"The doctorate serves as proof of the ability to carry out in-depth independent academic work."

You may be motivated to consider a doctorate as the next step in your career for a variety of reasons. Reasons could be that you

• are fascinated by science or enjoy delving into specific scientific issues

• you aspire to an academic career
• a doctorate is common in your field or
• you are hoping for a higher income or better career opportunities.

If you decide to do a doctorate, you should in any case have the motivation and stamina for time-consuming academic work in addition to a fascination for your research topic. Before you start a doctorate, you should consider whether a doctorate

• is useful or even necessary for your intended career path
• fits in with your life planning, also with regard to the time that needs to be invested
• can be financed or how this career phase can be financed

You should also think about which type of doctorate is right for you: if you prefer to be thematically integrated into a doctoral or research program with an accompanying specialist training program, then a structured doctorate in a doctoral program could be of particular interest to you. Doctoral programs at Clausthal University of Technology, further information and contact persons can be found here.

If you are more interested in choosing your research topic completely freely and organizing and planning your research activities individually, an individual doctorate may be an option for you. If required, you can take part in interdisciplinary further training. However, you are under no obligation to take part in qualification programs.

A doctorate is essentially divided into four main phases:

1. the orientation phase, in which you work out your topic, supervision, funding and type of doctorate. This phase usually lasts one to three months.
2. the introductory phase, in which you acquire basic knowledge and the current state of science. This phase usually lasts three to nine months.
3. the research phase, in which you work on your research project, work out the results of your research questions and write them up. In this phase, which usually lasts two and a half to three years, the first results of sub-projects are often published in scientific journals, at scientific conferences or as book chapters.
4. The final phase, in which you write up your findings and place them in the wider scientific context. The doctorate ends with the publication of your research work and the award of your doctorate. You will also take an oral examination in the form of a dsiputation, viva voce or specialist examination.

You can find more detailed information here. If you would like advice on doing a doctorate or have decided to do a doctorate and are now wondering what the next steps are, we will be happy to support you.

Please contact us and arrange an appointment!

The individual doctorate is often regarded as the classic route to a doctorate. Doing an individual doctorate means working independently with a professor who takes on the supervision of a suitable research topic or dissertation. You research and work on your dissertation without being integrated into a doctoral programme in terms of content and organization. As soon as you have received a confirmation of supervision, you can apply for "admission to doctoral studies" in your chosen subject at the relevant faculty. Further information on the administrative steps after receiving confirmation of supervision can be found in the section "Step by step".

Since individual doctoral candidates generally do not have to complete a compulsory training program, the individual doctorate allows great freedom in the choice of topic and in the pursuit of individual goals. The basis for a successful individual doctorate is the special relationship of trust between doctoral candidate and supervisor as well as a close connection to the doctoral subject. Research colloquia and seminars within the working groups and institutes enable the exchange with other scientists, the presentation of one's own work progress and the discussion of one's own ideas and theses.

Further reading: academics article "Traditional doctoral studies"

Click here to go to the doctoral programs.

Doing a doctorate in Clausthal (Guide to doing a doctorate in Clausthal)

Studying and researching in Germany (DAAD information brochure)

Recommendations for doctoral candidates (QZP information brochure)

Competencies of early career researchers. Development of a competency model (UniWind publication vol. 6)

Federal report on early career researchers 2017

Federal report on early career researchers 2021