The degree programme in Art History and Aesthetics enables students to take a doctorate and acquire the title of Dr. phil. The aim of the doctoral studies is to enable participants to complete a self-determined extensive research contribution in the form of a thesis and to take responsibility for their own participation in academic discourse in future. The doctoral programme is not, therefore, modularized and attendance at courses is not normally compulsory. Instead, supervising professors offer regular colloquia for examination candidates, in which basic questions of scholarly practice are discussed and the structured development of a research project supported. The process leading to the registration of a doctoral project at the University of Kassel begins in the close contact between the candidate and the professor who will supervise the thesis. In the course of the process, the two enter into a contract, the so-called supervision agenda, which guarantees appropriate supervision of the doctorate. Without written approval from a professorship, registering for a doctorate is not possible.

Further information for doctoral candidates is available on the website of the University of Kassel in the Postgraduate School section.