PhD FAQ’s
How long does a PhD take?
In the UK most PhD programmes last for three years. Students are expected to submit a thesis within 12 months of the end of the programme (and preferably within the three year period). There are an increasing number of programmes, such as the New Route PhD scheme or the Wellcome Trust 4 year PhD scheme, which incorporate a number of taught modules into the programme which increases the length to 4 years.
How much will it cost me?
This depends on where you are from, where you want to study and whether or not you qualify for funding. If you are a UK student, with appropriate qualifications (see below) then you should be able to apply for one of the many funded projects on this site. Funding in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences is often more complicated than in the sciences and engineering – see our article on PhD Study in the Arts & Humanities for more information. If you are an international student wishing to study in the UK or a UK student wishing to study abroad then visit our Funding section now to see whether you are eligible for any scholarships.
Can I fund myself?
You can fund yourself and, if you are not a home student, you may need to do just that (at least partially). Whilst self funding can make it easier to find a supervisor, you’ll still need to prove to them that you are capable of completing the PhD successfully. A new section on Self Funding will be added to FindAPhD in the near future.
What qualifications do I need?
The normal prerequisite for a UK research council PhD studentship is a 2(i) degree or a 2(ii) plus an appropriate Masters degree. A small number of studentships are funded by charitable trusts or by the host university which can have less rigid qualification criteria. The other possibility is a job as a Graduate Research Assistant, where you can register for a part time PhD (it may still only take three years). Keep checking back in the New Projects section of FindAPhD for the latest opportunities.
If you decide that a Masters degree would be a good first step then you should be prepared not only to support yourself during the course, but also to pay full course fees. A very small number of grants are available for Masters degrees; you will need to check this on a course-by-course basis. In certain circumstances your Local Education Authority may provide some support. Before accepting a place on a Masters course, make sure that it would qualify you for the types of PhD you’re looking for. See our sister site FindAMasters.com to see what Masters courses are on offer.
Students whose first language is not English will need a recognised English language qualification. See our English Language Qualifications article for more information.
Is my qualification equivalent to a 2(i) degree?
Because of the wide variety of qualifications from each country it can be difficult to find out if your qualification is considered to be equivalent to a 2(i) degree. To give you a rough idea a British 2(i) degree (referred to as an ‘Upper Second Class Honours Degree’ or a ‘Two-One’) is the second highest mark available for a British Honours Degree.
Where the US/Canadian marking scheme is used, a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.3 is usually required.
The British Council in your home country will be able to help you. Before you apply you could try asking your former course tutors or alternatively you can visit The National Academic Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom. They will give informal advice free of charge. An official ‘letter of comparability’, which will be accepted by employers, costs £30 (+VAT), but should not be necessary for most universities, who will assess you themselves.
It is generally the case that international students are required to have a Masters level qualification as well as a 2(i) equivalent qualification.
How do I choose a research project?
Primarily you should look for a project which interests you. It is generally considered better to study for a PhD in a different university from the one where you did your first degree, as it will expose you to a different set of academic influences. However it is not uncommon for people to stay in the same place, either because of family commitments or because of the quality of projects on offer.
To decide whether or not to accept a place you should look at a number of factors:
The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)
The research rating of a department or school is known as its RAE rating. Most departments will publish their RAE score on their web sites or you can see the results of the whole RAE on the RAE web site. The RAE takes place is a long process and the latest RAE for which results are published is from 2008. The results can be hard to interpret and each university may choose to display them in a different light. Any department or school with 50% or more of their staff rated 4* or 3* is doing very well for itself and studying there will make you look good. It does not however mean that every research group in that department is at the top of their game. Universities have a degree of flexibility in how they are assessed for the RAE. They sometimes group departments together, so if they’ve got two outstanding life science departments and one not so good one they may submit all three as one unit, hiding the bad department. They can, and do, choose not to submit some of their academics for inclusion in the assessment (sometimes because they are young and haven’t had time to build up a publication record or sometimes because they’re not very good). The reason they go to so much effort is that a large amount of funding for the five years following the RAE is based on the result.
The Research Group
Some of the criteria upon which the RAE is graded include research publications, industrial collaborations, grant income, and numbers of research students. You can get an idea of this yourself by looking up the publications of your potential new supervisor. It is unlikely that you will know which journals are more prestigious but you can always ask around. A pretty good measure of grant income is to count the number of students and postdocs in the group. Postdocs are an invaluable source of help and inspiration, particularly in larger groups where time with your supervisor may be limited.
Having said all this, work with a younger academic at the start of their career can have many advantages. They are likely to have much more time to give to you and will be very pleased to have you as grants are hard to come by.
The best source of information on who to work for will come from your current course tutors. Academia is a small world and is highly collaborative, people know who the leaders and the stragglers are in their own fields.
The Supervision
At most PhD interviews you will have the opportunity to see where you are going to be working and probably be given a tour by a current PhD student. Ask them about how the team works, how often they present group seminars, how often is the supervisor absent (does it make a difference when they are). It helps a lot during a PhD if you like, or at least respect, your supervisor, bear this in mind during your interview.
The Training
PhD students used to be left at the total mercy of their supervisor. These days most departments offer some degree of support. As well as your supervisor the department should provide one or more advisors. These will be academics from the same department, their job is to check that your project is on track to get you a PhD and to listen to any complaints about your supervisor. Many departments also run seminar programmes covering research methodologies, thesis writing and other relevant subjects.
Taking these relatively new developments a step further, 4 year programmes such as the New Route PhD or many similar schemes funded by the EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC, Wellcome Trust and others, offer an even greater degree of formal training.
