Individual Doctoral Studies

Individual doctorates are not bound to an educational programme. The supervision of the doctoral student is only given by the doctoral supervisor.

Occupation at a university

Universities employ doctoral students as research assistants in permanent positions or in projects, which are financed by external funds by a third party. Besides completing tasks such as holding seminars and lectures, academic staff members have to fulfil tasks that are profitable for their own academic qualification. Having a position in a project, research for their own academic qualification can be part of the project. The time the doctoral student is occupied with teaching depends on the kind of employment.
The period of employment usually depends on the duration of the project and may vary from discipline to discipline.

Occupation at a non-university research organisation

There are four main non-university research organisations, comprising various scientific institutions:


Whereas universities are concerned with both research and teaching non-university research organisations can only pursue research. These institutions are not permitted to award the doctoral degree. Nevertheless, they employ doctoral students and the doctorate is executed in association with the respective university. The contracts are usually set up for three years. Non-university research organisations differ in their research focus. The Helmholtz Association is concerned with basic research in strategic programmes whereas the Max Planck Society focuses on research guided by the needs of science. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s main focus is research on applied sciences. The Leibniz-Gemeinschaft does research in fields, which are of supra-regional meaning and of special interest to the national science policy.

Scholarships

The range of scholarships is broad. Most scholarships are given by the eleven organisations for the promotion of talented persons (Begabtenförderungswerke), which are supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The personal development of the doctoral student is the main condition to receive such a scholarship and varies according to the character of the organisation.

Organisations of political parties:

 

Organisations with confessional sponsors:

 

Foundations of the industry:

 

Foundations without the possibility to apply on your own:


Scholarships specifically designed for international exchange are given by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which is a joint institution of German universities. Doctoral students can receive scholarships for research visits abroad for one year or short-time scholarships covering one to sixth months (e.g. library and archive research abroad).

Furthermore, public and economic foundations, e.g  Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, Deutsche Telekom Stiftung, contribute to the diversity in the range of scholarships. Eventually, universities themselves offer scholarships for doctoral students as well.

Doctorate at a Company

Doctoral students also have the option to write their dissertation in association with a company. Companies offer the funding of the doctoral student if the thesis is of scientific or economic interest to the company. To get into contact with the company, the student either hands in a speculative application or an application for a position which was advertised for. Sometimes a lecturer of the university is the contact person between student and company. The student himself is responsible to find a doctoral supervisor.

Self-Financing

Besides the funding possibilities already introduced, there is always the option of self-financing doctoral studies. In that case, the doctoral student usually works in non-scientific jobs or is financially supported by his/her parents.