Doctoral Students in Germany 2010: How Many Are There and What They Study

Abstract

Data on doctoral students in Germany are required for national and international educational reports. However,due to the provisions in the enrolment and doctoral degree regulations at institutions of higher education,undercoverage of the data on doctoral students is observed in the statistics of students. Doctoral students whoare not enrolled at institutions of higher education are not covered there. Hence, the Federal Statistical Offi cehad been asked by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to conduct a survey on doctoral studentsin Germany. Th e purpose was to develop a concept which provides reliable information on doctoral studentsin Germany. Th e survey provides comprehensive results on doctoral students in Germany in winter semester2010/2011. It shows that about 200 400 doctoral students were supervised by professors at German institutionsof higher education in winter semester 2010/2011.

Keywords

• Doctoral students
• institutions of higher education
• professors
• students
• Federal Statistical Office of Germany