Evaluating RTG TransEvo Graduate School at the Kiel University in Germany

I chose this university as the topics that I have been working on was the suitable one that I had been looking into. I am highly satisfied with the offer from Kiel University, its a place where you can learn almost everything that is on your list.

Education is free at my University, meaning that a doctoral researcher can enjoy any of the curricula and appear for the exam if they wish to evaluate their learnings. Coming to the doctoral research training programme, PhD candidates are supervised by not only their primary supervisor, there is a committee that actually tracks the progress of the researchers on a yearly basis. The expectation is that PhD candidates should give a brief overview of their project and this will be followed by suggestions from the committee and discussion. There is an opportunity to meet and discuss with other PhD students and postdocs in the consortia at the TransEvo core seminar, which usually happens once every two months. Students meet and discuss their work with other scientists and industry partners during TrasEvo yearly retreat (Evolution by the Sea), which usually happens every year in September. Please refer to this link to get a detailed structure: https://transevo.de/

The working environment is highly international, meaning that the mode of communication is always in English. I feel very blessed to be a part of the consortia and I highly value my supervisor Prof. Dr. Hinrich Schulenburg for his timely supervision and support.

Being a doctoral student, one can access most of the offers from the University, discounted food in the cafeteria/canteen. Discounts on sports facilities as well.

Job fairs are organized on a yearly basis, there is an opportunity to meet new people during the core seminars and the re-treatment. Another important module is the rotation project, where a student can also do part of his/her PhD dissertation with a partner institute or in some industry.

Accommodation facilities are provided by the University student council but the cost needs to be borne by the student.

- As such my graduate school TransEvo did not ask for a certification to prove my English speaking skills but with the online and in-person interviews it was thoroughly evaluated. - