Coursework | Recognition of Examinations

Researchers in the doctoral programme in philosophy (SPL43) are required to complete 24 ECTS. Depending on their academic background, students may additionally be required, as part of their admission, to complete further ECTS in philosophy courses.

ECTS are primarily obtained through doctoral seminars in philosophy. They may also be obtained through participation in conferences, organisation of academic events, summer schools, and teaching. Students may enroll in doctoral seminars from the beginning of their studies, for example to prepare their Research Proposal and Public Presentation. Doctoral seminars are designed to broaden philosophical expertise, develop transferable skills, and provide and receive expert and peer feedback on written work.

Registration for doctoral seminars is done in u:find. Scroll to “43 – Doctoral Program in Philosophy and Education” and select “43.01 Philosophy”. Click on any of the listed courses for full details.

The distribution of the 24 ECTS is specified in the Doctoral Thesis Agreement between the student and the supervisor. This agreement must be approved by the Director of Studies and can be amended in the Annual Progress Reports, including retroactively.

Achievements that are not coded for DSPL43, that is, not listed in the DSPL43 course catalogue, can only be credited toward completion of the degree with approval from the Doctoral Study Programme of Philosophy (DSPL43). Approval must be requested via the SSC Philosophy Service Desk by submitting the Dissertation Agreement (DV) and the Annual Progress Report*.

*The progress report is submitted annually to document the progress of the research and must be countersigned by the supervisors and the DSPL43. While the progress report itself does not constitute an application for the recognition of ECTS credits, students are asked to submit applications for the recognition of ECTS-related activities together with the annual progress report via the Servicedesk (see: Recognition of courses, external courses, and academic activities).

MA-level courses or courses from other doctoral programmes can be credited if their relevance to the dissertation project is plausibly justified. BA-level courses, as indicated by their coding in u:find, are generally not recognised for the doctoral programme. Courses taken at other universities can be credited after completion through a formal recognition request.

In addition to courses, academic activities can also be credited with ECTS, provided that sufficient documentation is submitted. Indicative guideline values are as follows: teaching (your own) is credited based on the number of teaching hours; conference presentations are worth 1 ECTS; conference attendance 0.5 ECTS; peer review for academic journals 0.5 ECTS; own publications that are not part of the dissertation up to 2 ECTS; editorial work up to 2 ECTS; organisation of academic events up to 2 ECTS; outreach projects and academic internships are assessed individually by DSPL43.

The listed ECTS values are indicative only. Final credit allocation is at the discretion of the Doctoral Study Programme of Philosophy (DSPL43), taking into account factors such as workshop size, publication scope, and academic relevance.

Supporting documents are required for all recognition requests. For teaching, a u:find course listing must be submitted. For conference attendance, an official confirmation from the conference organisers must be provided. All applications and supporting documents must be submitted exclusively via the SSC Philosophy Service Desk using the form “Ansuchen um Eintragung externer Leistungen”. A separate PDF with fill-in assistance is available and is especially useful for English-speaking students.