A Graduate Education Program at DESY in Cooperation with Universität Hamburg
The PIER Helmholtz Graduate School’s training programme encompasses three pillars:
Qualification – Interdisciplinarity – Support:
In the study programme, doctoral students acquire:
Doctoral students who successfully complete the study programme of the PIER Helmholtz Graduate School receive a certificate and a transcript of records. The effort of the study programme is calculated on the basis of credit points (CP).
A successful completion of the study programme requires 17 credit points: A minimum of 14 CP in the area of professional skills (categories A and B) and 3 CP in the area of key skills (category C):
A) Project-related group seminars and workshops in the main research field: 6 CP
B) Professional qualification in the PIER research fields: 8 CP
C) Obtaining key skills: 3 CP
Details:
Various interdisciplinary events in the PIER research fields provide participants with the basis for lively scientific discourse. The spectrum of events ranges from cross-curricular doctoral seminars that the participants organise themselves to interdisciplinary lecture weeks.
The third PHGS pillar is support. Optimal scientific support is crucial for enabling doctoral candidates to complete their dissertations quickly and successfully. Extracurricular services concerning career planning and social networking also help participants successfully complete their dissertations and embark smoothly on their careers.
Scientific support
At the PIER Helmholtz Graduate School, every doctoral candidate is supported by a team of supervisors. The team consists of a primary supervisor (from the research field in which the dissertation is being written) and at least one secondary supervisor (from another PIER research field, if possible). The formal conditions for supervision are defined in the respective Doctoral Degree Regulations of the University where the PhD student is admitted. For PhD students at University of Hamburg the Doctoral Degree Regulations of the Faculty for Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences apply. The formal conditions that a supervisor has to fulfil are specified in §6 (3): At least one supervisor must be a full-time professor or `habilitated´ member with an employment in the MIN faculty. In accordance with §4, a panel of supervisors, consisting of three people including a chair, a supervisor and a co-supervisor, can be appointed upon recommendation of the applicant as well.
At the beginning of their collaboration, the supervisors and the doctoral candidate sign the PIER Helmholtz Graduate School supervision agreement. This agreement contains binding regulations for the following points:
The supervisors cooperate with the doctoral candidate to draw up an individual work plan and time schedule for him or her The doctoral candidate must write a brief interim report at least once a year. He or she must also keep a brief log that provides feedback on the way the dissertation is progressing. This log serves as the basis for the next meeting with the supervisors. After the meeting, the doctoral candidate and the supervisors sign the log and forward it to the PIER Helmholtz Graduate School. The graduate school provides a template for the log. The doctoral candidate regularly meets with his or her supervisors in order to ensure that the dissertation is of high quality and will be completed on time
The supervisors can also make agreements with the doctoral candidate about other issues such as further training and education, career planning assistance, conflict resolution etc.
Extracurricular support
The following offers help to ensure that doctoral candidates enjoy good living and working conditions. They are especially useful for people who are new to Hamburg: