Bonn International Graduate School Land and Food is part of the BIGS network, that involves multiple graduate schools and university institutions.
BIGS-LF offers: supervision, Interdisciplinary English curriculum, acquisition of additional qualification, networking, financial support.
PhD students admitted to doctoral studies at the University of Bonn can get admission to BIGS-LF.
Unfortunately, BIGS-LF does not offer PhD positions. You need to contact the working groups or PI´s directly: Institutes and working groups of the Agriculutral Faculty
No, only PhD students enrolled at the University of Bonn can get admission.
Yes, just sent the the confirmation of your doctorate (Promotionsbestätigung) of your faculty along with all the other documents.
Formal procedure |
Legal basis (only available in German language) |
Contact |
Admission to doctoral studies at the Faculty of Agriculture |
Promotionsordnung der Landwirtschaftlichen Fakultät |
Doctorate office: promotionsbuero@lwf.unibonn.de |
Enrollment at the University of Bonn (Optional) |
Einschreibungsordnung der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn vom 9. August 2020 |
Student Registry: studsek@verwaltung.unibonn.de |
Admission to the BIGS-LF |
Ordnung der BIGS-Land and Food vom 11.01.2022 |
BIGS-LF: bigs-tb@lwf.uni-bonn.de |
- Promotionsbestätigung (obtained from Promotionsbüro)
- Transcript of records e.g. Master/Diploma
- Application for admission (general information about the PhD student, supervisors and a project description)
- Supervision agreement
It is a proof that you are a PhD student at a faculty of the University of Bonn. It is part of all formal PhD admissions and in the case of the Agricultural Faculty can be obtained from the Doctorate Office.
It is a form found on the BIGS-LF homepage needed for admission. It asks for general information like name, address, email, other information, and a short description of the research project with max. 300-400 words.
It is a contract between you and your supervisors that ensure a structured PhD.
You select two supervisors, and they form the TAC. Your PI is by default member of the TAC. Please contact your potential supervisors and / or discuss it with your PI.
At least two members are required:
- The first supervisor (following PromO) is your PI and by default member of the TAC.
- A second member must have “Promotionsrecht” at the University of Bonn and must be in a different working group.
BIGS-LF strongly recommends nominating additional members that are not subject to any restrictions. Potential members could be a Postdoc doing the daily supervision, a researcher in the same field, someone from working in the industry etc.
The TAC monitors the progress of the PhD thesis and is involved in the PhD Progress Proposal, Progress Meeting and the Meeting Report. Additionally, you and the TAC plan your individual study program including scientific courses, transferable skills, conferences, publications, workshops etc.
Once your application has been successfully submitted you will be invited to an admission interview. During this interview you have to give a short (10-15 minutes) presentation in English about your past (e.g. Master thesis) and / or current research project in front of the BIGS-LF coordinator and at least two members of BIGS-LF with Promotionsrecht (e.g. Prof.). Afterwards, your admission is decided collegial.
Once per year the PhD student prepares a PhD Progress Proposal and submits it to the Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC). The proposal is the base for the Progress Meeting.
The Progress Meeting is organized by the PhD student. The PhD student and TAC meet and discuss the progress and plan the future strategy. The Meeting Report is prepared by the TAC together with the PhD student and must be submitted to the BIGS-LF coordinator. Central questions to be answered in this report include: What was planned to do? What has been achieved? What is done next? Why did certain plans change?
More information can be found on the homepage:
Please contact the coordinator and this information will be provided.
Yes please, send any questions or suggestions to me via email or give me call.
Dr. Arnim Kuhn
BIGS-LF coordinator
Katzenburgweg 9
53115 Bonn