Admission

Eligibility

Before starting your application, please make sure you are eligible to apply for the HEIBRiDS PhD Program. Applications from candidates who do not meet the following requirements will not be taken into consideration.    

Degree

• Applicants are required to hold or obtain within 6 months of the interview week a university degree equivalent to a Master Degree, including a written research thesis, in computer science, physics, statistics, mathematics, bio- , geo- informatics, or related field.
• Applicants still studying are welcome to apply, however, they should anticipate receiving their degree not later than 6 months after the online interviews.
• Master degree equivalents include, for example, MD degree, Master of Research (MRes) and Master of Technology (MTech) degree, 4-yr BSc + 1-yr MSc programs, integrated programs such as Diploma or BSc-MSc integrated program, as well as BTech-MTech dual degrees. 
• Graduates having completed their degree must upload with the application package a scanned copy of the certificate as well as transcript including marked coursework from university. Students still enrolled in their undergraduate program must upload a provisional certificate stating the examination marks already obtained.
• Applicants that are already employed as PhD students are welcome to apply, as long as they have not obtained yet their PhD degree. However, they can not select or be selected by their current supervisor(s), in the event that they participate with a project in the current HEIBRiDS recruitment round.

Research experience

Applicants are required to have some relevant research experience, gained through e.g. through bachelor and/or master research projects, lab rotations, study exchange programs, or in other relevant research projects, either of experimental or theoretical nature.

Thesis

To be eligible, a research master thesis should have been required for obtaining the MSc degree. There might be exceptions to this, e.g. for MD or pharmaceutical programs that do not require a final research thesis. Research experience is, however, obligatory.

Grades

Required MSc final grade is ≥75%, or German score of at least 'good' (< 2,5 of 5). To translate your final grades into German grading system, please use the Modified Bavarian Formula Calculator. If your grades are lowerthan the required, the application will not be considered.

Early-stage researchers

Only early-stage researchers are invited to apply: candidates should at the time of interviews be in the first four years of their research careers (i.e. master degree obtained within the last 4 years) and should not have a doctoral degree already. If you have gained your master (or equivalent) degree more than four years prior to the interviews, you are not eligible and your application will not be considered. 

Language skills

Applicants need to have a good command of written and spoken English, while German language skills are not required. English proficiency tests for non-native speakers are recommended (such as TOEFL test with a score of 95+ (internet-based), 240+ (computer-based) or 587+ (paper-based), IELTS certificate with a bandscore 7.0+, or Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CAE)), however, the language proficiency certificates are not a requirement for the application.