Most information on support and training for PhD students will be on the department’s web site. If not you can ask at the interview.
When should I apply?
Most PhD studentships begin in October. However they can start at any time of year. You should begin applying as soon as posible. Although new studentships are advertised throughout the year, competition for places gets higher and higher the closer you get to October.
Do I need to write my own research proposal?
The answer for scientists and engineers is only if you’re asked to. Most funded projects in the UK (and particularly those on this site) have been thought up by the supervisor concerned and peer reviewed. Your job is to convince them that you’ll be able to do the work. If you have your own research proposal, then you may find it very difficult to get it funded. You’ll certainly need the support of a leading academic in your field of interest and even then obtaining funding in this way outside of the Arts and Humanities is unusual.
Our article on PhD Study in the Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences has its own section on writing a research proposal.
International students do not generally qualify for UK Research Council funding and may be required to submit their own research proposal to the people from whom they wish to get funding. The input of a potential supervisor is recommended if it is available.
What should I put in my application?
Your application should include all the usual information on qualifications and employment history. You should also list the degree modules covered in your final year and the title of any dissertations or research projects. If you’re fortunate enough to have been published include the reference. In your application letter state why you are interested in the particular research project and what you enjoyed about any research you have already done. If you intend to find your own funding, make this clear in the application.
When applying from this site apply to the person indicated in the ‘Enquiries To’ line, unless the description of the project says anything different. You can write to the supervisor to ask for further details of the project. If you send an email make sure it is personalised, if you send a letter saying “Dear Dr Smith, Please send me an application form for a PhD in your lab with funding” you will be very unlikely to get a reply. Sending bulk emails to supervisors does not work.
What happens at a PhD interview?
It’s not really for us to say what you might be asked. PhD interviews vary tremendously depending on the supervisor concerned. It is likely however that you will be asked about your third year project or any other research experience you may have.
If you have been given details of any particular references then make sure you do your best to read them. If you’ve not been given this info, then use the web to find relevant papers (particularly those by your potential supervisor). You are not likely to be examined on these things, but the supervisor will be looking to see that you were at least interested enough to read them.
The other question you are likely to be asked is why you want to do a PhD in general, and this PhD in particular. You should think about the answers to these questions before you go to the interview. Many people apply for a PhDs because they can’t think of anything else to do. A good supervisor will try to avoid these people.
Finally, remember to find out as much as you can while you’re there. Try to speak to PhD students working in your potential new lab/Department and see if you like the atmosphere. Don’t be afraid to ask the PhD students about the quality of supervision. Three years is a long time to be stuck with a bad supervisor or to work in an unfriendly environment.
What’s it like to do a PhD?
The million-dollar question. Past and present PhD students can fill you with tales of dread and delight. Use the menu above (right) to expore the PhD Study pages, and take a look at the articles in our “PhD Life” section for a sideways look at the next three years of your life!
Courtesy – FindAPhD.com
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Studying and Research in Germany
Some reasons for studying and research in Germany
There are a number of compelling reasons why Germany should become the country of your choice for both studying and research.
The academic excellence and reputation of Germany’s more than 300 universities.
Did you know that one hundred years ago half of all students studying abroad were studying in Germany? The country can indeed look back on a long tradition in education, science and research. The oldest university for instance is the Ruprecht-Karls-University in Heidelberg that was founded in 1386.
There is hardly another country in the world that boasts such a density of higher education institutions!
More than 350 higher education institutions with a tradition of academic excellence make it hard to decide where and what to study: over 400 different degree courses are on offer, and there is virtually nothing imaginable under the sun that you cannot study somewhere in Germany. The capital Berlin alone – with roughly the population of Armenia – is currently home to no less than sixteen universities and colleges! Today, about 250,000 foreigners are studying at German universities, making it the third most popular host country for international students after the USA and UK.
The moderate cost of living and studying in Germany.
Tuition fees at public German universities are very moderate. For most of the public universities, only a small administrative fee (between 35 € and 250 € per semester) is payable. Some of the public universities charge additional tuition fees of ca. 500 € per semester. Living expenses amount to around 585 to 750 € per month, depending on the region.
An increasing number of international degree courses with English as medium of instruction.
Many German higher education institutions offer courses that are taught in English and lead to an international degree, such as Bachelor, Master or PhD. You can find them easily through the DAAD database.
Germany’s geographical location in the heart of Europe and its political and economical weight as the EU’s largest member state.
Germany is home to some of the world’s leading companies in many areas, such as information technology, health care, biotechnology and the automobile industry, making it the world’ s leading export nation.
Many cultural highlights, historic towns and castles, beautiful scenery and moderate climate.
The wide range of cultural activities in Germany offers something for everybody! And a trip across Germany is a journey through just about every cultural epoch.
The importance of the German language.
With over 100 million native speakers, German is the most widely-spoken first language in Europe. The strength of German business and industry and the increasing global activity of German companies and corporations shows that the German language is also gaining significance in the international market.
Types of Universities
Germany’s universities combine scientific tradition with cutting-edge technology. They’ve been the scene of many groundbreaking discoveries, are internationally renowned and attract faculty and students from around the world. Over the course of time, distinct types of universities have evolved. Those interested in studying in Germany can thus choose between general and technical universities (Universitäten/Technische Hochschulen), which offer theoretical, research-oriented programmes, universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen), which offer shorter, practice-oriented programmes and other types of universities, eg the colleges of music, art and film.
