Frequently Asked Questions
Before Applying
The MA RTP is a one-year programme. It is specifically directed at international students who wish to pursue a PhD in the field of social sciences in Germany. This program is right for you, if you want to develop your quantitative and qualtitative research skills and/or if you have already obtained a one-year Masters and need an additional year in order to be eligble for a German PhD position. Topic-wise, you should want to concentrate on issues from political science or sociology. Please also check our academic staff and their research interests as well as the course catalogue of the MA in Social Sciences as you will take the majority of electives from this programme.
You need at least 240 ECTS through a first university degree (Bachelor with 180 ECTS) and one supplementary year of further academic education in an independent program (Bachelor or Masters).
Further requirements are
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A minimum of 20 ECTS in social and/or political science theory
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A minimum of 10 ECTS in empirical social science research methods
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Certification of Proficiency in English
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IELTS: 5,0 or TOEFL IBT: 87; PBT: 560 or Cambridge First Certificate FEC: B-C or UNIcert II-Certificate: 3,0 or DAAD Certificate: C
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Certification of Proficiency in German:
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level A1 (Certifications must proof successful examination of the language course. Certifications of attendance do not suffice!)
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In order to be eligble for the MA RTP you need a Bachelor AND an additional year of studies in another programme (or two BAs). A Bachelor's degree is not sufficient, even if you fulfill the 240 ECTS requirement.
The annual application period for the MA RTP is from May 1st until May 31st.
No late applications can be accepted, and all documents need to handed in and received by the deadline. There are no exceptions.
While applying
MA RTP is only displayed on Uni-Assist once the appliation period starts on May 1st. If you are still having trouble:
On the first page, you are asked to type in the information about the program you wish to find. Please fill in the following:
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line: Wintersemester (Date)
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line: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
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line: leave blank (please do not select Social Sciences as a research field; the master is not assigned to that field)
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line: Research Training Program Social Sciences
As Uni-Assist does give you feedback when forms are missing, please make sure that you hand in your application early enough to be able to add or correct something after the first check.
Make sure that your fee for Uni-Assist is booked on their account before the deadline has ended!
- Application form, the application form for international applicants should be completed online at:https://my.uni-assist.de The printed application form, including all the necessary documents in paper form, must be received by uni-assist by the deadline set for the course chosen.
- Officially authenticated copies of educational certificates obtained so far, including the secondary school leaving certificate together with marks received and, if applicable, university entrance examination documentation
- evidence of study areas and grades obtained in previous studies including an explanation of the given grading system, graduation certificate and, if applicable, diploma supplement;
- enrolment certificate, if you are a student at another German or European higher education institution at the time you apply for a place at Humboldt OR certificate of exmatriculation (Exmatrikulationsbescheinigung) specifying the areas of study and number of semesters if you have previously studied at another higher education institution in Germany
- German translations of all certificates (exception: documents in English) as officially authenticated copies;
- evidence of English language skills
- evidence of German language skills
Important! We can only accept language certificates that were issued within the last two years at the time of application (i.e. for this years application round we do not accept language certificates issued before May 2021)
- CV starting with the beginning of school education up till now;
- Motivation letter including information about your research interests (max. 2 pages)
- a photocopy of your passport or identity card (for applicants from the EU)
- self-assessment sheet showing 20 ECTS in Social Sciences Theories and 10 ECTS in Social Sciences Methods
Please only send official copies of your transcripts and diplomas. Certified copies are not requested any longer by the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin or Uni-Assist, you may provide simple Xerox copies but they should indicate that they are official documents.
Documents which are not written in German (or English) have to be translated by authorized agencies or notaries.
Translations of the documents to be provided may be done exclusively by a sworn translator. The applicant’s own translations of official documents are not permitted!
In this database you can look for sworn translators working in various languages:
http://www.gerichtsdolmetscherverzeichnis.de
If applying from abroad a list of translators recognized in Germany can be obtained from German embassies and diplomatic agencies.
A copy of these documents in the original language must be included along with the translated documents and transcript.
Please send a two-page document including both your motivation for completing the master’s programme and your idea for a doctoral project.
