The International Graduate School: Heritage Studies at Cottbus University offers an interdisciplinary PhD programme in the broad field of the humanities. It is aimed at a national as well as international audience. The International Graduate School consists of highly qualified and committed colleagues from all faculties of the BTU and other institutions. It seeks a cooperative partnership with the Graduate School "Cultural and technical values of historic buildings" in the faculty two in the form of joint summer schools and research colloquiums. 

The principal objective of the PhD programme is the completion of a dissertation and its defense. The International Graduate School programme is designed so that the qualification can be achieved in the intended time frame taking into consideration the innovative research topic, the development and application of appropriate methods, and the related elective and mandatory courses. Moreover, the PhD programme establishes a structure for working on the dissertation that provides an orientation for both German and international PhD students with their institutionally and culturally heterogeneous learning experiences.