Universitäten/Technische Hochschulen (General/Technical Universities)
Germany’s world-renowned general and technical universities specialize in methodic, theoretical education. The German ideal of a university as a place of learning shaped by the principle of the “indivisibility of research and teaching” – as proposed by higher education reformer Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767 – 1835) – still strongly characterizes the education and training offered today. Research is conducted independently of current societal interests. A university degree gives its graduates the scientific qualifications needed on the job market. The broad range of disciplines offered within the faculties and schools facilitates both interdisciplinary study and specialization, right up to the advanced theoretical fields of a particular science. Universities award the academic degrees of Bachelor, Master and PhD, as well as the traditional German degrees of Diplom, Magister Artium and the doctorate. They also have the privilege and right to confer the ‘Habilitation’, the professorial teaching qualification. Universities and technical universities continue to represent the mainstay of the German higher education system.
Fachhochschulen (Universities of Applied Sciences)
When the first universities of applied sciences were founded in the 1960s and 1970s, they were considered the “little sisters” of the classical universities, but they’ve become serious competition over the past 30 years, although they offer a comparatively limited range of subjects (mainly engineering, business, social studies, design, health and therapy studies). The need to help German industry maintain its competitiveness in the international field led to a growing demand for better-qualified personnel with an academic background who could solve practical tasks quickly and successfully. This demand marked the starting point for the approach taken by the Fachhochschulen (FHs). What primarily attracts students to Fachhochschulen these days is the clear career focus of the degree courses and the possibility to obtain these degrees in a relatively short time. In contrast to the universities, research and teaching at Fachhochschulen are always pursued with a practical, application-oriented focus. Studies are tightly structured, and rather than being taught theory, the FH student will learn how knowledge is put into practice. A compulsory one or two semester long period of practical training (industrial attachment) constitutes part of any FH degree course, and the final thesis is produced in close collaboration with companies. Faculties at universities of applied sciences usually comprise experienced professionals and managers who know exactly what companies will expect of their graduates. Fachhochschulen award internationally recognized Bachelor and Master degrees as well as Diplom degrees with the supplement (FH).
Other types of universities
Other types of universities include comprehensive universities (‘Gesamthochschulen’ – a cross between a Universität and a Fachhochschule, in the states of Hesse and North Rhine Westphalia only), colleges for art, music and film (‘Kunst-, Musik- und Filmhochschulen’), colleges of education (‘Pädagogische Hochschulen’; in the states of Baden-Württemberg and Thuringia only), church-sponsored universities and theological colleges as well as vocational colleges in some German states (‘Berufsakademien’).
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Admission
First degrees (Bachelor, Diplom, Magister, Staatsexamen)
All applicants have to meet certain requirements in order to qualify for admission into a German university. Applicants from Germany are required to hold specific school leaving certificates, either the so-called Abitur, which is the general higher education entrance qualification and qualifies holders for admission to all types of German universities, or else the Fachhochschulreife, which qualifies holders for admission to universities of applied sciences only. International students essentially have to meet the same requirements, and thus their school leaving certificates will be compared to the above-mentioned German ones. Ultimately, it is up to the individual higher education institution to admit or reject an applicant, but of course there are standardized guidelines depending on the applicant’s country of origin. Please note that for subjects such as music, theatre studies, sports, architecture, fine arts and design etc., auditions/aptitude tests resp. submission of portfolios are compulsory on top of the general admission requirements, since applicants need to demonstrate their particular artistic talent.
If you hold an Armenian school leaving certificate (‘atestat zrelosti’ / ‘Atestat midzinakarg krtoitjan’) and would like to apply for a first degree at a German university, you may be required to attend a one-year preparatory course at a ‘study college’ (‘Studienkolleg’) or may even have to complete one or two years of university studies in your home country before you can be considered for admission into a German university. Usually, you will need to take the assessment test. As a rule, admission to the assessment test is only possible for applicants who can prove that they have successfully completed one year of higher education study. After completing two years of study in your home country, you can apply directly for admission to your chosen study programme.
Postgraduate Studies
In order to qualify for postgraduate studies at a German university, your first degree must qualify you for admission to such a course (eg. you will need to hold a Bachelor degree in order to apply for a Master progamme). In certain cases, additional periods of study in a respective field may be necessary in order to fulfil the admission requirements for the course. If in doubt, please contact the university of your choice directly. If you wish to pursue doctoral studies in Germany, your chosen institution must recognize the degree you are holding as being equivalent to a Diplom, Magister or Staatsexamen or Master degree acquired at a German university.
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Application
Preparing for your studies abroad takes time. You need to gather all sorts of information and make important decisions before you are ready to go. Give yourself about one year from your initial inquiries to the commencement of studies. Once you have decided on what kind of degree course you would like to pursue and what type of higher education institution is right for you, you need to find out which universities are offering your degree course of choice, eg by consulting databases such as www.studying-in-germany.de, www.study-in.de or International Degree Programmes. Once you have found a suitable course, download the application form from the university’s international relations office (‘Akademisches Auslandsamt’) website or apply online.
The international relations office staff will also help with questions regarding admission requirements, the recognition of overseas degrees etc. Get the relevant documents and apply either
a. directly to the university’s international relations office (‘Akademisches Auslandsamt’) or
b. through UNI-ASSIST (the application scheme for international students), if the university of your choice is one of the ASSIST membership universities. Check the Uni-Assist-Website to find out more.
As a general rule, the application deadline for degree courses starting in the winter semester (October) is July 15th, for those starting in the summer semester (April) it is January 15th of the same year. However, closing dates for international degree courses are often set earlier to enable students from non EU-countries to apply for a student visa in good time. Please check with your university of choice and make sure you send in the completed application form and accompanying documents on time. Once you have received a letter of admission (‘Zulassungsbescheid’) from a German university, you can go ahead and apply for a student visa at the German Embassy.
