Please read the following guidelines carefully before starting your online application.
1) Personal information: CV
Most importantly, your CV should be complete, i.e. it should comprise the complete time period from your high school degree until your present working and/or educational status. If there are longer “gaps” in your CV (more than 3 months), e.g. due to unemployment periods, it is better to be clear and honest. Otherwise the reviewer might ask herself/himself what you have done during that time and why you do not mention it.
A CV covering three or more pages is definitely too long! Keep it short, keep it chronological, and keep it clear. Think of the reviewer and his/her limited time and make it easy for her/him to go through the most important facts of your education and professional life.
2) Education:
Bachelor’s and master’s grades and documents This is the part of your application where formal requirements are checked. This means: You have to upload transcripts AND certificates. If they are not in English or German, please upload the original documents along with certified translations of the latter. If you haven’t finished your master’s degree yet, please provide the most recent transcript of records.
Make sure your documents are readable, i.e. that you scan them at a sensible resolution (300 dpi). Sometimes we receive files which are almost impossible to read due to low scanning resolution.
You will have to present original versions of any uploaded document (including your high school certificate) with certified translations once you start your PhD here in Munich and want to enroll as a doctoral student at the LMU.
3) Additional Qualifications
Awards, international experience etc. can be very helpful to stand out from the crowd. Keep in mind that awards should be related to your field of study.
Knowledge of techniques and methods: Please describe the techniques you have used e.g. in you Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis or during internships. Programming skills are also important to mention here. You should convincingly prove that you are proficient in English, since this is an important pre-requisite for a successful PhD. Numerous grammar mistakes and typos in your application will give the reviewer the impression that you either have a problem with expressing yourself correctly in English or that you submitted a rather sloppy application. Please make sure to proofread all your texts before submitting!
4) Motivation to join the graduate programme (LSM)
You should provide concrete reasons why you are applying to LSM. Make a logical connection between what you have done so far and why you would like to continue at LSM.
Please ensure you have answered the following questions:
a.Why do you want to join the Graduate School LSM?
b.How will you benefit from the programme?
c.Why do you want to continue research by means of a doctoral project?
5) Motivation for the selected project
Many applicants tend to describe themselves and their previous academic achievements here extensively. This is not what is asked for. Many applications fail because there is no adequate link between the applicant’s previous field of studies and the project she/he is applying for. A well-reasoned statement is of outmost importance! Explain why you are interested in this particular project; what is most fascinating for you, how this connects with your previous experiences and your education. Make clear that you invested some time in finding out more about the group and the topic. Avoid lengthy explanations of the state-ofthe- art of your selected research project. The PI probably knows more about this than you do. Always keep in mind that the reviewer will most likely stop reading if your statement gets too extensive.