Prospective doctoral students Prospective doctoral students

We'll support you in making this decision with our workshop 'Doctoral studies – Are they right for me?' and with individual advising through the Graduate Centre.

Your PhD topic should ideally be in an area that you are adequately qualified to study and which interests you. You should decide on it in coordination with relevant researchers and your potential supervisors.

In principle, every professor at HAW Hamburg can supervise a PhD. Because the professors have highly varied and individual research areas, it is important for your search that you have a clear research question and research goals for your own PhD. Please contact the instructors who you think would be suitable supervisors for your dissertation directly. The Graduate Centre team can support you in getting in touch with them.

The search for and agreement on a supervisor at the respective cooperating university is generally supported by the supervisors at HAW Hamburg.

Academically oriented Master's courses teach skills and content that are essential to the successful completion of doctoral studies. For this reason, it is highly advisable to have completed a suitable Master's degree before starting a doctoral programme.

While a Diplom degree does entitle you to undertake doctoral studies under certain conditions, it is again Master's courses that provide the key skills necessary for successful doctoral studies. In any case, it is the doctoral studies regulations of the university awarding the doctoral degree which are decisive in this regard.

The formal requirements are determined by the individual doctoral studies regulations of the universities entitled to grant PhDs. Experience shows that in addition to these legal requirements, the following criteria in particular should be met:

• A university degree completed quickly and with very good grades
• Motivation to carry out research
• Ideally, initial experience carrying out academic work
• Qualification and research interests that align with the supervisor's research area
• An academic/work history demonstrating academic interest; a readiness and ability to motivate yourself to perform at a high level over a longer period of time

Foreign universities require that a PhD be completed in the official country language or in English.

Very good English skills are generally recommended even in the case of German PhDs undertaken in cooperation with German universities.

We recommend the ongoing development of your English skills parallel to your PhD studies. A regular English course for doctoral students is offered by the HAW Hamburg Graduate Centre.

Completing a PhD at HAW Hamburg usually takes 3.5 to 5 years (full-time). In some cases, the initiation of cooperative doctoral studies processes can lead to a significant extension of the time required.

Although we don't advise against combining doctoral studies and career, the decision to undertake this process and the accompanying limitations should be considered carefully.

The costs of undertaking doctoral studies are as individual as the individual projects. You should plan for the following costs when completing your PhD:

Semester contribution at the university entitled to award the PhD – The requirement to enrol and the contribution amount are determined by the individual universities themselves, which means we cannot list a specific amount here.

+ (In most cases) HAW Hamburg semester contribution: €335.60 per semester (as of summer semester 2020)

+ Literature, software, etc.

+ Travel costs for conferences or meetings with supervisors

You should also take into account that working full-time while completing doctoral studies is only possible in exceptional cases.

There are various ways to finance your doctoral studies. In many cases, doctoral students take on paid positions as part of a research project or research facility. Additionally, a range of different funding institutions provide various types of scholarships.

Detailed information about funding possibilities for doctoral studies is available on the Federal Ministry of Education and Research's page Research in Germany. Funding information with a specific focus on students located in Hamburg is available from our partner the Hamburg Research Academy.  

The Stifterverband provides an overview (in German) of funding opportunities provided by foundations. Our partner ApplicAid provides advising and information about applying for scholarships from foundations. 

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research has compiled information (in German) about funding opportunities for exceptional students on the Begabtenförderungswerke page.   

HAW Hamburg members can find a summary (in German) of  current funding opportunities on the HAW Hamburg intranet (you must log in to access this page).

In general, cooperations are possible with any university around the world that is entitled to award PhDs.

Cooperation between HAW Hamburg and the PhD-awarding university is generally managed on an individual basis for each doctoral student. Specific rules apply as part of the formal cooperation agreements.

The doctoral studies regulations of the university entitled to award the PhD and the relevant bodies and committees at that university decide on students' admission to doctoral studies. Without this admission, HAW Hamburg cannot provide supervision.

Ideally, we would like doctoral students to officially enrol at HAW Hamburg. It is possible to enrol at both the supervising university AND HAW Hamburg.

By enrolling, you become a member of the university and enjoy corresponding insurance coverage. You also receive a semester ticket valid for travel on buses, the underground, S-Bahn city trains, and local and regional trains in the fare rings A to Z of the HVV transport authority area. If you do not need this ticket, you can apply to be freed from paying the associated fees if you meet certain conditions.

The answer to this question depends first on the conditions outlined in the specific doctoral studies regulation. Generally, the application process will need to be repeated. A change in the topic or supervision should be discussed as early as possible with the supervisors.

If you have questions about undertaking PhD studies, the HAW Hamburg Graduate Centre team is available to help you!