PhD Admission
The admission requirements for doctoral candidates are recorded in Article 2 of the TU Delft Doctoral Regulations. More detailed information can be found in section A of the Implementation Decree on the Doctoral Regulations.
Admission requirements
Under Dutch law and the TU Delft Doctoral Regulations a doctoral candidate should be in possession of a Dutch Master’s degree. This may be a Master of Science or a Master of Arts degree from a University or College of Higher Education.
Naturally, doctoral candidates who hold foreign Master’s degrees are also admitted to TU Delft. Certain foreign degrees are evaluated by the TU Delft Admissions Office. This office determines whether the foreign degree can be considered to be equivalent to the Dutch Master’s degree.
Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. The minimum requirement of a TOEFL*overall band score of 100 (with scores of at least 21 for all sections) or IELTS overall band score of 7.0 (with scores of at least 6.5 for all sections) applies to all candidates wanting to pursue a PhD or PDEng programme at TU Delft, starting as of January 2023. The TOEFL iBT Home Edition is accepted for the English proficiency, please note that the TOEFL MyBest scores is not accepted. Candidates do not need to present the test results as part of their application; these results will be requested at a later stage during the selection procedure.
Native speakers will be exempt from the English test requirement, as well as, in principle, non-native applicants who have obtained an English-taught Master’s degree. If during the selection process it is deemed that the English proficiency of the candidate with an English-taught Master’s degree does not meet the requirements, they may also be asked to do a test.
*TU Delft Faculty Graduate Schools (FGS) may have additional admission requirements. Therefore, please visit the web page of your intended FGS.
- Aerospace Engineering (AE)
- Architecture and the Built Environment (A+BE)
- Applied Sciences (AS)
- Civil Engineering and Geosciences (CEG)
- Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS)
- Industrial Design Engineering (IDE)
- Technology, Policy and Management (TPM)
- Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (3mE)
Preparation and paperwork
An eligibility check of all prospective doctoral candidates is standard procedure at TU Delft. This means that, besides a letter and a CV, all applications must include scans of the applicant’s (highest) diploma and a transcript. Furthermore, at the start of their Doctoral Programme all doctoral candidates must be registered as such at the TU Delft Graduate School. For more information about registration and the required documents, see Intake Meeting.