Fundings during the Doctorate

Doctoral students can work as research assistants at universities. These positions are financed either through regular permanent positions at a professorship or through third-party funded projects. Remuneration is in accordance with the public service collective agreement (TvÖD). These employment relationships are often part-time and vary in duration depending on the requirements for filling the position or the duration of the project. In addition to working on their own qualification work, typical tasks at the chair include teaching and administrative activities for the professorship or in committees. Project positions do not necessarily involve teaching duties, but the work on the project takes centre stage. As part of a doctoral position in a DFG Research Training Groups, participation in the activities of the Research Training Group is also mandatory. Budget-funded or externally funded positions as a research assistant at the university are advertised regularly. The job advertisements can be viewed on the University of Erfurt's job advertisements page. 

The advantage of working at a university is that the academic work is usually closely related to your own doctoral topic and part of the paid hours are explicitly earmarked for work on your own qualification. Courses can often be constructed in relation to your own research work. In addition, practical experience is gained through teaching, administrative activities or support for the professorship and there is an academic exchange with colleagues. The employer contributes to social security and health insurance. 
The workload of the activities often proves to be a challenge, which is greater than the number of paid hours, especially when first employed. It is not only the preparation and follow-up work for the first courses that takes up more time than the number of hours allotted. Academic events such as conferences or workshops can also take place at the weekend. Work in project positions does not necessarily have to coincide with your own qualification work. In this case, it must be taken into account that the doctorate must be pursued full-time or part-time alongside the project position. 

Further search options for employment at universities:

DFG Research Training Groups
Within the framework of Research Training Groups, the German Research Foundation supports the qualification of doctoral candidates within thematically focused research programmes and a structured qualification concept. All current DFG Research Training Groups with potential doctoral positions can be viewed via the link in the GEPRIS database.

ELFI    
The ‘Electronic Research Funding Information’ is probably the most comprehensive database in the German-speaking world with currently 12,000 programmes and 5,200 (inter)national funding bodies for every academic career stage; free use in the university network or VPN connection possible.

EURAXESS    
Euraxess is a pan-European platform that provides information on mobility opportunities for researchers and supports interested parties with information on the respective country. The site also offers a comprehensive job and scholarship search portal.

Doctoral students in Germany have a wide range of scholarships available to fund their research work through universities or (private) foundations, the largest of which are the Begabtenförderungswerke (organizations promoting young talent). The liaison lecturers at the respective universities can provide initial contacts to the organisations for the promotion of gifted students. The prerequisite for an application is (planned) acceptance as a doctoral candidate at a university. When applying for a scholarship, in addition to excellent grades, social commitment, the relevance of the research project and social commitment are essential award requirements. The approval periods and the amount of the monthly grants vary greatly between the individual funding organisations. Many scholarships are supplemented by a number of lump sums or allowances for families as well as research-related material and travelling expenses.  

A major advantage of scholarships is that you can concentrate on carrying out your research project flexibly and without further obligations. However, you will generally have to pay for health insurance or social security yourself. Part-time jobs are only possible to a limited extent within the framework of scholarship funding. Please refer to the relevant scholarship guidelines for more information.

As the number of potential foundations and scholarship providers is very large, it is advisable to use databases when searching for potential scholarships.

Databases for interdisciplinary scholarship searches:

DAAD
The scholarship database of the German Academic Exchange Service offers information on funding opportunities for all career levels and is aimed at international doctoral candidates who want to do a doctorate at a German university.

e-fellows.net (available in German only)
Information and funding portal with its own scholarship programme and its own database for scholarships and job offers as well as a wealth of information on the subject of applications, careers, etc.

ELFI    
The ‘Electronic Research Funding Information’ is probably the most comprehensive database in the German-speaking world with currently 12,000 programmes and 5,200 (inter)national funding bodies for every academic career level; free use in the University of Erfurt network or VPN connection possible.

EURAXESS    
Euraxess is a pan-European platform that provides information on mobility opportunities for researchers and supports interested parties with information on the respective country. The site also offers a comprehensive job and scholarship search portal.
European Funding Guide

It is also possible to conduct research as part of a doctorate outside of a university. For example, the four large non-university research institutions, which are linked to numerous other scientific institutions throughout Germany, offer doctoral positions. These four large research centres include

• The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG);
• the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (HFG);
• the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (MPG) and
• the Leibniz Association (WGL).

Companies in the private sector may also have a legitimate interest in funding doctorates (so-called ‘industrial doctorates’) and provide financial support during the doctoral phase. 
It should be noted in both cases that neither the non-university research institutions nor the companies have their own right to award doctorates. In these cases, it is necessary to bring in professorial supervision from a university. This form of doctorate is known as a ‘cooperative doctorate’ and requires a cooperation agreement between the university and the institution supervising the doctorate. This also applies to universities of applied sciences or universities of applied sciences, which generally also do not have their own right to award doctorates. Further information can be found on the homepage on ‘Other types of doctorates’.

There is also the option of self-financing the doctorate. As a rule, this takes the form of employment outside academia or financial support from the family or the use of savings or equity. Self-financing can be a burden on research work that should not be underestimated, as jobs outside academia do not provide for working hours to be credited towards the doctorate and working full-time and on the dissertation at the same time can therefore be a major burden. In addition, there is often a lack of important, regular contacts and professional exchange with the scientific community. 
A special form of support for self-financing is the student loan from the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), which can support doctoral students with loans of up to 650 EUR per month. However, please note the interest rates associated with the repayment of the loan. 

The University of Erfurt awards scholarships to write a dissertation and obtain a doctorate. The funds for scholarships come from the university's internal budget or from funds from the Thuringian State Graduate Funding Programme. Scholarships are offered once a year for outstanding doctoral projects in the programme-certified Graduate Centres at the University of Erfurt.
Monthly funding amount: 1,400 EUR (plus supplements if applicable)
Funding period: 3 years basic funding + 1 year extension on application (+ extension if necessary due to childcare, family responsibilities, disability or serious chronic illness).
Call for applications: The call for applications usually runs from 1 August to 30 September. Information on the eligibility requirements and application documents to be submitted can be found in the information sheet under Graduate Services.
The call for applications can be found on the page for internal announcements. The application and selection procedure can be found in the graphic.
In order to receive doctoral scholarships from the University of Erfurt, it is necessary to provide proof of current insurance status. Further information on proof of health insurance for scholarships can be found on the Graduate Service website.
You can view the University of Erfurt's statutes for awarding scholarships here.