Part-time PhD on PostgraduateForum.com

shapol46 5 posts
8 years ago

Hello everyone
I wanna apply for a PhD position in Germany. Working hours is part-time(65% week hours).The duration of PhD is 3 years. Actually I don't understand why some positions are full-time and some part-time while the duration is the same.I mean after graduation is there any difference between this two groups?Salary group is 13 TV-KAH and I don't know how much they pay. I appreciate if you could explain it.

H

Hugh 1264 posts
8 years ago

Quote From shapol46:
Hello everyone
I wanna apply for a PhD position in Germany. Working hours is part-time(65% week hours).The duration of PhD is 3 years. Actually I don't understand why some positions are full-time and some part-time while the duration is the same.I mean after graduation is there any difference between this two groups?Salary group is 13 TV-KAH and I don't know how much they pay. I appreciate if you could explain it.

You are right, it doesn't make sense. This is a UK centric forum so its not likely you'll get people who know the german system. Have you tried asking on Quora?

D

Dunham 303 posts
8 years ago

Quote From shapol46:
Hello everyone
I wanna apply for a PhD position in Germany. Working hours is part-time(65% week hours).The duration of PhD is 3 years. Actually I don't understand why some positions are full-time and some part-time while the duration is the same.I mean after graduation is there any difference between this two groups?Salary group is 13 TV-KAH and I don't know how much they pay. I appreciate if you could explain it.

I would contact the group leader. Part-time PhDs are rather unusual in Germany. Sometimes they have the option for part-time but full-time students are generally preferred. I don't know a single part-time PhD student (except for a short period of time in case of pregnancy). Just google the salary group. 65% means you get 65% of 13 TV-KAH. However, every group leader expects you to work 100%. I think 50% is around 1200€ and 65% around 1500€. I would really recommend to contact the group leader. He or she can give you all the information you need.

S

shapol46 5 posts
8 years ago

Quote From Hugh:

Quote From shapol46:
Hello everyone
I wanna apply for a PhD position in Germany. Working hours is part-time(65% week hours).The duration of PhD is 3 years. Actually I don't understand why some positions are full-time and some part-time while the duration is the same.I mean after graduation is there any difference between this two groups?Salary group is 13 TV-KAH and I don't know how much they pay. I appreciate if you could explain it.

You are right, it doesn't make sense. This is a UK centric forum so its not likely you'll get people who know the german system. Have you tried asking on Quora?

I really didn't know this is UK forum. I asked the same question in another website and I am waiting for response.
Thanks

S

shapol46 5 posts
8 years ago

Quote From Dunham:

Quote From shapol46:
Hello everyone
I wanna apply for a PhD position in Germany. Working hours is part-time(65% week hours).The duration of PhD is 3 years. Actually I don't understand why some positions are full-time and some part-time while the duration is the same.I mean after graduation is there any difference between this two groups?Salary group is 13 TV-KAH and I don't know how much they pay. I appreciate if you could explain it.

I would contact the group leader. Part-time PhDs are rather unusual in Germany. Sometimes they have the option for part-time but full-time students are generally preferred. I don't know a single part-time PhD student (except for a short period of time in case of pregnancy). Just google the salary group. 65% means you get 65% of 13 TV-KAH. However, every group leader expects you to work 100%. I think 50% is around 1200€ and 65% around 1500€. I would really recommend to contact the group leader. He or she can give you all the information you need.

OK I'll contact him, however there are several other PhD positions (in Germany) like that. Actually that 65% is for weekly hours not payment. I mean in some advertisements they say part time(50%) but here 65% of working hours.
Thanks

D

DrJayJericho 77 posts
8 years ago

Hi Shapol46

I have seen this time-limit requirement in Australia for PhD equivalent degrees at good universities and I completed one of these programs in 8.5 years part-time. Check out how this PhD equivalent degree allows part-time candidates to complete within 3-8 years (please note that 3 years completion time is a full time student load).

http://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/future_students/postgraduate_research/deg_dsw.shtml

(arrow down to the bottom of the page of that link 3-8 years).

