New fee policy for non-employee PhD candidates as of 1 April 2026

Under the former fee policy, the annual tuition fee of €15,000 was often waived, which resulted in substantial costs for the University. In addition, legal and tax experts have identified risks associated with waiving these fees. The new policy mitigates these risks and provides greater clarity for non-employee PhD candidates.

The new fee policy introduces a fixed annual tuition fee of €3,000. This fee represents a contribution to the costs of the basic facilities of the doctoral programme. In addition, a supplementary, variable bench fee may be agreed to cover specific research-related costs, such as laboratory use, fieldwork or conference attendance.

For a limited number of PhD candidate categories, as specified in the policy, no tuition fee will be charged for strategic reasons.

Fee arrangements will be agreed in advance and laid down in a doctoral agreement with the PhD candidate and, where applicable, in an agreement with an external sponsor. Under the new policy, the waiving of payable fees will no longer be possible.

The new policy will take effect on 1 April 2026. This provides faculties and the relevant support services with sufficient time to implement the policy in a timely and uniform manner.

The fee policy may be downloaded from our website (in pdf).