PhD – Programmes / Doctorates

PhD – Programs / Doctorates:


If you are interested in studying for a PhD in Germany, follow our step-by-step guide on how
to go about applying for admission. There are traditionally two options:

1. Independent Research under supervision of a "Doktorvater" or "Doktormutter"

Germany does not traditionally have a system of Graduate Schools, Graduate Centres or Graduate Colleges that support and guide students to their doctorate in a structured programme; nor is there a binding curriculum that needs to be completed during the doctoral phase. The production of a doctoral thesis or dissertation is the core element of the doctorate. Students agree their topic with a supervising professor and then produce a thesis or dissertation as a piece of independent research work.

2. Structured PhD-Programmes

Structured PhD-programmes or IPP´s (International Postgraduate Programmes) are a fairly recent development in German higher education. In total, Germany's universities currently offer around 360 programmes, of which around 130 have an international focus. They offer doctoral students the following advantages:

• Flexible admission for foreign applicants, e.g. graduates holding a Bachelor's degree
• English largely used in courses and everyday work
• Team-based doctorate, frequently involving joint research projects which ensures that a
constant process of exchange takes place with other doctoral students and supervisors
(Source: DAAD)

Step-By-Step Guide: Independent Research under Supervision

Step One: Finding a supervisor

It is important to know that there is no central admission or selection office for doctoral students.
The decision is made solely by the accepting university, with the academic supervisor playing the key role. You may already know the professor’s name from a publication relevant to your field. You can then look up his/her contact details in an external search engine or on the website of the tertiary education institution in Baden-Württemberg. Go onto the homepage of the relevant institution, look up your field of interest and contact the head of department listed.
• In some cases the Dean’s office (Dekanat) can help as can the office of international affairs
or even the counselling office.

Step Two:

Contact your future supervisor Contact your future supervisor by E-Mail or formal letter and provide him/her with the following information:
• A brief description of your field and topic of interest
• A short review of the relevant experience you have in this field
• Your curriculum vitae (résumé or profile)
• letters of recommendation better your chances
Important notes for PhD-candidates
• You can write your thesis in English, provided your Supervisor agrees. If you decide to write in German you will need to have passed the DSH (German language test) or TestDaF (German language test).
• Your university degree has to be recognised as being equivalent to a German degree. You can do this by simply sending a copy of your degree certificate to the dean of the relevant faculty. He/she will then send you a written assessment of its equivelant in Germany.
• Before admittance you will be asked to prepare a piece of scientific research which could vary between 50 – 100 pages (depending on the subject),as sometimes you may also be required to take a written or oral test.
• You will need a student visa (not a tourist visa) At present, practically all doctoral programmes in Germany are tuition-free.

Further information: http://www.daad.de/deutschland/forschung/promotion/04670.en.html

Visa Processing Part III

Continuing from my previous post...

If your parents or elder siblings or any blood relative is sponsoring your education in Germany, apart from the one year statement of the sponsor's bank account, you also need to submit an affidavit of support from your sponsorer along with your application. If a third person is sponsoring your studies, affidavit of support is mandatory. If you are showing your personal bank balance as proof of finance without any third person sponsoring your education, affidavit of support is not necessary.

Affidavit of support has to be made on a stamp paper of appropriate value and should be signed by your sponsorer in the presence of a notary. Notaries usually have a prescribed format with them for preparing an affidavit of support. In case they don't have one, you can use the format given below as a reference.

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1. That my son Mr. x has secured admission for University of ______

2. That I am supporting my son's education and living expenses during his period of study at the university of ______

3. That I have adequate financial resources to sponsor my son's education viz., tuition fees, boarding expenses, traveling expenses and living expenses during his study at university of ______


The above stated facts are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief

Place:______

Date:______


DEPONENT

(Mr. x)

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*This format is for reference only

One more format for affidavit of support.

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AFFIDAVIT OF "Sponsors Name"

I Mr. XYZ, s/o Mr. ABC, aged XX years, residing at "complete residential address" do hereby solemny affirm and state as below:

My son/daughter "your full name" , has got admission in "university name". I would like to state that I am interested to meet out all the expenses incurred by my son/daughter "your full name" , to pursue his/her higher education and I am financially capable of supporting him for his education in Germany. I have sufficient funds in savings and also in properties (give the break-up of your sponsor's savings, investments, property holdings etc.,). I will be bearing the cost till the completion of his studies in Germany. I also state that he will not be a public charge on the Government of Germany during his stay in Germany.

Signature of sponsor

VERIFICATION

I Mr. XYZ, s/o Mr. ABC, do hereby solemnly affirm and declare that what are stated herein above are true to my knowledge and nothing has been concealed therein.