Language Requirements
The medium of instruction for the majority of degree courses at German universities is German, and thus a sound knowledge of the language is indispensable. Applicants for full degree courses conducted in German exclusively, whose mother tongue is not German or who do not hold a school leaving certificate from a school that uses German as its medium of instruction, must pass a language proficiency test known as the “Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang” (DSH) or TestDaF.
The DSH exam is held twice annually at universities all over Germany, shortly before the start of the lecture period in October and April. It can only be retaken once. It will take someone with no previous knowledge of the language roughly 10 to 12 months of intensive courses to reach the required level of proficiency (approximately 1000 hours of German lessons). Many universities offer special DSH-preparatory courses for advanced learners of German as a Foreign Language. Besides, the Goethe-Institut specializes in preparatory courses for university studies on all levels.
Whereas the DSH can only be taken in Germany, it is also possible to gain proof of one’s language proficiency while still in Armenia. This involves taking a standardized test called “Test Deutsch als Fremdsprache”, better known by its abbreviation TestDaF. TestDaF is offered by the UFA Language Centre in Yerevan four times a year, the application deadline is roughly four weeks earlier.
International degree programmes taught either exclusively or partly in English, do not normally require applicants to pass the DSH before they can be admitted (exceptions apply). In fact, many programmes conducted fully in English do not require any previous knowledge of German at all, however, the respective universities will in most cases offer compulsory or optional German language classes to successful applicants. However, excellent English language skills are a must. Most German universities require that applicants submit a TOEFL or IELTS result together with their application forms.
The level of German required for those international degree programmes that use a mixture of English and German as medium of instruction, depends on the individual degree course. In some cases, no previous knowledge of German is required, in other cases a basic foundation of about 240 hours of German language instruction may be called for, and in some instances, the minimum level required is the Zertifikat Deutsch (ZD) which requires about 400 to 600 hours of German.
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Research in Germany
General information
Germany is an excellent choice to carry out a research project and to get in touch with the German and international scientific community! Internationally, Germany occupies a leading position in science and research. Germany offers excellent research opportunities in an open interaction with German colleagues. If you come to do research work in Germany, you will be able to build up your own professional network with contacts not only in Germany, but in other European countries and beyond.
Language is not a barrier. If you cannot speak a word of German, you can still do research freely in Germany. Numerous research projects are currently conducted in English. The researchers are also recruited internationally. Therefore, the German language does not constitute an obstacle for you to do research in Germany.
A highly-developed university and research landscape plus innovative companies shape the scientific-research system in Germany. The high quality of academic training “Made in Germany” is recognized worldwide. More than 100 research universities train 70% of the students in Germany. With more than 250,000 scientists and investigators working here, Germany is the world’s third-largest “country of researchers”.The strengths of German research traditionally lie in mechanical engineering, chemistry, medicine, physics and mathematics. Some disciplines of the humanities also play an outstanding role. German scientists and research institutes are world leaders in biomedicine and medical engineering, in environmental research and automotive engineering, and in engineering, in general. But German scientists and researchers also play their part in the world’s top groups in the future fields of optical technologies, Microsystems engineering, neurosciences, biotechnology and process engineering. In 2003, more than 13,000 German inventions were patented throughout Europe, meaning that almost one quarter of all European patents are based on developments made by German scientists. And Germany actually comes 1st in the field of nanotechnology, So, research in Germany is particularly attractive for international academics and scientists: guests from many countries carry out research at Germany’s universities and scientific institutes. Alone 20,000 foreign researchers are supported by German funding organizations, while a large number of scientists additionally finance their stays in Germany by other means.
German Research Institutions
Research is carried out not only at the universities, but also at approximately 350 institutes and organizations which receive public support. Very often the directors of the institutes are at the same time faculty members of universities. This is why these institutes have the right to confer doctorate degrees in cooperation with the affiliated universities and have since become a popular choice for PhD students.
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) – German Research Foundation
The German Research Foundation is a central, self-governing research funding organisation that promotes research at universities and other publicly financed research institutions in Germany. The DFG serves all branches of science and the humanities by funding research projects and facilitating cooperation among researchers.
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is a non-profit foundation established by the Federal Republic of Germany for the promotion of international research cooperation. It enables highly qualified scholars not resident in Germany to spend extended periods of research in Germany and promotes the ensuing academic contacts. The Humboldt Foundation promotes an active world-wide network of scholars. Individual sponsorship during periods spent in Germany and longstanding follow-up contacts have been hallmarks of the foundation’s work since 1953.
Max Planck Society
The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science is an independent, non-profit research organization that primarily promotes and supports research at its own institutes. The research institutes perform basic research in the interest of the general public in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. In particular, the Max Planck Society takes up new, innovative and interdisciplinary research areas that German universities are not in a position to accommodate or deal with adequately. Moreover, some institutes perform service functions for research performed at universities by providing equipment and facilities to a wide range of scientists, such as telescopes, large-scale equipment, specialized libraries, and documentary resources.
