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I am writing a personal statement for graduate school the Berlin Mathematical School. As I understand it, honorifics are very important in Germany. I am wondering when and how to include them. Specifically:

  1. I list 3-4 professors who I particularly want to work with. Some are Prof. Dr., some just Prof., and some just Dr., all as stated on the university website. Should I list honorifics for all? Or just say "Professors X, Y, Z, and X"?

  2. I speak a good amount about work I did with a prof at my university. Should I write Prof. Dr. XYZ each time, or just when I first introduce him.

  3. When mentioning mathematicians or authors, who are professor or doctors, but who are generally unimportant to the paper, whose names I really just want to quickly reference (eg. "In reading Marker's book I..." should I include the honorifics?

This is a very international program, taught in English. German isn't even a requirement. How stringent should I be about this sort of thing? Thanks!

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    I'm not really an expert on German conventions, but I do know that, despite an apparent trend in the U.S. (in math?) to be first-name-buddies with everyone, that I never would complain about a touch of honorific, e.g, "Prof Garrett", at least. From my older (!?) generation in the U.S., one would not address professionals old enough to be your grandparents, who you'd not met before, by their first names. Maybe "better safe than sorry"... Commented Nov 27, 2024 at 0:54
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    @paulgarrett Addressing them by their first names was never on the table!! I want to show respect! I am more wondering about if repeating the honorifics multiple times will come across as brown nosing. Commented Nov 27, 2024 at 2:03
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    Conceivably, though I cannot gauge the contemporary German sensibilities, I'd imagine that after an initial "Herr/Frau Doctor Professor", to prove your good-faith/respect, a lighter "Professor" (maybe not abbreviated? Dunno...) Do people also add the "Geheimrat" these days? :) Commented Nov 27, 2024 at 2:07
  • @paulgarrett I believe they do... not sure how to use it though Commented Nov 30, 2024 at 4:39

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  1. For the sake of conciseness do not use Prof.Dr. because almost every prof has a doctor title. Do not use Prof. on someone who is clearly not a prof. You may check their CVs to be sure. Keep in mind that being a Dr. may not qualify to be a supervisor.

  2. Here too, I would introduce your previous supervisor with Prof. Later you can say "my thesis advisor", "professor X", "supervisor" or "we" (if your refer to common work). For instance, "In my master thesis, supervised by Prof. X, we have shown that..."

  3. Here you can use a typical style of scientific papers and only use surnames. Have a look at this sentence from wikipedia "Euler is regarded as one of the greatest, most prolific mathematicians in history and the greatest of the 18th century." You do not write "Prof. Dr. Euler" in this context.

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  • thank you! I really appreciate the concrete answer Commented Nov 27, 2024 at 9:32
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    Is German your first language? I would always write "Prof. Dr." (if the person carries these titles) in a formal document if you do not know the person. Commented Nov 27, 2024 at 12:24
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    @Snijderfrey I took yarchik 's adivice and submitted my application. Hopefully they will credit my possible mistake as American ignorance, and see that I made an effort to follow the customs of German honorifics :/ Commented Nov 30, 2024 at 4:40
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    @4u9ust I wish you all the best with your application! Commented Nov 30, 2024 at 9:51
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    @Snijderfrey: I'm native German and I'd use [Sehr geehrte[r]|Dear] Prof. X in a formal letter. I.e., not add the Dr., nor what "flavor" Dr. it is. IMHO yarchik's advise is fine. Commented Jan 6 at 11:12

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