The Science Council granted Zeppelin University institutional accreditation on February 2, 2009. In addition, ZU was the first university in Germany to receive a recommendation from the Science Council for the autonomous entitlement to award doctoral degrees on May 30, 2011. This gave ZU the top seal of approval from the German higher-education sector and it became the first private university in Germany to be accredited twice by the Science Council. On September 10, 2011, the entitlement to award doctoral and post-doctoral degrees was granted by Theresia Bauer, the Minister for Science, Research and the Arts of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
“The completed and pending doctoral procedures conducted in cooperation with other universities highlight ZU’s capability to award doctoral degrees,” reports the Science Council in a statement on the doctoral entitlement recommendation from May, 2011. Since 2003, there have been more than 80 doctoral degrees earned by young ZU scientists, and there are currently an additional 90 pending.
After being awarded the institutional entitlement by the state of Baden-Württemberg, the doctoral programs will be further reinforced within the framework of the “Zeppelin University Graduate School,” which will be opened with a partially-structured doctoral program on January 20, 2012.