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
The Helmholtz Association is a community of 15 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centres. These centres have been commissioned with pursuing long-term research goals on behalf of the state and society. The Association strives to gain insights and knowledge so that it can help to preserve and improve the foundations of human life. It does this by identifying and working on the grand challenges faced by society, science and industry. Helmholtz Centres perform top-class research in strategic programmes in six core fields: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Key Technologies, Structure of Matter, Transport and Space.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is Europe’s leading organization for technical and organizational innovations and a partner for contract research in all fields of the engineering sciences. It undertakes applied research of direct utility to private and public enterprise and of wide benefit to society in roughly 80 research units, including 58 Fraunhofer Institutes, at over 40 different locations throughout Germany. Its services are solicited by customers and contractual partners in industry, the service sector and public administration.
Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz e.V. – Leibniz Association
The Leibniz Association is a scientific organisation comprised of 82 non-university research institutes and service facilities. The research work carried out and services provided are of national significance. The Leibniz Institutes are demand-oriented and interdisciplinary centers of competence. They consider themselves as co-operation partners for industry, public administration and politics; scientific collaboration with universities is particularly close.
Arbeitsgemeinschaft industrieller Forschungsvereinigungen “Otto von Guericke” e.V. (AiF) – German Federation of Industrial Cooperative Research Associations
The central concern of this registered non-profit association is the promotion of applied Research and Development for the benefit of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Union der deutschen Akademien – Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities
The Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities is an association of seven academies of sciences and humanities that have joined together to achieve their common goals. It assembles more than 1600 scientists and academics who are outstanding representatives of their disciplines, both nationally and internationally, and whose work covers a broad range of subject areas. They have joined forces to promote scientific exchange, high quality research, and the emergence of new talent in science and the humanities.
German Aerospace Center – Deutsches Luft- und Raumfahrtzentrum
German Aerospace Center (DLR) is Germany´s national research center for aeronautics and space. Its extensive research and development work in Aeronautics, Space, Transportation and Energy is integrated into national and international cooperative ventures. As Germany´s space agency, DLR has been given responsibility for the forward planning and the implementation of the German space programme by the German federal government as well as for the international representation of German interests. Approximately 5, 700 people are employed in DLR´s 29 institutes and facilities at thirteen locations in Germany. DLR – DAAD Research Fellowships is a new programme implemented by DLR and DAAD. This special programme is intended for highly-qualified foreign doctoral and postdoctoral students as well as senior scientists. DLR-DAAD Fellowships offer outstanding scientists and researchers the opportunity to conduct special research at the institutes of the DLR in Germany.
Promotion – PhD made in Germany
The traditional way of pursuing a PhD in Germany (‘Promotion’) is a doctorate by research under the supervision of a university professor; unlike in most other countries, course work is generally not required. The findings of the doctoral candidate’s research work need to be presented in the form of an independent, written dissertation covering new academic or scientific ground. Self motivation, dedication to the research project, and the ability to work independently are therefore important qualifications for candidates who are planning to obtain a PhD in Germany, which usually takes between three to four years to complete. Students can work towards their PhD at universities and non-university research institutes as those of the Max-Planck Society, the WGL Science Association, the Fraunhofer Society, and the HGF Association of German Research Centres, which cooperate with universities. For more information about these research organizations, see above.
All candidates applying for doctoral studies the traditional German way must first independently find an academic supervisor 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’). Feel free to use the internet to find and contact a professor in your field of research interest, then write to him/her, enclose your academic records as well as a detailed research proposal and cross your fingers that he or she is interested in your project. German professors are likely to accept you as a PhD student under their supervision if you can convince them that you will be able to contribute to their research.
If a professor is interested in your work, you will probably not only get a kind reply, but you can also expect help in finding financial support. Many professors will advise you to contact the DAAD in order to apply for funding. Every year, the DAAD grants a limited number of full scholarships for PhD candidates and postdocs from Armenia. For more information, please click here. In addition, there are funds available in Germany for which the foreign researcher cannot apply directly, but only through the host professor, eg grants awarded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and other publicly financed research institutes in Germany. But even if you are unsuccessful in obtaining any scholarship or grant, Germany still is an affordable destination for pursuing a PhD. The living expenses are about 585-750 € per month.
Once your proposal has been accepted by you host professor-to-be and the application for acceptance as a doctoral student has been approved by the doctoral committee of the appropriate faculty, you can apply for a visa at the German Embassy.
More and more German universities are establishing structured international PhD programmes for doctoral candidates, modelled on graduate school programmes offered in the Anglo-American higher education system. Not only is the medium of instruction predominantly English, but study-integrated German language courses also help students overcome the language barrier. International Postgraduate Programmes made in Germany is a network of 50 postgraduate programmes offered in a wide range of disciplines at centres of scientific excellence throughout Germany, supported by both DAAD and DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).
Graduate Colleges and the International Max Planck Research Schools represent another avenue for pursuing a doctorate in Germany. Research Training Groups or Graduate Colleges (Graduiertenkollegs, are university training programmes established for a specific time period to support young researchers in their pursuit of a doctorate. They are funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council) and offer excellent conditions for international PhD students. In these colleges between 15 and 25 PhD students work in the framework of a co-ordinated research programme which has been designed by faculty members of the university the college is located at. A PhD student who is admitted as a member of a graduate college is granted a two to three year’s scholarship by the DFG to cover his or her living expenses. The student will be supervised by individual advisors, but also be given the opportunity to discuss his or her work with other faculty members who participate in the graduate college.
A systematically organized study programme is offered which consists of presentations by doctoral and post-doctoral members of the college as well as of guest lectures by professors from all over the world. This ensures a broad and excellent academic training in the field the graduate college is engaged in.
In 1999, the MPG, together with the Association of Universities and Other Education Institutions in Germany, launched an initiative to promote junior scientists, called the International Max Planck Research Schools. At these centres of scientific excellence, gifted young scientists from Germany and abroad who have excelled in their respective field and are working towards their doctorate degree are offered a structured PhD programme and excellent research conditions in many innovative and interdisciplinary research areas such as molecular biology, neurosciences, computer science, demography, law, plasma physics and polymer research. 29 International Max Planck Research Schools have already been initiated involving a total of 34 Max Planck Institutes and many faculties and universities.
Courtesy 
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Claims that increases in UK immigration have a negative effect on the job-market and that immigrants “take our jobs” and “cut our pay” are misplaced and wrong, according to research published by the Institute for Public Policy Research.
The economists say there is no evidence to suggest that large-scale immigration from eastern Europe into the UK since 2004 has had any substantial negative impact on either wages or employment. Indeed, they add that it is entirely possible there has been a small positive impact on both of these, or no impact at all.
The research model found that an increase of 1 percentage point in the proportion of UK immigrants of working-age in the population (for example from 10% to 11%) would reduce wages by about 0.3%, said Howard Reed, the IPPR’s chief economist.
He added: “This effect is extremely small. For someone on a wage of £6 an hour, just above the minimum wage working a 40-hour week, this suggests that a 1 percentage point increase in the share of migrants would reduce their weekly gross pay by around 70p – a tiny amount.”
The IPPR study found that, by comparison, leaving school between 17 and 19 rather than at the minimum leaving age of 16 increases wages by about 10%. For someone on £6 a week working a 40-hour week, this would equate to a weekly increase of £24 a week.
The study comes as renewed “British jobs for British workers” protests against UK immigration were staged this week outside power stations in Nottinghamshire and Kent.
The IPPR study, the Economic Impacts of Migration on the UK Labour Market, is based largely on data from the Labour Force Survey and Department for Work and Pensions figures on national insurance numbers from 2001 to 2007, as well as a review of the existing literature and economic theory.
The authors acknowledge that their conclusion is “optimistic” and point out that the data used for their research predates the recent downturn in the labour market. “If the recession that started in 2008 proves to be as severe as some of the more pessimistic commentators are predicting then it is likely that any impacts of migration on employment will be dwarfed by the large rise in the headline unemployment figures,” they write.
The authors say that if the downturn in the UK economy is particularly bad compared with other countries, it is possible that many workers who came to Britain from Poland and the other eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004 will return. There is some initial evidence that this is already happening, they say.
They also concede that their study, although based on the best available data in the UK on immigration, was unable to assess the impact of migration on the labour market at a local level with any real rigour or detail. They conceded that it was entirely possible that there had been short-term negative impacts on wages and jobs from migration in particular local areas. “We simply do not know for sure,” they say.
Home Office UK immigration figures published this week showed a 47% drop in the number of economic migrants coming to Britain from Poland and other eastern European countries as the recession began to bite in the last three months of 2008.
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In order to have a good chance in the job you are applying for, you need to have right set of skills for it. This is pretty much true, not only in the local scene, but also when applying for a job abroad. Thus it is very important that you know how to get the skills that you need.
There are actually many ways that you can get the skills that you need. The one you choose will depend on several factors, money and time, for example. One thing to note is that there is no best way of getting the skills that you need, it is up to you to find the one best suited for you.
The most common way to get the skills that you need is to enroll at school. There are actually two ways that you can go with this: either you take on a full degree or you can go for vocational courses. The main advantage of a college degree is that it will give you plenty of skills, plus it will also give you an in depth understanding of the whole profession. Many foreign companies also highly favor those applicants who have acquired college diplomas. Note that, though college degrees were originally offered for professional jobs, like medicine, courses are now also being offered for technical ones.
On the other hand, if you don’t have the time to spent on lengthy study, then you can go for vocational courses. These leave out much of the academics and, instead, focuses solely on the practical skills. Thus, these are quite short, ranging from a few months to two years. After you have completed the course, you will be issued a certificate stating that you are qualified for any job that requires your skills. Often, this can be enough when applying for a job abroad. You can also have the option of continuing your study into a full pledged college degree, either in your home country or during your work abroad.
Another way for obtaining the necessary skills for work abroad is by taking up a crash course. These are much shorter than full vocational courses, most of them lasting only three months. These courses often cover up only the entry level skills needed for the work, with the other ones being learned on the job. Most of these are offered by independent organizations, though there are also companies that hire workers abroad which give prospective applicants such crash courses for training.
Perhaps one of the easiest ways that you can get the skills needed for overseas working is by self studying. You can either do this by learning the whole thing yourself or by apprenticing in a company. One thing to note here is that, generally, self taught workers are considered “unskilled”. In order to be considered as “skilled” and be eligible to work abroad, you need to undergo skills assessment under the organizations that govern the job you are applying for. After you complete the assessment they will issue you a document stating that you have the same qualifications as those that are listed as “Skilled”, and thus, listed as such.
Once you have acquired the skills you need, then it’s time for you to try your luck abroad. However, be prepared, as you will continually need to learn new skills while working.
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WHY STUDY OVERSEAS?
Education in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind and character of an individual. In its technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another. Education is becoming increasingly international. Not only are the materials becoming more influenced by the rich international environment, but exchanges among students at all levels are also playing an increasingly important role.
Higher education includes teaching, research and social services activities of universities, and within the realm of teaching, it includes both the undergraduate level and the postgraduate level. Higher education overseas generally involves work towards a degree-level or foundation degree qualification. In most developed countries a high proportion of the population (up to 50%) now enters higher education at some time in their lives. Higher education is therefore very important to national economies, both as a significant industry in its own right, and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy.
