Dear kazns2000,
I am a doctoral student in Germany, and have a close and personal
knowledge of the structure of PhD programmes in the country.
First of all, a PhD programme in Germany, called "Promotion", is
different than the American model of a graduate school. One of the
prerequisites of attending a PhD programme, is to have a German
Diplom, or its equivalent - a Master's (M.A) degree (in the United
States and other countries, B.A. could get you into gruate school,
where you study for your master's and doctoral degrees).
There are two main routes, to achieve your PhD:
(1) "Freeform" programme of Promotion
(2) A structured programme
The "freeform" programme
------------------------
In order to attain a PhD, you have to be accepted by a senior
professor (titled Professor Doktor in Germany), that would agree to be
your advisor. You will write in your paste, on a theme chosen by you,
and without *any* structure. Your only "job" is to research and write.
In this type of programmes (which is also the one I took), it doesn't
matter what is the "language" of the programme. If you and your
professor agree that you'll write in English, you could write in
English (though some universities will still demand an exam of the
German language of some kind). Since all you do is research and
writing, and there are no classes or other commitments, you are only
accountable to your professor and to yourself, and could do it in
every language you two agree upon.
The Ruprechts-Karl University in Heidelberg informs its PhD candidates
about the process in this case:
"All candidates applying for doctoral studies must first independently
find a supervisor (Doktorvater) for their dissertation. The supervisor
must accept the proposed topic and must be willing to provide or
arrange for academic supervision throughout the course of study
(Betreuungszusage).
Subsequently, an application must be made to the doctoral committee of
the appropriate faculty for acceptance as a doctoral student. The
candidate must submit the Betreuungszusage and the proposed topic to
the committee at this time. Acceptance of the candidate is
communicated in writing and is granted for a period of two years. A
positive decision demonstrates the fundamental willingness of the
faculty to support the student and to assess the planned dissertation
as an academic paper.
Please take into consideration that professors are under no obligation
to take on the supervision of doctoral work, even if all formal
criterion for the acceptance for and completion of doctoral studies
have been fulfilled. Because of the large number of doctoral
candidates please note also that the Akademische Auslandsamt can not
arrange contact with potential supervisors. "
(SOURCE: ADMISSION AS A DOCTORAL STUDENT
<http://www.zuv.uni-heidelberg.de/AAA/english/info_hd_dokt_annahme.htm>).
Structured PhD Programmes
-------------------------
There are several types of programmes that are similar to the
structured American model, where you also attend classes (and
therefore, language is important).
- Graduiertenkolleg, or Graduate College, are structured research
units and groups, all researching the same topic and writing their
PhDs on different aspects of this topic.
In the University of Hohenheim, they described Graduate College as
"Graduiertenkollegs are german Research Trainig Units financially
supported by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), Germany's
major research funding agency. This programs are similar to the
american IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research
Traineeships) sponsered by the NSF (United States National Science
Foundation) in the US."
This model is almost the rule in exact and natural sciences PhDs,
where you work as part of a group.
Max Planck International Research Schools are another opportunity, in
exact sciences. They "are newly established programmes which are meant
to promote international collaboration and to significantly increase
the interest amongst foreign applicants for earning a Ph.D. degree in
Germany. The applicants are selected according to their qualifications
and aptitude for special fields of research by the scientists involved
in setting up the respective Schools. Through the collaboration
between Max Planck Institutes and universities, attractive training
and research possibilities are being made available for doctoral
candidates." (SOURCES: Croucher Foundation,
<http://www.croucher.org.hk/germany2.htm>). You could find a list of
the programmes offered in Max Planck Institut's homepage:
http://www.mpg.de/english/institutesProjectsFacilities/schoolChoice/index.html
Thirdly, PHD - "Promotion an Hochschulen in Deutschland" "is a new
programme geared towards highly qualified foreign applicants who wish
to pursue their doctoral studies at a German university. More than 30
programmes in a wide range of disciplines have been established by
now." (SOURCE: ibid.).
Structured Programmes in English
--------------------------------
The German DAAD (www.daad.de) is the governmental body that deals with
academic exchange.
They have a list of doctoral and PhD programmes in English, which they
call "International Degree Programmes"
A list of 28 PhD programmes is available here:
<http://www.daad.de/deutschland/de/2.2.4.html?fachgebiet=-1&sprache=2&abschluss=7&ort=&enter.x=48&enter.y=15>
A list of 36 doctoral programmes could be found here:
<http://www.daad.de/deutschland/en/2.2.4.html?fachgebiet=-1&sprache=2&abschluss=4&ort=&enter.x=79&enter.y=12>
Further Information you should know
-----------------------------------
As a foreign doctoral candidate, you have to be first accepted to the
university before you could get a student's visa, *but*, you have to
prove to the university that you have enough funds to stay in Germany
for the time of the doctoral programme, and if you don't get a grant
before you were accepted, it must be your own funds: most German grant
programmes demand that foreign students would show them that they were
in fact accepted to the programme, before they'll consider their
candidacy.
As a doctoral candidate (Promoviert), you are not considered a
student, and therefore you cannot get some student's services:
students jobs, dorms, state-funding (BaFoeG), etc.
I hope this helped. Here are some further links to help you decide:
DAAD in English <http://www.daad.de/deutschland/en/index.html> -
information about studying in Germany, programmes and also some
funding opportunities.
Campus Germany <http://www.campus-germany.de/> - all you wanted to
know about living, studying and researching in Germany.
I relied mostly on my own knowledge. I also once helped a foreign
friend of mine do exactly what you do - find an English language
programme. However, I also searched the web for sites that would
suffice, such as the Max Planck Society.
Please contact me if you need any further clarification before you rate this answer. |
