Finance your doctorate

Research assistant positions are well suited for doctoral students. However, as universities of applied sciences are structured differently to classical universities, such positions are very rare. If you obtain a fixed-term position that is intended for your qualification, i.e. for your doctorate, the WissZeitVG will apply (see below). For such a qualification position, make sure that your employment contract guarantees that at least half of your working hours are allocated to your doctorate (see “Hochschulgesetz des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt”/ Higher Education Act of Saxony-Anhalt §42 para. 2). 

Many research assistant positions are advertised on a part-time basis; your professor may expect that you work on your doctorate (also) in your free time. This varies according to discipline. 

There are also positions as a research assistant at non-university research institutes that allow you to pursue a doctorate. 

You can also do a doctorate as “Lehrkraft für besondere Aufgaben” (LfbA, which translates to “teaching staff for special tasks”). Such pure teaching positions are rather not meant for pursuing own research. Since you teach a lot of courses as an LfbA, you need to have very good time management skills and integrate your doctoral topic into your teaching. Some LfbA positions are a permanent contract, so you are not under time pressure to finish your dissertation. LfbA positions often require German language skills.

Compared to positions funded directly by the university, there are quantitatively more positions for research assistants in third-party funded projects. Third-party funding is external funding that only universities or professors can apply for.  

It would be best if the topic of the doctorate and the topic of the position fit together, although this is not always the case. Nevertheless, the academic working environment can be very useful and stimulating for your own research and academic career.  

If you have already been able to find a supervisor for your doctoral idea, find out whether he/she has acquired a project that is of interest to you and if he/she has a project position available.  

You can also try to acquire a third-party funded project together with your supervisor. The largest provider of third-party funding is the German Research Foundation (DFG); however, there are also many foundations to which project proposals can be submitted for suitable calls for proposals or funding priorities. In this way, you can finance your own position as a research assistant. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that your application for third-party funding will be successful. 

Ideally, you will be given time in your employment contract to complete your doctorate, but whether this is possible varies depending on the funding provider. Many research assistant positions are advertised on a part-time basis; your professor may expect that you work on your doctorate (also) in your free time. This varies according to discipline. 

The project duration is often not sufficient to complete the doctorate. You should therefore think early on about how you could finance your doctorate afterwards.

In Research Training Groups, also called Graduate Colleges, several doctoral students conduct research in a specific subject area. This research is accompanied by a framework program. The doctoral students either are employed as research assistants or they receive scholarships.  

Research Training Groups are financed by third-party funds. Your supervisor will contact you if a Research Training Group is planned, or you should regularly check the university's job advertisements so as not to miss out on doctoral positions.

You should be aware of the German Act on Fixed-Term Employment Contracts in Academia (WissZeitVG): www.bmbf.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/files/wisszeitvg-englisch.pdf  

• It states, among other things, that doctoral students may be employed in academic positions at a university for a maximum of six years. If you have not yet completed your doctorate after this period, you may continue to work on it, but you can no longer be employed at the university for academic activities. This maximum time limit does not apply to teaching staff for special tasks (see “Lehrkraft für besondere Aufgaben” in the section “Positions funded by the University” above), who are not counted as academic staff by law. 

• Parental leave, illness and other circumstances extend this maximum fixed-term period. 

• Academic positions in externally funded projects can be part of this maximum fixed-term period; this means that you may not be able to switch to a university funded doctoral position after six years in externally funded projects. However, you can continue to be employed in third-party funded projects even after this maximum fixed-term period if the position is mainly financed by third-party funds and if the funds were awarded for a fixed period and for a fixed area of responsibility.  

• Click here for more information on the WissZeitVG. Please note that the law is currently being revised and the information on this website may no longer be up to date (as of April 2025). 

• Check our university's job advertisements regularly to make sure you don't miss out on any doctoral or project positions. Be aware that almost all positions require German skills. 

• Job vacancies of Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences  www.h2.de/hochschule/jobs-und-karriere/stellenangebote.html 

• Check the job vacancies of non-university research institutions that are also located in Magdeburg. Those research institutions offer many English-speaking jobs. 