Today students from across the globe dream and aspire to pursue higher education abroad. Studying abroad may be that defining moment in your education that will change your life. Nothing will be quite the same after you have studied abroad. Your perspectives will be global, your attitudes will be international and you will have memories that you will carry forever. Your resume will be more attractive, in some cases your language proficiency will be advanced, and you will have developed lifelong friendships. Study overseas means an array of opportunities to learn, live and travel in another country or region of the world. Study overseas facilitate the learning process in a way that allows one to really see the world, hear the world, communicate with the world, and comprehend the world. Today students from across the globe dream and aspire to pursue higher education abroad. The number of foreign destinations, where students can pursue their higher studies have increased manifolds in the last five years or so. The United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France and New Zealand happen to be the most popular destinations. A large chunk of students travel overseas to get a degree in an array of educational streams, management, engineering, medicine, fine arts, information technology, among others.The benefits of studying abroad cannot be underestimated.
A few good reasons to pursue higher education overseas:
Exposure to Diverse Cultures: Gain a global perspective and broaden your horizons by experiencing the various cultures of the world. Studying abroad gives you a golden opportunity to be a part of the multicultural environment and also learning new foreign languages. It gives you a first hand feeling of different cultures and its origin. Study overseas programs are becoming increasingly attractive as more and more college students seek meaningful ways to spend college breaks or explore true diversity of cultures. Additionally, as students return and share their positive experiences, others sign up to head overseas as well. The charm of getting a foreign degree assumes significance as it not only equips a student with the relevant skills and training but it also enriches their experience by exposing students to a global culture.
Techno Savvy: The education system abroad happens to be very different, as it lays lot of emphasis on the practical aspects of education thus making the student techno savvy and more practical. Students will be able to learn new technology and explore new concepts and ideas. We are living in a world where information is accessed and shared in nanoseconds. The better connectivity translates directly into a competitive edge. Whatever your fields of study, most universities abroad equip you with the latest technology. You will use their technology to obtain and process both subject-specific and general information.
Adaptability: As an international student in a different nation you will learn to adapt to a culture that is completely different from yours. A few things that everyone who studies abroad learns to master are flexibility, confidence and patience. Not everyone in the world eats dinner at 6 pm, or has hot water all day long, or has an air conditioner. Life in the host country would be totally different, when compared to your home country. So, you learn to adapt and be flexible in your new situation. Part of this adaptation involves a fairly high level of patience and thus gives you confidence to deal with any kind of situation. Employees who are flexible and patient are a blessing to every boss.
Better Employment Prospects: From learning a new language to gaining a better understanding of world politics, studying abroad can make you a far more desirable hire to potential employers. A foreign degree enhances your chances of employment by adding value to your resume and helps you stand out in the crowd. It is a perfect return on your investment and should not be considered as an expense. Most importantly a degree acquired overseas would transform you into a global citizen!
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TOP TEN UNIVERSITIES IN CANADA
| According to Canada’s Top 50 Research Universities, Research Inforsource Inc., 2008: |
| Rank | University |
| 1 | University of Toronto |
| 2 | University of Alberta |
| 3 | Université de Montréal |
| 4 | The University of British Columbia |
| 5 | McGill University |
| 6 | McMaster University |
| 7 | Université Laval |
| 8 | University of Calgary |
| 9 | The University of Western Ontario |
| 10 | University of Ottawa |
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TOP TEN UNIVERSITIES IN UK
According to Good University Guide, Times Online, 2009:
| Rank | University |
| 1 | University of Oxford |
| 2 | University of Cambridge |
| 3 | Imperial College London |
| 4 | London School of Economics |
| 5 | University of St. Andrews |
| 6 | University of Warwick |
| 7 | University College London |
| 8 | Durham University |
| 9 | The University of York |
| 10 | Bristol University |
According to The Guardian University Guide, 2009:
| Rank | University |
| 1 | University of Oxford |
| 2 | University of Cambridge |
| 3 | London School of Economics |
| 4 | University of Warwick |
| 5 | University of St. Andrews |
| 6 | Imperial College London |
| 7 | University College London |
| 8 | School of Oriental and African Studies, London |
| 9 | University of Edinburgh |
| 10 | Loughborough University |
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TOP TEN UNIVERSITIES IN USA
According to America’s Best Colleges, US News, 2009:
| Rank | University |
| 1 | Harvard University |
| 2 | Princeton University |
| 3 | Yale University |
| 4 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 4 | Stanford University |
| 6 | California Institute of Technology |
| 6 | University of Pennsylvania |
| 8 | Columbia University |
| 8 | Duke University |
| 8 | The University of Chicago |
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World’s Top 10 universities
1. University of Cambridge
Britain’s University of Cambridge has topped the list, making it the best university in the world for science.
That’s not all the good news Cambridge received this month.
An anonymous American donor gave $1.85 million (£960,000) to set up an endowment fund in honour of cosmologist-author Stephen Hawking.
In 2009, the university will celebrate its 800th anniversary, making it one of the world’s oldest universities.
Cambridge is the largest university in the United Kingdom (over 100 departments, faculties and schools).
Its contribution to the world has ranged from the discovery of the mechanism of blood circulation to the structure of DNA, from the great philosophers of the early 15th century to the groundbreaking work of its many Nobel Prize winners (more than 60 distinguished names feature on the list).
2. University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is one of the oldest English-speaking universities.
It can lay claim to nine centuries of documented existence.
According to the university’s Web site, there is no clear date of foundation, but teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris.
