervisory committee and the positive outcome of Phase I by the responsible Doctoral Office for Psychology

[1]  If the graduation documents were issued in a language other than German or English, candidates must submit a certified translation (in German or English). If already issued, the certificate,  reports transcript of records and diploma supplement must be submitted (the latter two are required for degrees outside of Germany)..

After the decision on the award of the doctoral scholarship has been made, the HRA will inform the candidates admitted to the fast-track doctoral procedure  (in the event of a positive outcome with the request to confirm acceptance of the doctoral scholarship), the supervisory committee appointed by the responsible doctoral committee and the responsible doctoral office for psychology about the outcome of the application in electronic form.

Candidates who are not admitted to the Fast Track doctoral process will receive a letter of rejection. They do not enter Phase II and are eliminated at that point. The supervision committee will be informed about the outcome of Phase I by the responsible Office for Doctoral Studies in Psychology.

If you have any questions about the Fast Track Doctoral Procedure (Phase I), please contact the relevant Psychology Doctoral Office of the Faculty of Psychology and Human Movement Science (promotion.pb"AT"uni-hamburg.de).

If you have any questions about the call to tender, the application procedure (Phase II) and general qualifications, please contact the HRA (Contact: Dr. Lea Pöhls: lea.eileen.poehls@hra-hamburg.de(anna.lessmeister"AT"hra-hamburg.de)).

Further information can also be found on the  Fast Track program website: