Other Funding

You can also finance your doctorate at TUM through TUM-external employment at non-university research institutions, companies, start-ups, etc. In this case, doctoral candidates are usually employed as research assistants at the respective institution or receive a doctoral scholarship. 

Non-university research institutions 

In addition to universities, Germany has a broad network of publicly funded research institutions that offer excellent research infrastructures and research conditions at the interface between science, society, and industry. Internationally renowned research organizations such as the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the Helmholtz Association, the Max Planck Society, or the Leibniz Association often have their own junior researcher support programs/graduate or research schools aimed at doctoral candidates. Since non-university research institutions in Germany do not have their own right to award doctorates, you will need a supervisor at TUM to complete your doctorate. You must also be officially admitted to doctoral research at TUM and fulfill all doctoral requirements of your TUM School. As an “external doctoral candidate,” you must be integrated into the academic environment of TUM but work and conduct research primarily at the location of your employer/scholarship provider.   

You will usually either be employed as a research assistant and receive a monthly salary or receive a doctoral scholarship, which you can use to finance your living expenses. Open positions and doctoral programs can be found directly on the respective institutions' websites.

Universities of Applied Sciences and other research institutions 

As part of joint research collaborations and jointly supervised doctoral projects, TUM doctoral candidates may also be employed as research assistants at universities of applied sciences (UAS), Bavarian state institutes, and other federal or state research institutions. As in the case of non-university research institutions, doctoral candidates who are employed by universities of applied sciences, Bavarian state authorities, etc., are integrated into the academic environment of TUM but generally spend most of their time working and researching on-site at their respective employers. In the case of TUM Campus Straubing, the cooperation with the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences is particularly close and structurally anchored. The TUM School of Life Sciences works closely with various Bavarian state institutes, e.g. in the fields of agriculture or forestry. Vacancies can be found directly on the websites of the respective institutions. 

Industry employment

Germany, and especially the greater Munich area, is home to many internationally renowned companies that offer a wide range of opportunities in research and development that are also suitable for doctoral projects. Some companies have set up their own programs specifically for doctoral candidates, in which application-oriented research projects are developed in cooperation with TUM and realized as doctoral projects under the supervision of a TUM professor. Here, too, doctoral candidates who are employed externally by companies for their research work are integrated into the academic environment of TUM but generally spend most of their time working and researching on-site at their respective employers. Open job advertisements and further information can be found directly on the respective companies' websites.