About doctoral studies in Germany
What you should know about doctoral studies in general
Information on how doctorates work in Germany
In Germany, we have individually-conducted doctorates (you on your own with a supervisor and a co-supervisor, registered at a university) or structured doctorates (you as a member of a structured doctoral program offered by a graduate school, with an obligatory education and training program attached, as part of a doctoral cohort, and with two supervisors or more assigned to you, registered at a university).
Read more: https://www.daad.de/deutschland/promotion/doktoranden/en/
Required years of education / credits
Usually, German universities or doctoral programs expect a total of at least 5 years of previous full-time education at BA/BSc and MA/MSc level, e.g., 4 years BA/BSc + at least 1 year MA/MSc or: 3 years BA/BSc + at least 2 years MA/MSc. The exact rules and regulations (and required number of credits) need to be checked / confirmed with THE respective universities/programs directly.
Sometimes, a so-called fast-track program is avaliable which will allow BA/BSc students to apply to doctoral programs.
German Graduate Schools of Neuroscience (Master's and doctoral programs)
https://neuroschools-germany.com/
Doctorates in structured graduate programs at Berlin universities
https://www.doctoral-programs.de/welcome/
https://www.humboldt-graduate-school.de/en/mitglieder-en/mtgl-alphab-en/mitglprogr-alphab-en
https://www.berlin-university-alliance.de/en/commonalities/junior-researchers/programs/index.html
Individually-conducted doctoral studies at Humboldt-Universität
At Humboldt-Universität, the most solid information on individually-conducted doctorates will be supplied by the responsible faculty or by Humboldt Graduate School, an umbrella organization for doctoral studies.
Doctoral candidates' portal: https://www.hu-berlin.de/en/promovierende-en/standardseite-en?set_language=en
Humboldt Graduate School: https://www.humboldt-graduate-school.de/en/homepage-collage-en?set_language=en
Some of the responsible faculties at Humboldt-Universitaet are:
Doctorate in Biology or Psychology: Faculty of Life Sciences
Doctorate in Linguistics: Faculty of Language, Literature and Humanities
Doctorate in Philosophy: Faculty of Philosophy
These and further faculties: https://www.hu-berlin.de/de/promovierende/betreuung/Ansprechpartner%20Fakultaeten
at Freie Universität Berlin
Dahlem Reseach School, gateway for doctoral candidates: https://www.humboldt-graduate-school.de/en/homepage-collage-en?set_language=en
at Technische Universität Berlin
Junior scholars: https://www.tu.berlin/en/research/advancement-of-junior-scholars/
at Charité Berlin - Medical University
Doctoral Studies: https://promotion.charite.de/en/
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD - Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst)
Doing a PhD in Germany, with or without the support of the DAAD:
https://www.daad.de/deutschland/promotion/doktoranden/en/
https://www.daad.de/en/studying-in-germany/phd-studies-research/
https://www2.daad.de/deutschland/stipendium/datenbank/en/21148-scholarship-database/?detail=57135739
https://www2.daad.de/deutschland/stipendium/datenbank/de/21148-stipendiendatenbank/
The DAAD database “International Programs in Germany 2023/2024” is online in August 2023 (website of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), listing information and publications on studies and research in Germany, including weblinks). It can be found at www.daad.de/international-programmes. In 2023, about 230 institutions participated in the survey and reported more than 1,900 international bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, 220 language and specialized courses, and 26 study-preparatory programs. The database is thus one of the most important sources of information on international study programs in Germany.
In addition, www.summerschools.de integrates a separate database for 2023/2024 language and specialized courses in German and English.
In addition, programs that can be studied online will also be available separately this year at www.daad.de/online-programmes.
Doctoral studies in Germany and Your To-Do lists
How to obtain a doctorate in Germany, what you need to prepare for your stay, and what you have to do once you are here:
https://www.research-in-germany.org/en/infoservice/publications.html
https://www.research-in-germany.org/en/jobs-and-careers/info-for-postdocs-and-junior-researchers.html
Website of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research
http://www.research-explorer.de/redirect_rex_en.html
Comprehensive website of GERiT (German Research Institutions) for universities, research and studies in Germany, run be the German Research Foundation (DFG)
https://www.hochschulkompass.de/en/study-in-germany.html
Website of German universities listing all universities, degrees and courses offered
https://neuroschools-germany.com/
German Graduate Schools of Neuroscience (brochure available)
About Germany
Located in the heart of Europe, Germany with its more than 80 million inhabitants has a long-standing tradition of excellence in science and research. Today, there are 427 state-accredited universities in Germany with more than 18,000 degree programs in 180 cities, including neuroscience programs. Germany’s higher educational system is state-funded and decentralized. The universities and research organizations are largely independent. Regarding the terms of study there are no standard answers to study regulation questions – these will have to be answered by the program chosen.