You should state your research interest and relevant theories and methods. It does not need to be a sophisticated exposé with a time frame, but should refer to the academic field of interest your want to focus on during the year of studying, as these are the reasons why you are applying for the MA RTP.
The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is a standard for comparing the study attainment and performance of students of higher education across the European Union and other collaborating European countries. For successfully completed studies, ECTS credits are awarded. One academic year corresponds to 60 ECTS-credits that are equivalent to 1500–1800 hours of study in all countries respective of standard or qualification type and is used to facilitate transfer and progression throughout the Union. A semester long seminar (about 30 contact hours) delivers 10 ECTS.
If your BA/MA/Diploma certificate does not show ECTS, you can either ask the examination office of your former university to provide a transcript including ECTS which you hand in. Or you hand in a transcript or letter indicating the length of your study program or the amount of study hours.
In order to prove your methodological skills and knowledge in social science theories, please fill in the form ‘Self-Assessment’. Send the form to Uni-Assist together with your application. Uni-Assist can calculate the actual workload of your study program and transfer it to ECTS.
In order to prove your methodological skills and knowledge in social science theories, please fill in the form ‘Self-Assessment’). This is especially important if the course title listed on the transcript does not explicitely indicate which theories and methods you've learned. Methods may not only include quantitative but also qualitative methods (such as discourse or content analysis). If you took courses that delivederd less than 20 ECTS in social and/or political science theory or 10 ECTS in empirical social science research methods you can accumulate points from various courses. Send the form to Uni-Assist together with your application. Uni-Assist can calculate the actual workload of your study program and transfer it to ECTS.
In order to prove your methodological skills and knowledge in social science theories, please fill in the form ‘Self-Assessment’. This is especially important if the course title listed on the transcript does not explicitely indicate which theories and methods you've learned. Methods may not only include quantitative but also qualitative methods (such as discourse or content analysis). If you took courses that delivederd less than 20 ECTS in social and/or political science theory or 10 ECTS in empirical social science research methods you can accumulate points from various courses. Send the form to Uni-Assist together with your application. Uni-Assist can calculate the actual workload of your study program and transfer it to ECTS.
Your CV must not have any gaps, list all your periods of education or other activities without any break (or indicate a “break”, such as travelling).
No extension can be granted, and all documents need to be received by either uni-assist or Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin directly, depending on which way you need to apply.
All documents, including language certificates, need to be handed in and received by uni-asst or Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin by the deadline.
https://my.uni-assist.de/hilfe | Phone:+49 30 201 646 001 | address: uni-assist e.V. 11507 Berlin
this depends on whether you need to apply via uni-assist, or Humboldt-Universität:
-If you can apply directly to the program by using the HU online application form, please find all relevant information in the Portal für Studieninteressierte
- If you need to apply via Uni-Assist, please look at the following sites for Application information for prospective students with an international entrance qualification and application guideline or the Information for applicants from abroad (Note that there is a fee for using Uni-Assist of 75€).
After applying
You can change and add informations and documents to your application via uni-assist before the deadline.
All documents need to be handed in and received by uni-asst or Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin by the deadline.
Uni-Assist:
In your My assist account you can directly track the status of your application - simply by using the application overview.
You can see the current status directly below your study request. The status will change once we have fully reviewed your application (or any documents submitted subsequently).
Humboldt-Universität:
You can check the status of the documents you are submitting at any time using the status query on the online application system of HU
The application process involves two steps, after your documents have been examined by uni-assist and/or the Humboldt-University's administration, complete and eligble applications will be forwarded to the Office of International Master Programs at the Department for Social Sciences. This process will take a few weeks after the application deadline has ended. We will invite you for an interview, which will usually be set in June/July, but might be later. After your interview you will learn about any change in your application status via the online application system of HU.
The purpose of the application interview is to establish whether you and the MA Research Training Program are a good fit. Therefore a good first step of your preparation is to look at the website of the Department of Social Sciences, see if there are any professors in whose work you are interested and look throughly the course catalogue.
It depends on the reason why Uni-Assist did not forward your application. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do, if your application was not complete or if any of the required documents were faulty. If there has been a mistake in the evaluation of your documents, please contact our office.
You can either apply for the visa with the letter of acceptance of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, or already with the confirmation e-mail from Uni-Assist, that your application matches the required criteria.