How to get a foreign graduate student accepted at the Physics Department of Mainz University

This is a description of how it worked with Igor Pasichnyk from Ukraine, in the first half of 2001. Assume both parties have agreed that the candidate should join the group for doing a PhD. It is of course a good idea for the future supervisor to get a reasonable idea about the course work and the thesis which the candidate has done, before agreeing to the arrangement. Furthermore, the supervisor should be honest enough to NOT PROMISE that the candidate will be able to get a PhD degree - the formal admittance as a graduate student rests with the council of professors (the "Fachbereichsrat"), and might not be granted. This is simply a decision which the supervisor cannot do alone. This is not an unwritten law (like some other rules), but actually laid down explicitly in the formal regulations for the PhD procedure (the "Promotionsordnung").

Nevertheless, I recommend to invite the candidate over and get the formalities done while he/she is here, deliberately taking the risk of perhaps having to send the candidate back. To do all formalities before arrival will be quite difficult, for reasons of unsafe postal transmission of original documents, plus the need to discuss the former scientific life of the candidate in detail (see below).

While the candidate is still in his/her home country, he/she should do the following:

Get hold of the original of the diploma certificate, plus all other certificates, for example pertaining to certain classes, practical exercises ("Praktika"), etc.
Get or compile a list of every single experiment he/she has done in the advanced experimental course ("F-Praktikum") - THIS IS NOT A JOKE!
Get or make a nice printout of the diploma thesis.
Write an abstract of the thesis in English.
Translate all certificates, except the main diploma certificate, as well the list of experiments, into English.
Do a TOEFL test. This was not necessary for Igor yet, but at Naurod 2001 there was general consensus that this is a good requirement in order to make sure communications will later on work.

The candidate should then bring all these materials with him/her. The next steps at Mainz, with help from the supervisor, are as follows:

Translate the diploma certificate into German. We have not tried to just submit an English translation, written by the candidate. Maybe it works, but I doubt it. How should then anybody be sure that it is not invented? So we have resorted to an official translation with certification ("Beglaubigung") which states identity with the original. We have made good experiences with a Wiesbaden translation office: Language Center, Nerotal 18, 65 193 Wiesbaden, phone: 0611-185 16 03, fax: 0611-185 16 05, e-mail: info@LanguageCenter.de, home page http://www.languagecenter.de. The candidate brings the certificate there and picks it up, together with the certified translation, a few days later. HAVE CARE: According to Mr. Schreiner, the translation cannot be paid out of institute funds, but must be paid by the candidate. I do not like this rule but we have to accept it. For prices, see their web page.
Detailed discussion between supervisor and the candidate on the diploma thesis. The supervisor then writes a letter which outlines the contents of the thesis, plus an evaluation, which should culminate in the assessment that the thesis is comparable to a German diploma thesis, with mark 2 or better. Pretty much like a review of some thesis. This letter is to be addressed to the chairman of the diploma examination committee ("Diplompruefungsausschuss"), right now Professor Arenhoevel.
The supervisor should then also write a letter to the dean, asking for admittance as a graduate student. Except for general remarks on the qualification, it should also address the language problem: The supervisor should ask right away for permission to write the thesis in English and to do the oral examination in English as well, and also point out that the language barriers for teaching exercises are not unsurmountable.

The candidate then goes to the dean's office and submits the following materials:

Supervisor's letter to the dean, in closed envelope.
Supervisor's letter to the diploma examination chairman, in closed envelope.
Translated and certified diploma certificate.
Abstract of diploma thesis in English.
Printout of diploma thesis (even if it is in Cyrillic, they want to have it on file).
English translation of all the other certificates (on course work etc.).
List of advanced experiments (in English).

As far as I can recall, this is all. If it is not, they will let you know. The further procedure then is:

Based upon the material on file, the diploma examination committee assesses the qualification of the candidate, and comes up with a recommendation (accept / reject / accept but with the requirement of additional work).
This recommendation then goes to the "Fachbereichsrat".
The "Fachbereichsrat" then formally decides. In Igor's case, we got unconditional acceptance.
The candidate then gets formal written notice by the dean.
Permission to write the thesis in English is also granted by the dean. This decision is also told in written form by the dean.

WE ARE NOT YET FINISHED, although the major steps are done at this point. The further procedure is:

Like a German PhD student, the candidate now obtains the signatures from the oral examiners. On this occasion, he/she should check (just to make sure) that each examiner is willing to do it in English.
Now the supervisor writes yet another letter to the Foreign Languages Center ("Fremdsprachenzentrum") of Mainz University, asking for a waiver of the DSH ("Deutsche Sprachpruefung fuer den Hochschulzugang auslaendischer Studienbewerber"). In this letter you must specify name, nationality, date and place of birth of the candidate, and the discipline. You prove the admission as graduate student via a copy of the dean's letter, and, analogously, the permission to write the thesis in English. Moreover, you should point out that all scientific communication, including the oral examination, is done in English. By this, the supervisor takes responsibility that there are no language barriers impeding the successful completion of the PhD.
The waiver is then issued by the Foreign Languages Center via a formal certificate sent to the candidate (or the supervisor).
This certificate is then one of the documents which the candidate has to supply to the "Studentensekretariat" in order to be inscribed as a PhD student at Mainz university. This in turn is necessary for admittance to the examination, and should be done without delay.
Moreover, the candidate should try to get his teaching of exercises organized as soon as possible.
Besides that, only an unimportant minor side issue (the scientific project) has to be taken care of.
For further information, see our instructions in German for every graduate student.