Yes, a dissertation in the humanities and social sciences is an independent achievement for Early Career Researchers. Topics are usually not assigned but developed by the candidates themselves. You cannot begin a doctoral program without your own research project and a research hypothesis. Members of the university will not help you develop a synopsis in terms of content. However, you can find helpful information on the format and content of a research proposal online or in the FAQ of the graduate programs.

At the Department of History and Cultural Studies, doctoral procedures are possible in the following subjects:

Egyptology,
Ancient American Studies/Cultural Anthropology,
Ancient Oriental Studies,
Arabic Studies,
Chinese Studies,
Sinology,
History,
Didactics of History,
Iranian studies,
Islamic studies,
Japanese Studies,
Jewish Studies,
Classical Archaeology,
Korean Studies,
Art History of Europe and America, East Asia, Africa, Prehistoric Archaeology,
Religious Studies,
Semitic studies,
Turkology,
Near Eastern Archaeology

Structured programs involve subjects from several departments, including history and cultural studies, political and social sciences, economics, philosophy and humanities, and law. Some structured doctoral programs also involve faculties of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Please note that your first supervisor must be a professor in the department in which you are doing your doctorate. This means that your first supervisor must be a senior researcher in the subject of your doctorate. A selection committee decides on initial supervisors or supervisory teams of up to three persons in the structured doctoral programs. Further suitable supervisors can be selected in the course of the doctoral studies. The first supervisor is usually also requested as a reviewer for the dissertation.