Research

This page contains automatically translated content.

Research (Forschung)

University and non-university research institutions and centers:

Research and teaching: Conducting research projects and their publication, planning, administration and organization of the research project and courses.

Get first-hand experience as

scientific/student assistant in your institute or at an institute of your discipline.

Good to have

  • Studying or completed Master degree
  • Good grades
  • A research focus already at an early stage of your studies
  • Languages skills. Only-english positions are limited, thus it is advisable to have at least a working-level German proficiency
  • Relevant references (in- and outside academia)

University sector

The majority of people employed in research work at universities.

There are many positions suitable for young professionals (e.g. research assistant, lecturer for special tasks, doctoral student). Outside of professorships, however, there are almost only temporary positions in the university sector, which may also only be filled for a certain period of time (fixed-term basis).
There are only a few professorships to be filled in Germany (for every 30,000 doctorates completed, there are about 1,000 new professorships to be filled each year).


Non-university sector

there are many research institutions that conduct research in a specific subject area, for example:

In the non-university research sector, there are significantly more positions in the technical and natural sciences than in the humanities or social sciences.

There are also many temporary positions, although fewer than in the university sector.

Job offers can be found mainly on the corresponding portals of the universities, job exchanges in the public sector and in the labor market booklets of the Wissenschaftsladen Bonn (WILA). Check also the 2  last examples we mentioned above, it provides a link with a list of different research institutions and academies in Germany.

There are no direct alternatives. You have to be prepared to consider a career outside of academia. In principle, this is possible with both a master's degree and a doctorate, but links to the desired alternative must always be created.
For more information: Bachelor, Master or a PhD to enter the job market?