Doctoral Studies

There are various ways to complete a doctoral dissertation under the supervision of one or more members of LASER.

1. Application as a doctoral student doing independent research (funding open)

The most common way is to search for a main "advisor" for the dissertation. You will discuss the progress of your work almost exclusively with the main advisor. This advisor and an independent second advisor will grade your dissertation. It is possible to write your dissertation in English.

In addition, there may be some course duties encompassed within your work. Note that there are two main variants to the completion of the dissertation.

• Traditionally, there are no regular (weekly) graduate studies or courses that are compulsory for doctoral students. (Note that this somehow depends on your master's degree. That is, some course duties might be the result of your degree type.) You must be enrolled as a doctoral student for at least two semesters (1 year). At the end (after completion of the dissertation) there will be oral examinations.
• You can opt for a graduate study system (currently the name is "Promotionsvorbereitungsmodul"), which means that you are required to take six courses either in "Methodology and Evaluation" or "Doctoral Studies in Economics". At the end (after completion of the dissertation) there will be one oral examination (45-90 minutes oral defense of the dissertation). "Methodology and Evaluation" means that you take up to six courses in advanced methodological issues, depending on the specific area of your dissertation (e.g. on philosophy of science, structural equation modeling, meta-analysis etc.).

In order to find out whether an applicants research interest fit with a prospective advisor's, it is necessary to give the prospective advisor some impression concerning the applicant's previous research experience (e.g, publications, papers presented, research projects completed) as well as an idea of methodological knowledge in the respective field..

2. Application for scholarship within structured doctoral programs

The "Graduate Studies in Employment Research" is a joint program of the School of Business and Economics and the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), which offers grants to accepted graduate students. The program encourages application of doctoral students who are interested in empirical and theoretical labor market research and whose work benefits notably from working at the Institute. Participation in several courses on statistics and on labor market issues is compulsory. You will find further information on the program at this location.

The "Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics" offers both, fully funded Ph.D. level economics courses by internationally renowned instructors as well as a scholarship program for an elite group of students. The next openings for scholarships are not scheduled to be announced until 2009. However, you are invited to check www.bgpe.de for new developments and to apply for participation in the course program.

3. Application for research assistantships at the Institute for Employment Research

If you are interested in doing labor market research or in advising the administration, the government, and the public, you might also apply for a job at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg. As a junior researcher at the Institute, you will typically work within projects on labor market issues and receive a competitive salary. In many cases, it is possible to combine this project work with research for your doctoral thesis. You will find current information on job offers at the Institute.