Structured Doctoral Studies

In a structured doctorate, the doctoral student is bound to a structured education programme. Structured doctorate programmes offer a quicker way into science, as they give the students the chance to finish their doctorate within three years. Furthermore, the supervision by other academics and the contact with the “scientific community” at an early stage is beneficial to the scientific career of the doctoral student.

This kind of networking prevents isolated research. Doctoral students are either employed at the university or funded by scholarships. Scholarships, however, do not include social security and it is essential to join a health insurance company. German structured doctorate programmes are modelled on doctorate courses in the USA. The beginning of structured doctorate programmes was marked in 1989 by the “Federal and State Government-Agreement to promote Postgraduate Programmes”.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) was charged with the realisation of these postgraduate programmes and they have become an integral part of postgraduate studies at German universities. The structured postgraduate education was expanded by the DFG with Graduate Schools, and also some federal states, as well as the Max-Planck-society, have established new programmes promoting structured doctorate.

Postgraduate Programmes of the German Research Foundation (DFG)

Postgraduate Programmes (Graduiertenkollegs) are temporary institutions to support graduate researchers and are established for a specific main research. Proposals are made by the universities and the DFG decides whether they want to support the university with a Postgraduate Programme.

The programme aims to enable qualified students to do their doctorate in a challenging, and if possible, interdisciplinary field of research. Postgraduate Programmes promote 10 to 15 doctoral students and are supervised by 5 to 15 faculty members. The duration of funding is 4 ½ years and can be renewed once, so that the maximum period of funding is nine years.

International postgraduate programmes which are supported by the DFG are executed in cooperation of a German university and a university abroad. A study visit of about 6 months is obligatory. National postgraduate programmes also offer the possibility of studying abroad. Applications for a scholarship or a placement have to be directed to the postgraduate programme of the respective university. It is essential that the topic of the dissertation is related to the research field of the programme. Scholarships for doctoral students are limited to two years but can be extended to three.

During the doctoral studies, an accompanying study programme conveys profound knowledge of the science field, which the dissertation deals with. The features of a postgraduate programme, such as the integration of the doctoral thesis into a comprehensive research programme, the accompanying study programme, the supervision by an academic and the early contact to the “scientific community”, are all designed to help the doctoral students to achieve an early scientific autonomy. Furthermore, postgraduate programmes are supposed to enable students to participate in research and to support collaboration and exchange amongst doctoral students.

For further information visit www.dfg.de .

Graduate Schools of the German Research Foundation (DFG)

Students doing their doctorate at a Graduate School profit from a broad field of research. In comparison to postgraduate programmes there is no focus on a special field of research. Postgraduate programmes are established exclusively for structured doctorates. In addition to this, Graduate Schools aim to strengthen the main focus of the respective university, where the maximum time of funding is again three years.

As there is no specific field of research at Graduate Schools, doctoral students have a much bigger choice in terms of the subject of their dissertation. A structured study process, depending on the Graduate School, and an intensive supervision help the students to finish their doctorates within a short time.

Graduate Schools are supposed to establish international competition and excellent research locations in Germany, as well as to support the progression of young researchers into outstanding scientists. Graduate Schools are characterised rather by their scientific profiles and general principles than by uniformity in their research fields. In addition, an integration of the economy and industry is desirable. In contrast to postgraduate programmes, the schools are funded for the first five years. The DFG makes the decision on whether or not, and to what extent, the funding will continue.

For further information visit www.dfg.de.

Further Important Structured Doctorate Programmes

Due to the reform advice of the "German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat)" concerning the doctorate education in 2002, further structured doctorate programmes have been founded.

Besides structured doctorate studies at universities, "Non-university research organisations" offer structured programmes (e.g. the "Max Planck Research Schools" and the postgraduate programme of the Hans Böckler Foundation) as well as the states offering "Structured Funding Programmes of the Federal States" (e.g. NRW Research Schools, Graduate School Niedersachsen).

Additionally, the EU offers funding for structured doctorate studies within the Marie Curie Actions: the Initial Training Networks. The students are promoted through scholarships that are given by institutions of structured programmes, such as doctorate programmes and research schools.