In general, you will have to request a request for recognition of your university degree, if you hold one of the following degrees:

•     a German degree of a subject not offered at HHU.
•     a degree of a subject which is not equivalent to the subject of the doctoral project.
•     a  degree from outside of Germany.

For degrees from non-EU countries, a positive evaluation by the Central Office for Foreign Education in Bonn (ZAB) must be submitted.
For university degrees from the EU, a printout from the anabin database confirming equivalence is usually sufficient for registration.
Information on the recognition procedure and the anabin database:
https://anabin.kmk.org/anabin.html

Applicants from VR China, Vietnam, Mongolia
Please submit a valid APS certificate from the German Embassy and show the original certificate to the office of the Graduate Center Medicine.

In our faculty, a good command of either English or German is required for your doctoral studies. You will need to submit a proof of your language proficiency to the Medical Graduate Center on admission to doctoral studies.

Required language skills/certificates:

German:
•    DSH-2
•    TestDaF (TDN 4)
•    Kleines or Großes Deutsches Sprachdiplom (Goethe-Institut)
•    alternative proof of language proficiency

English:
•    IELTS-Test (at least 6.0)
•    TOEFL-Test (at least Paper 500, Computer200, iBT 80)
•    alternative proof of language proficiency

When starting a doctoral project at the Faculty of Medicine, please pay special attention to the duration of doctoral studies:

Dr. med.  / Dr. med. dent.

• The duration of the doctoral project for Dr. med. / Dr. med. dent. at our faculty is determined by the doctoral regulations. You have a maximum of 4 years to complete the dissertation. This means that you must conduct your research, write your dissertation and submit it for examination within this time.

Dr. PH (Public Health)

• You have a maximum of 4 years for a Dr. PH. You must take into account that at least 2 years of scientific activity related to public health is part of the admission requirements.

PhD in Medical Sciences

• The scientific work for a PhD in Medical Sciences usually takes three to four years.

The duration of the doctoral studies can vary. It does not only depend on the success of your research project. Other factors will be the timely submission of the written reports, finding a date for the defense and others. Oral examinations cannot take place before submission of both reports.

Please note, that your physical presence is mandatory for the defense of your thesis. You may have to re-enter the country for it.

You can officially enrol for doctoral studies at the Student Services Center of Heinrich Heine University (SSC), once you have been admitted to doctoral studies by the Dean's office. You will need an official letter by the Graduate Center Medicine.

If this takes longer than anticipated, you will be able to enrol as "guest doctoral researcher from abroad". More information can be found on JUNO's webpages. Just in case...