Why do your PhD in Germany

Germany is a good place to do a PhD: the country’s universities and research institutions enjoy an outstanding reputation and offer a wide range of high quality programmes.

5 reasons to do your PhD in Germany

  • 1. Outstanding reputation of a German doctorate

    The German doctorate enjoys an outstanding reputation in all disciplines. And today universities and research institutions from Aachen to Zittau present young researchers with many different paths to a doctorate. In particular, the structured doctoral programmes that have been established over recent years offer international graduates extremely attractive opportunities – as a member of a research team that provides intensive support and swift results.

  • 2. Strong international focus: PhD in English

    Germany’s research institutions, universities and companies welcome international researchers and offer excellent opportunities for doctoral students. Some 5,000 international graduates complete their doctorates in Germany every year. PhD students can often write their doctoral thesis in English.

  • 3. Good funding opportunities

    Germany welcomes international graduates, and many funding organisations support foreign PhD students. In 2015 alone, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) supported over 5,000 international doctoral students in Germany with scholarships. But other organisations also offer interesting funding programmes for PhD students.
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  • 4. Excellent research infrastructure

    As a nation with a long cultural and scientific tradition, Germany offers exceptional infrastructure for research work: approximately 7,800 public and 250 academic libraries guarantee outstanding research opportunities.

    Moreover, German universities are among the best in the world. There are many reasons for this: for example, the large choice of higher education centres and types of institution – namely, some 180 locations with roughly 400 higher education institutions including 150 entitled to award doctorates. As a rule, universities of applied sciences do not have this right, but under certain circumstances they can carry out a collaborative doctoral procedure jointly with a university.

    Additionally, Germany can offer well-equipped non-university research instiutions, such as the institutes or centres of the Hemholtz Association, Leibniz Association, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and Max Planck Society. Moreover, German companies are among the most actively engaged in research in Europe.

  • 5. High standard of living

    The world knows the “Land of Ideas” not just from its products “Made in Germany” but also as the “land of poets and thinkers” with a high standard of living. This includes a unique cultural landscape with a huge music and theatre scene.

    Roughly 33 million tourists travel to Germany every year – they wander around the capital Berlin, enjoy the country’s unique cultural offering including a diverse music and theatre scene or experience its incredibly varied countryside.
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What international PhD students say

See what young researchers have to say about their experience and why they chose to do their PhD in Germany:

"Doing a PhD in Germany can be a rich experience"

"Doing a PhD in Germany can be a rich experience"

Tourmaline is a mineral that comes in countless colours, which is just one of the reasons why Eleanor Berryman finds it so fascinating. For her PhD, the doctoral student is focusing on how this mineral can help us study the earth’s geological history. In our interview, she explains exactly what she is researching and why she chose to do her doctorate in Germany. More "Doing a PhD in Germany can be a rich experience"

"Germany has one of the best education systems in the world"

"Germany has one of the best education systems in the world"

Fruit flies are not particularly loved by most people. However, they may be able to protect us from disease. Dr Hany Dweck of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology explains in our interview why the fruit fly’s sense of smell could prove beneficial to humans. More "Germany has one of the best education systems in the world"