Doing a Doctorate in GermanyStudy on working conditions and career paths

13 February 2023, by Newsroom-Redaktion

Photo: UHH/Lutsch

Researchers have conducted a nationwide study to gather comprehensive data on working and living conditions for doctoral candidates and doctoral graduates. Over 1,000 doctoral candidates at Universität Hamburg participated in 2019.Doctoral candidates, who joined Universität Hamburg after 2nd December 2020 and before December 2022 will be invited to take part in an online survey at 27 February 2023.

“Even if the data situation is continuously improving, we still know too little about working conditions throughout doctoral studies and the subsequent career paths of those have completed a doctorate,” says Dr. Elena Krones-Nendza, managing director of the Hamburg Research Academy (HRA). “There are many ways of doing a doctorate in Germany. The Nacaps Study should reflect this diversity.” Nacaps stands for National Academics Panel Study. It is being conducted by the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (Deutsches Zentrum für Hochschul- und Wissenschaftsforschung, DZHW). Universität Hamburg is one of the partner institutions supporting the study.

Nacaps: representative study on doctoral candidates

Results of the study are published in academic journals and are evaluated by participating universities. “The results of the surveys in spring 2019 and 2021 help us to improve the framework conditions based on reliable data and thus to promote young scientists more specifically.” says Dr. Nendza, who looks with the team from the Hamburg Research Academy at the situation of young scientists at Universität Hamburg.

Universities and policymakers will use the findings to review the efficacy of their own services and programs. The first results of the study are accessible via a data portal: www.nacaps-datenportal.de. Participants in the longitudinal study will be contributing to the only representative academic study on doctoral candidates and graduates in Germany. Thus, Nendza is calling on all doctoral candidates at Universität Hamburg to take part. “Even candidates who think they have taken an unusual path to doctoral studies should take part. Only the broadest possible participation will complete the picture of doctoral studies in Germany. This also applies to anyone who came to Germany just to do their doctoral studies or plans to leave Germany when they finish their doctoral studies.”