Program Structure
| | Winter semester | Summer semester | ECTS |
| 1st year* | - 2 required courses
- Literature study
| - 2 required courses
- Literature study
- Research seminar
- Submission of final research proposal
| 40 |
| 2nd year** | - Elective course work
- Refining of the research proposal
- Research
| - Elective course work
- Research
- Research seminars
- Submission of an article for publication in an internationally recognised academic journal
| 40 |
| 3rd year | - Research
- Research seminars
| - Research
- Research seminars
| 40 |
| 4th year | | - Dissertation writing and defense
| 60 |
*In order to advance from the first to the second year, doctoral students must complete all four required courses, attend the research seminar, publicly present their dissertation proposal and obtain approval of the doctoral dissertation proposal from the Committee for Postgraduate Studies.
**In order to advance from the second to the third year, doctoral students must complete two elective courses, attend two research seminars and submit an article for publication in an international academic journal. The submission must be approved by the mentor, but acceptance for publication is not the condition for advancing, since review periods might be prohibitively long.