My global observation is that most full-time PhD students who do not work and have a living scholarship still need to take the full allowable time of 4 years. Many need a six month extension. Being part-time and working can be a tough but very rewarding mix.

I have seen this system before and offer some caution. It is very difficult to do a PhD and work more than 50% of a part-time load at a good university and complete on time. Be careful about how much you work. International students need to keep an eye on the clock for visa purposes.

I suggest that you make the most of the university shutdown period when no classes are taught and spend the maximum amount of time on your thesis. If you have coursework during the first year, still try and make good progress on your thesis during this time.

Never underestimate how long it takes to finish a thesis and always aim to finish as early as possible. It is not unusual for an entire chapter to be written over many months in polished form and then discarded as it later become 'not useful'.

I am not being alarmist. You will have a lot of fun with your PhD over the years. My core point is to not work too much on paid work if possible. Always aim to progress as fast as you can and finish the thesis as fast as you can.

Germany has excellent universities!

Enjoy.

Best

Jay

S

shapol46 5 posts
8 years ago

Quote From DrJayJericho:
Hi Shapol46

I have seen this time-limit requirement in Australia for PhD equivalent degrees at good universities and I completed one of these programs in 8.5 years part-time. Check out how this PhD equivalent degree allows part-time candidates to complete within 3-8 years (please note that 3 years completion time is a full time student load).

http://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/future_students/postgraduate_research/deg_dsw.shtml

(arrow down to the bottom of the page of that link 3-8 years).

My global observation is that most full-time PhD students who do not work and have a living scholarship still need to take the full allowable time of 4 years. Many need a six month extension. Being part-time and working can be a tough but very rewarding mix.

I have seen this system before and offer some caution. It is very difficult to do a PhD and work more than 50% of a part-time load at a good university and complete on time. Be careful about how much you work. International students need to keep an eye on the clock for visa purposes.

I suggest that you make the most of the university shutdown period when no classes are taught and spend the maximum amount of time on your thesis. If you have coursework during the first year, still try and make good progress on your thesis during this time.

Never underestimate how long it takes to finish a thesis and always aim to finish as early as possible. It is not unusual for an entire chapter to be written over many months in polished form and then discarded as it later become 'not useful'.

I am not being alarmist. You will have a lot of fun with your PhD over the years. My core point is to not work too much on paid work if possible. Always aim to progress as fast as you can and finish the thesis as fast as you can.

Germany has excellent universities!

Enjoy.

Best

Jay

Dear Jay

Thank you very much for your kind suggestions. I saved your answer because I think I need to read it sometimes. To be honest during all years of my Bachelor and Master I worked several hours a day. Therefore, I understand what you mean. And based on my master thesis I am sure writing a thesis takes a long time,and particularly because I should write it in English and as you can see I am not good at writing and it makes it much more difficult.

Best,

Shapol

S

shapol46 5 posts
8 years ago

Quote From shapol46:
Hello everyone
I wanna apply for a PhD position in Germany. Working hours is part-time(65% week hours).The duration of PhD is 3 years. Actually I don't understand why some positions are full-time and some part-time while the duration is the same.I mean after graduation is there any difference between this two groups?Salary group is 13 TV-KAH and I don't know how much they pay. I appreciate if you could explain it.

Guys someone replied to my question here "http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/72918/part-time-phd-in-germany?answertab=votes#tab-top" and I thought it maybe useful for others.

( Most PhD students in Germany receive a regular salary, not a scholarship, and are officially employed as research/teaching assistent (this is what full-time/part-time refers to). It depends on various things like the source of funding if these positions are full-time or part-time.

The time you dedicate to writing your PhD thesis is technically your own free time. So there is usually no difference between these positions in terms of workload, value of the degree, etc, except for the salary. It's stupid, I know...

There are calculators on the internet that can tell you the exact salary, but lots of public charges depend on your personal situation (whether you have children etc) and things like where in Germany this is: http://oeffentlicher-dienst.info/c/t/rechner/tv-l/west?id=tv-l-2016i

For a 65% position it's currently ~2200 EUR/month (after taxes a bit less than 1500 EUR).

Part-time PhD

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