• The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft www.fraunhofer.de/en/jobs-and-career.html  

• Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=34276

• Leibniz Association www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/en/careers/jobs  

• Max Planck Society www.mpg.de/jobboard  

• Further academic job vacancies 

• Job portal of “Academics” with German-language as well as English-language job offerings. “Academics” is a German information platform on academic topics. www.academics.de/stellenanzeigen/position-doktorand/UQ==  

• Job portal „Hochschul-Job.de“ with German-language as well as English-language job offerings: hochschul-job.de  

• English-language job portal „PhDGermany“, by the German Academic Exchange Service – Doctoral positions in Germany with German-language as well as English-language job offerings: www.daad.de/en/studying-in-germany/phd-studies-research/phd-germany/  

• German and international academic job offers academicpositions.de/find-jobs  

• German and international academic job offers – This page shows doctoral positions funded by the EU and give information for internationals who would like to come to Germany. 

www.euraxess.de/jobs/search 

• Support:  It is important that your employer supports your doctorate, e.g. through flexible working hours, time off for research and writing, or financial support. 

• Communication: Clear communication with superiors and colleagues about your plans and needs is crucial to avoid potential conflicts.

• Planning: Create a detailed schedule that takes both work and research time into account. Set yourself realistic milestones and deadlines. 

• Setting priorities: There will be phases in which the doctorate takes up more time, and other phases in which the job takes priority.

• Understanding: Look for a supervisor who understands your professional situation and is willing to support you accordingly. 

• Regular meetings: Arrange regular meetings with your supervisor to discuss progress and receive feedback.

• Choice of topic: Choose a doctoral topic that is ideally related to your professional environment. This can create synergies and increase the relevance of your research. 

• Increase efficiency: Use data for your research that you can collect in your profession/ during your job, if possible and permitted.

• Support system: A strong support system of family, friends and colleagues can help to cope with the double burden. 

• Health: Take care of your physical and mental health. Regular breaks, sport and relaxation phases are important to avoid burnout.

If you can land a scholarship, you will often earn prestige. However, scholarships are not just for ‘high-flyers’. The choice of scholarships is so large that it is worth scouring the scholarship landscape. Smaller funding organizations in particular sometimes do not receive enough applications.  

Some scholarships also provide you with non-material support, e.g. you can attend workshops and conferences, be supervised by confidants and build networks. Nevertheless, you may feel relatively lonely as a scholarship holder. To prevent this, it is a good idea for your supervisor to actively involve you in academic activities. Some full-time scholarships also allow you to work a few hours a week. 

Please note, however, that you are not covered by social security if you receive a scholarship. This means that you do not pay into your pension insurance or unemployment insurance and must take care of your own health insurance. You can find more information on social insurance for doctoral students in a guide from the German Education Union (Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft).

Some of your future employers may not count your scholarship time as working experience that would justify a higher salary. The scholarship time may also not be sufficient to complete your doctorate. You should therefore think early on about how you could finance your doctorate afterwards. 

By the way, you can also apply to some scholarship providers for non-material support only, without receiving financial support.

Doctoral candidates at the Doctoral Centers and cooperative doctoral candidates can apply for graduate scholarship at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences. You can find further information here [Link to bilingual handout from the German webpage]. 

Click here for legal documents and to apply (in German).

There are 13 organizations for the promotion of young talent in Germany (Begabtenförderungswerke), each with a different ideological focus. The central website of the 13 organizations for the promotion of young talent is StipendiumPlus.

The scholarships of the organizations for the promotion of young talent amount to €1550 per month (tax-free; as of May 2025); in addition, there are bonuses for research costs, health insurance and, if applicable, for children. The scholarships are usually awarded for three years, although the period can be extended under special circumstances. You can be employed less than 10 hours per week in the academic sector; less than 5 hours per week in the non-academic sector. 

In addition to the organizations for the promotion of young talent, there are also foundations and other sponsors. Click here for an overview of the funding organizations and some foundations.
There is a great variety and a number of scholarships in Germany. It is therefore worthwhile carrying out thorough further research.

• Electronic Research Funding Information System ELFI : Database for research funding programs. ELFI cannot distinguish between study and doctoral scholarships. You should therefore use the terms ‘Doctor’ and ‘PhD’ in the search bar to find doctoral scholarships. 

