Higher Level Education System

Postgraduate Study in Germany
Higher Education System
Education is very, very important in Germany. It has been for a long time. The beautiful and historic universities of Heidelberg, Humboldt (in Berlin) and Halle are evidence of a wealth of educational heritage. Germany has long been at the forefront of technological research and innovation with institutions such as the Max Planck Institutes carrying this through to the present day. The system is characterised by a certain variety and freedom of areas of study, with students being given particular responsibilities over their own studies.

International students are very welcome at German universities. There are a number of dedicated postgraduate schemes aimed at attracting foreign students to Germany through attractive courses of study and funding. Research in Germany is particularly popular for international academics and scientists. There are approximately 20,000 foreign researchers at Germany's universities and scientific institutes supported by German funding organisations at the moment.

The German education system is officially the ‘longest’ in the world. Germans generally spend more time in higher education and leave university at an older age than Irish and other nationalities. Almost half of all Germans go on to study at the more than 350 universities in Germany. Higher education institutions are generally public and accredited by the federal states, meaning that there can be differences between, say, awards granted by a university in Hesse and one in Bavaria.

The German higher education system is relatively complex, with a number of options available to prospective students. Universities are the most popular venues where traditional academic subjects such as law, philosophy, mathematics, social sciences etc are taught. Science and engineering students also attend universities. These are called Technical Universities or Technical Hochschulen. There are also university-level colleges of art, music and film.

Running parallel to the university standard is the Fachhochschulen (roughly translated as Schools of Applied Science), which confer degrees but not doctorates. Fachhochschulen offer more practical and vocational courses than other institutions.

[Undergraduate]
Grundstudium – 2 years
Hauptstudium – 2 to 3 years
[Postgraduate]
Zertifikat or Diplom – 1 to 2 years
Promotion / Doctorate – 2 to 5 years

The German academic year is divided into winter and summer semesters. Different universities use different calendars, but there are reasonably long breaks at Christmas and during the summer. Although most courses are taught in German, a growing number of taught and research programmes are conducted through English.

Recently, the German postgraduate system has opened up a little with the establishment of Structured Doctoral Programmes. Many of these programmes have an international focus, and are taught through English. Admission requirements tend to be more flexible than traditional German doctorate programmes and team based research plays a greater role.
Also of interest to the potential international postgraduate student should be the recently instituted International Postgraduate Programmes (IPP). ‘IPP Made in Germany’ is a network of 50 postgraduate programmes offered in a wide range of disciplines and subjects at centres of scientific excellence throughout Germany. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has made considerable resources available to attract high quality international researchers into the programme. There is a mix of taught and research elements and teaching includes guest lectures delivered by foreign academics and scientists. The doctoral thesis may be written in English or in another world language. The programme encourages participants to complete research periods at universities abroad. A number of postgraduate programmes operate 1 or 2-year Master's degree courses, which can be taken before entry into the full doctorate programme.