Postdoctoral Studies

Postdoctoral studies begin after the doctoral student has successfully finished their doctorate. Therefore, a postdoctoral fellow (post-doc) is a graduate doctor who focuses on the sciences and research. Postdoctoral studies are supposed to help post-docs to qualify as top researchers and to set their professional goals. It is the second phase of scientific qualification for “science as a profession” – as the German scholar Max Weber once said.

Postdoctoral studies typically last from 2 to 4 years. During this time, post-docs are strongly advised to do visits abroad, as this is a major promotion criterion for most of the funding programmes. Furthermore, international experience is considered as an important condition for the qualification as a top researcher.

Funding Possibilities 

There is a variety of funding possibilities for postdoctoral studies and most of them are similar to the funding opportunities for doctoral studies. First of all, universities and non-university research organisations offer paid positions for post-docs. Funding can also be supported by individual scholarships of foundations or the DAAD, as well as by scholarships of structured programmes such as Graduate Schools.

Further funding programmes for post-docs are offered by the DFG. At the DFG, post-docs can apply for scholarships and research grants to realise projects at home and abroad.

The “Marie Curie Actions” of the specific programme “People”, which is part of the Seventh Research Framework Programme of the EU, offers funding of visits abroad, so does the “Human Frontier Science Program”.

You will get detailed information on theses programmes by contacting the funding organisations or special information services.

Links to further information on the above mentioned funding options:

Actions of the DFG

 

Marie Curie Actions

  • CORDIS (Community Research & Development Information Service)
  • kowi (Kooperationsstelle EG der Wissenschaftsorganisationen)

 

Human Frontier Science Program