• Scholarship database of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for foreign doctoral students who want to come to Germany and for Germans and equivalent persons who want to go abroad 

• Euraxess – funding opportunities in Germany and internationally  

• European Funding Guide is a database for funding for doctoral studies at your own university and for stays abroad (scholarships, grants, loans), which you can use after registering free of charge. Funding opportunities are displayed individually according to your profile.  

• Funding database of the German Foundation Center (in German), which supports almost 700 foundations - filter for ‘Promotionsstipendien’ under ‘Art der Förderung’ 

• Academics (in German): Calls for applications for scholarships, prizes and funding programs on Academics (also for post-docs) - Academics is an academic career portal operated by DIE ZEIT. 

This is a small selection of earmarked scholarships or financial aid that may be relevant to you. You can use the scholarship databases to search for further grants. 

• In order to participate in the joint qualification program of the Anhalt, Harz, Magdeburg-Stendal and Merseburg universities, doctoral candidates can apply for reimbursement of part of their travel expenses. Please contact Josephin Winkler.  josephin.winkler@h2.de

• Open access publishing: As a doctoral student at a Doctoral Center at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, the university covers the open access publication costs in many specialist journals. (in German) 

• Grants from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD): 

• Scholarships for various research stays abroad www2.daad.de/deutschland/stipendium/datenbank/en/21148-scholarship-database/,  

• for congress trips abroad especially for HAW doctoral students and HAW employees www2.daad.de/ausland/studieren/stipendium/de/70-stipendien-finden-und-bewerben/ (in German),   

• for congress trips abroad www2.daad.de/ausland/studieren/stipendium/de/70-stipendien-finden-und-bewerben/ (in German),  

• And for lecture tours abroad www2.daad.de/ausland/studieren/stipendium/de/70-stipendien-finden-und-bewerben/ (in German) 

• ERASMUS+: Grants for a stay abroad for doctoral students, e.g. for an internship at a research institution 

• Deutscher Akademikerinnenbund e.V.: Graduation scholarships for female academics in difficult life situations, €500/month for a maximum of one year www.dab-ev.org/de/DAB-Stipendium.php(in German), but also subsidies for printing costs and travelling expenses www.dab-ev.org/de/wer-wir-sind/DAB-Foerderausschuss.php (in German) 

• Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard-Foundation: Grant for childcare and household help for female doctoral students in the natural sciences who work full-time 

• Distributions by VG-Wort www.vgwort.de/auszahlungen/allgemeines.html (in German): If you publish texts, you can register yourself as the author and your text with VG Wort. VG Wort pays out money to authors every year, the amount of which depends on how often your text is read. Click here for FAQ about VG-Wort. www.springer.com/de/deutsche-publikationen/buchautoren/vg-wort (in German) 

• Announcements for prizes and funding programs on Academics, also for post-docs:  www.academics.de/stellenanzeigen/position-ausschreibungen-stipendien-preise-foerderprogramme/YA== (in German)

• Scholarship guide from ApplicAid e.V., which guides you step by step through searching for and writing your scholarship application: www.applicaid.org/diezielgruppe (in German). ApplicAid is a non-profit organization that contributes to equal opportunities in the German scholarship landscape. 

• Factsheets such as sample application documents and experience reports from ApplicAid e.V. scholarship holders: www.applicaid.org/diezielgruppe (in German) 

• The 10 most important tips for a scholarship application:  www.european-funding-guide.eu/articles/how-apply/10-most-important-tips-get-scholarship 

• You can also contact the International Office if you have any questions about financing a stay abroad.  

• ApplicAid e.V.: ApplicAid is a non-profit organization that contributes to equal opportunities in the German scholarship landscape. It offers individual scholarship counselling, individual supervision and workshops on how to successfully apply for scholarships. These services are open to people from disadvantaged groups, e.g. people from non-academic families, the chronically ill and people with a history of migration (in German) 

• German Association of Women Academics: Female academics help young female academics by providing advice on topics such as scholarships. (in German)

• The funding brochure of the Humboldt Graduate School gives you a very comprehensive overview but is tailored to the Humboldt University Berlin.

• Comprehensive Germany-wide funding handbook for international researchers