Solemnly affirmed at "place" on "date"

Seal and signature of Notary public

Signature of the sponsor

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*This format is for reference only

Visa Processing Part II

Students planning to get a visa from Chennai consulate need to schedule an appointment for visa interview by visiting a VFS office located close to you in the cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi. Click here for the location and address of the VFS centers.

Before scheduling a visa interview, make sure you have all the necessary documents and finances in place. List of documents that has to be submitted to VFS can be found here.

Before you start preparing the documents, you need to make sure that you have adequate finance to support your education in Germany for two years. Financial adequacy can be achieved by several means but the most common being either education loan or support from your family.

Visit this link to check interest rates and other terms and conditions of education loan offered by all the major banks of India. If you are applying for an education loan, make sure you apply atleast 3 months prior to the month in which your course starts as getting a loan sanctioned and receiving all the necessary documents from the bank can take anywhere between 20-40 days.

Important note on Finance: When applying for a visa, you need to show sufficient funds to convince the authorities that you will be able to sustain yourself for two years in Germany without having to rely on part-time jobs or other sources for income. Any of the following source of money is accepted by the consulate. Minimum finance that one needs to show during visa application should cover: Tuition Fee + Living expenses for one year. But its recommended to show Tuition Fee + Living expenses for two years as it would reduce the chances of visa rejection to zero.

1. Education loan.

2. Education Loan + Savings in your personal bank account.

3. Education Loan + Savings in your personal bank account + Savings in your parents/relatives account.

4. Savings in your parents/relatives account.

5. Any combination of the above mentioned means of finance.

Following investments are not accepted by the consulate as proof of finance:

1. Fixed Deposits (Please confirm with VFS as there is a lot of ambiguity regarding its validity)

2. Mutual Funds, ULIP, Life Insurance, NSC, KVP and Share certificates.

Note: Rules can change from time to time. Please confirm with either VFS or the consulate regarding the validity of the above mentioned forms of investments.

Once you have the loan sanctioned, you will receive an official loan sanction letter from the bank. Apart from this letter, request the concerned bank manager to provide you another letter in the bank's letter head which mentions the loan amount sanctioned to you as well as its equivalent value in Euro. You need letter for visa processing. Most banks will have a format of their own for issuing such letters. In case they don't have one, you can use the one below as a reference.

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BANK LETTER HEAD

Bank's complete address Date:_______

Phone Place:_______

Fax

Email

To whomsoever it may concern

This is to certify that Mr. ABC has been sanctioned an education loan of Rs. 10,00,000 (Rupees Ten Lakhs only) approximately equivalent to Euro 15,400 (Euro Fifteen thousand four hundred only) to pursue his postgraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering at University of XYZ, Germany.

For "Bank Name",

Branch Manager

(Seal and Signature)

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**This format is for reference only.

After you receive this letter from the bank, get it translated to German from anybody with decent translation skills.

Along with your loan, if you are planning to show your savings in the form of cash in savings account, you need to produce 12 months account statement when applying for visa. Along with the account statement, get a letter from the branch manager which mentions the balance of you account in rupees and its equivalent value in Euro. As mentioned earlier, banks will have a ready made template for issuing such letters, in case if they don't have one, you can refer the format given below.

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BANK LETTER HEAD

Bank's complete address Date:_______

Phone Place:_______

Fax

Email

To whomsoever it may concern

This is to certify that Mr. ABC s/o Mr. XYZ, residing at "full residential address" is maintaining a savings account No. 1212131 with us. Balance in the above account as on date is Rs. 1,00,000 (Equivalent to Euro 1540 @ Notional rate of Rs. 65 per Euro)

For "Bank Name",

Branch Manager

(Seal and Signature)

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**This format is for reference only.

This letter also needs to be translated to German.

Important note on translation: All the translations should be on an A4 paper. Translations need not be on any letter head, they need not be on a stamp paper, they need not carry the signature of the bank manager or any other authority and no need to get it authorized by a Notary. Get the translations done on a plain A4 paper that's it!! If required, put your signature and nothing else.

DAAD office or Max Mueller Bhavan in your city can help you with the translations. Also, Indo German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) will take up the translation work. For IGCC locations and contact details, click here. Both DAAD and IGCC are expensive when compared to freelance translators and the cost of translation in DAAD/IGCC can run up to several thousand rupees depending on the number of pages. But on the brighter side, DAAD/IGCC translations are very accurate and professional. Staff in the German consulate will not doubt the authenticity of translation if it carries the seal of DAAD or IGCC.

If you want to keep the keep the cost of translation low, look for freelancers who will be ready to do the work at a fraction of what it costs in DAAD/IGCC. Also, if your city has a university with a department for German language studies, professors from that department can help you with the translation work.

To be continued in my next post.....

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