DFG Research Training Groups: A Small, but Exquisite Circle By Julia Becker

This professor is just flying in from Tokyo, that professor is off on a research expedition to the Himalayas next week: the atmosphere in the research training groups run by the German Research Organisation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) is international - and that also applies to doctoral candidates. Research training groups are fixed-term nine-year university-based research programmes financed by the DFG because of their excellent work. Every three years, each group offers doctoral scholarships of at least 1000 euros and at most 1356 euros a month. This money is awarded for a maximum of 36 months. In addition there is the option of completing a doctorate in a group on one's own funding.

Excellent education in a very short time

The duration of a doctorate in a research training group is limited to a maximum of three years - regardless of funding. If they graduate successfully, the doctoral candidates then have a PhD with an excellent reputation. This makes a doctorate in a German research training group very compact and time-saving compared to foreign doctoral programmes.

Structured doctorate with individual curricula

Beyond the shorter doctorate period, there are further advantages to the research training groups: in contrast to graduate schools, with ten to twenty doctoral candidates the groups there are of manageable size, enabling personal and intensive support. At the beginning of each doctoral degree, an individual doctorate plan is drawn up for the doctoral candidates with their supervising professors; the plan also specifies at which points in time research results must be presented. This curriculum forms a framework for the doctorate, within which the doctoral candidates however also have leeway to organise themselves.

Organised support for settling in in German

Students joining a German research training group from abroad receive professional assistance with problems relating to all aspects of their stay in Germany. The foreign student offices - university points of contact for students and doctoral candidates from abroad - and the research training groups help international doctoral candidates find a flat, deal with insurance matters or settle in in their new city. "I'm very happy here, the support from the professors is very good and we doctoral candidates are a friendly community that likes to get together for 'coffee and science' meetings", says Stefanie Dekeyzer, who came to Bremen from Belgium in order to complete her doctorate at the International Graduate College (IGC).

National or international, there's something for everyone

There are currently 57 international and 177 national graduate colleges in Germany. All these institutions offer doctoral candidates an international environment in the fields of natural sciences, life sciences, engineering sciences, and social sciences and humanities. "We cover almost all subjects, even if some, such as Law, are currently somewhat underrepresented", says Dr. Annette Schmidtmann, head of the group responsible for research training groups at DFG.