Except for St Hilda’s — which continues to remain an all-women college — all of Oxford’s 39 colleges now admit both men and women.
3. Harvard University
Refusing to be left behind, the Americans follow with a vengeance.
Harvard University is ranked No 3.
Harvard College was established in 1636 and was named for its first benefactor, John Harvard of Charlestown.
Harvard was a young minister who, on his death in 1638, left his library and half his estate to the newly established institution.
It is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.
Seven presidents of the United States (John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Rutherford B Hayes, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and George W Bush) were graduates of Harvard.
Its faculty has produced 40 Nobel laureates.
The US News & World Report ranks Harvard at No 1 in its rating for America’s best universities for the year 2005.
4. University of California, Berkeley
The roots of the University of California go back to the gold rush days of 1849, when the drafters of the state’s constitution required the legislature to ‘encourage by all suitable means the promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral and agricultural improvement’ of the people of California.
The university that was born nearly 20 years later — on March 23, 1868 — was the product of a merger between the College of California (a private institution) and the Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College.
Among other things, the university is credited with the isolation of the human polio virus and the discovery of all artificial elements heavier than uranium.
Eighteen members of the Berkeley faculty have been awarded Nobel Prizes for these and subsequent discoveries, as well as in literature and economics.
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
It’s probably one of the most famous universities in the world.
But did you know its founder, William Barton Rogers, apparently never received a degree?
In 1853, he moved to Boston, where he enlisted the support of the scientific community to create an institution for technical and scientific education. It was largely through his efforts that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was born in 1861.
Today, the Institute has more than 900 faculty and 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students.
It is organised into five Schools — Architecture and Planning, Engineering, Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Management, and Science — and the Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology.
Fifty-nine current or former members of the MIT community have won the Nobel Prize.
The US News & World Report ranks MIT — along with Stanford University and Duke University — at No 5 in its rating for America’s best universities for the year 2005.
6. Stanford University
Stanford University was dedicated by Leland Stanford and Jane Eliza to their son, Leland Junior.
Leland Junior was in Italy with his family when he was struck by typhoid. He later succumbed to the illness. He was 15.
When they returned to the US, the Stanfords decided to set up a university. After six years of planning and building, the Stanford University opened on October 1, 1891.
Stanford, like Johns Hopkins and Cornell Universities, followed the German model of providing graduate as well as undergraduate instruction and stressing on research along with teaching.
7. University of Tokyo
It is the only Asian university to figure in the top 10 list.
Established in 1877, the University of Tokyo is Japan’s oldest university.
With 10 faculties, 15 graduate schools and 11 research institutes (including the Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology), it has been a guiding force in research and education.
It offers courses in essentially all academic disciplines at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and provides research facilities.
The University has a faculty of approximately 2,800 professors, associate professors and lecturers, and a total student enrolment of about 28,000.
As of 2003, approximately 2,100 international students and 2,200 foreign researchers come annually to the University for short and extended visits.
8. Princeton University
British North America’s fourth college was known as the College of New Jersey until 1896.
Located in Elizabeth for one year and in Newark for nine, the College of New Jersey moved to Princeton in 1756.
It was housed in Nassau Hall, which was built on land donated by Nathaniel Fitzrandolph.
In 1896, expanded programmes won the college university status, and the College of New Jersey was officially renamed Princeton University in honour of its host community, Princeton.
In 2002-2003, Princeton enrolled 6,632 students — 4,635 undergraduates and 1,997 graduate students.
The University plays a major role in the educational, cultural and economic life of the region.
Some famous Princeton alumni include Woodrow Wilson and James Madison, former presidents of the United States.
9. California Institute of Technology
You may have run into the work of past Caltech scientists without even knowing it.
If your mom ever told you to take Vitamin C to fend off a cold, you can thank Linus Pauling, the Caltech chemist who discovered the nature of the chemical bond in 1930 (his ideas about vitamins came later). Pauling won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1954 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962.
After an earthquake, news anchors can tell us how relatively shaken up we were, courtesy of the formula geophysicist Charles Richter devised in the 1920s for measuring the size of Southern California earthquakes.
And if anyone’s ever told you to stop acting so ‘left brain’, it’s because of the pioneering brain hemisphere research done by Caltech psychobiologist Roger Sperry (another Nobelist).
Caltech was established thanks to Pasadena philanthropist Amos Throop.
In September 1891, he rented the Wooster Block building for the purpose of establishing Throop University, the forerunner to Caltech.
Throop might have remained just a good local school had it not been for the arrival in Pasadena of astronomer George Ellery Hale. The first director of the Mount Wilson Observatory, Hale became a member of Throop’s board of trustees in 1907, and envisioned moulding it into a first-class institution for engineering and scientific research and education. Under his leadership Throop’s transformation began.
By 1921, Hale had been joined by chemist Arthur A Noyes and physicist Robert A Millikan. These three men set the school, which by then had been renamed the California Institute of Technology, firmly on its new course.
Today, 30 of the Institute’s alumni are Nobel Prize recipients.
10. Imperial College of London
The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine was established in 1907.
Set in London’s scientific and cultural heartland, South Kensington, it was created though a merger between the Royal College of Science, the City and Guilds College and the Royal School of Mines.
Various colleges have merged with the College since. These include St Mary’s Hospital Medical School in 1988 and the National Heart and Lung Institute in 1995.
In 1997, Charing Cross, Westminster Medical School and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School merged with the College to form the Imperial College School of Medicine.
And, in 2000, Wye College and the The Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology merged with the College.
The College boasts of 14 Nobel Prize winners.
Information courtesy- Rediff.com
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