Choosing a research topic and finding a supervisor

Finding a supervisor

Your first and perhaps most important step is to spend time finding out about the research groups working at Saarland University and the specific research areas being addressed by the various professors.
A good place to start is to take a look at the faculties and departments at Saarland University. The individual faculty web pages provide an overview of the wide range of research being conducted by the university's professor-led research groups.

Once you have found a professor whose research area matches your academic interests, you should contact them personally and ask about opportunities to conduct a PhD research project in their group.
You should also check the Jobs and vacancies at Saarland University page where funded doctoral research positions are also advertised.

For more information on finding a PhD position in Germany, take a look at the Research in Germany website.

Entry requirements for a PhD

Before you can be admitted as a doctoral research student, your academic record will need to be assessed to determine whether it meets the university's entry requirements. Your academic transcripts and certificates will be reviewed to determine whether your degree is comparable to a recognized first academic qualification. This assessment serves to establish whether you can be admitted directly as a doctoral research student or whether you will first need to complete additional requirements, such as attending specific advanced-level courses or passing an aptitude test for doctoral studies.

If you obtained your degree from a university abroad, your faculty's doctoral studies office must first verify the required equivalence before you can be admitted for doctoral research. If you want to check the equivalence of your foreign degree qualification before applying for a doctoral research position in Germany, try searching for your specific qualification in the comprehensive Anabin online database. Please note that the information provided via the Anabin database can only offer an initial assessment and that the admission criteria set out in the relevant doctoral degree regulations of a particular faculty may differ from the information in the database. We therefore strongly advise that your supervisor stays in close contact with your faculty's doctoral studies office during the application stage.

The two main types of doctoral study

At Saarland University, there are two main pathways to a doctorate:

Individual doctorate:
You undertake independent research on an agreed topic under the supervision of a professor, without a compulsory accompanying programme. The topic may be chosen freely or defined by a research project.

Structured PhD programme:
You pursue your doctorate within a formal programme that has a defined curriculum, a shared training and learning environment, and an overarching research focus – for example within a Research Training Group, Collaborative Research Centre or EU-funded doctoral programme, or in the Saarbrücken Graduate School of Computer Science.

Funding your PhD
There are also several options for funding doctoral research. Most doctoral students apply for an advertised PhD position. These research positions are linked to an employment contract with the university, but one that allows you sufficient time to conduct your research and write your dissertation. You could also apply for a scholarship, for example from the Begabtenförderwerk programme for high-achieving students or from the GraduSaar programme. Some PhD students fund their doctorate by working outside the university. If you can't find a suitable funding option, please do get in touch with the Early Career Office, by sending an email to academic-career(at)uni-saarland.de.