The Doctorate

The doctorate represents the initial qualification period for academics: By means of an innovative and autonomous scientific engagement with a specific research topic, young scholars compose their doctoral dissertation. This PhD period also often includes stays abroad, an active participation in workshops as well as first experiences and training in publishing papers in academic journals.

As a basic principle, the two main alternatives of doing a doctorate are, on the one hand, an individual PhD project, and on the other hand, pursuing a PhD within a structured programme. Whereas the former clearly represents the traditional and well-established option in Germany, the latter has recently emerged as an ever more important alternative. The University of Bamberg has repeatedly stressed its emphatic support for the maintenance of both alternatives as equally valuable options: Depending on the history and the distinct profile of a certain area of expertise, the content of the particular research project as well as on the desired and available opportunities for establishing cooperation and academic networks, one option for pursuing a PhD is likely to prove more suitable than the other.