What Students Say
Likes
- They have the best computational modeling research group in area (Psycholinguistics) and I wanted to learn modeling in my PhD. I also got PhD offers from UC San Diego, University of Southern Carolina, and interview call for Max Planck. But I chose Potsdam over them because I knew what exactly I wanted to learn during my PhD and other factors did not matter to me.
- Fewer evaluations during PhD, research freedom, research facilities, work culture, peer group, location, German culture, access to travel in Europe, Berlin nightlife
Dislikes
- No cafeteria, too much bureaucracy
The German universities have very different academic system compared to US and India. Their academic institutions are decentralized in decision making, research, and teaching. That means, only your advisor is responsible for your PhD with zero interference from the department and the institute. Teaching also goes like that. The department rarely decides on something regarding your research evaluation. It gives you a lot of research freedom and lesser stress. The work culture is also really cool. It is a norm that you don't work beyond work hours and on the weekends. The professors respect students in the same way as they respect their colleagues. Plus, German culture has a lot to teach Indian students, e.g., respecting other's time, discipline, work integrity. Overall, it was a wonderful experience for me.
Course Curriculum
No course work in PhD in Germany. My whole PhD was a set of research projects.
Faculty
Faculty-student ratio does not matter for a PhD. My PhD advisor, Shravan Vasishth has huge impact on me.
Campus Life
Facilities were all good. It is a very small campus. There are not cafe inside the campus, rest is good.
Placement
90% students from the group gets placed in academia or industry. I don't know much about their salaries.
Accommodation
Average rentals in the city: 600 EUR per month.
Exams
DAAD funding for doctoral research in Germany: It required the German advisor's recommendation letter to DAAD, Indian referees' recommendation letters to DAAD, a good research proposal, and a master's degree in related discipline. . Documents required for DAAD application: Research proposal (~10 pages), Schedule of planned research work, Letter confirming supervision from a German uni professor, Bachelors and Masters degree and transcripts, TOEFL scores, DAAD application form, recommendation from two Indian referees in a sealed envelope. One round of interview with DAAD. If you apply to scholarships in Europe (e.g., DAAD), the process is like this: You email professors of your interest, if they like your profile you talk to them and decide on a possible research project, you write a detailed research proposal, submit the proposal along with other application documents to the funding agency. The funding agency reviews your proposal and selected you for interview if they like your docs. After the interview, they tell you whether you will get the funding or not. Once funding is confirmed, you apply for admission in the European univ. with the proof that you have your own funding. There are no admission criteria at the university level except that your advisor should agree to admit you.
Fees
No fees.
Scholarship
German Academic Exchange Program called DAAD's scholarship for doctoral research in Germany. It pays 1200 Euros per month. You can do extra academic work like TAship to make some more money.
