HACKER Q&A
📣 blitzkrieg

PhD in Germany


Hello all, I currently live in Germany. I want to apply for a PhD position (Computer Engineering) here. My problem is that I have done Masters without thesis. Wherever I find a suitable position for myself it's expected to send an abstract of Master Thesis with application. I am even ready to do Research Assistantship under a professor if required to show that I am capable of doing research. How should I proceed with my application ? Thanks in advance for help.


  👤 probably_wrong Accepted Answer ✓
I didn't even know you could get a Masters without a thesis. Live and learn.

Did you get your degree outside Germany? If so, you should check in the Anabin database [1] whether your degree is properly recognized in Germany. If it isn't, you'll need to figure out a way to convince the University that your degree is valid. Your future PhD advisor can guide you through this - the procedure often involves sending enough proof to a committee that will then say "yes, this is acceptable".

If your degree is recognized, then you should explain in your cover letter that you have a non-thesis Masters. A paragraph about the extra work you had to do instead would be nice. If/once you make it to the interview, I would expect to be asked a couple questions about this.

[1] https://anabin.kmk.org/anabin.html


👤 barry-cotter
Send emails to professors you would be interested in working under. As I understand it in Germany you absolutely must have a faculty sponsor to do a Ph.D. anyway. Ask about either doing an independent project under their direction or working as a research assistant. Good luck.

👤 AlDante2
Possibly change your user name before contacting any German universities... :-)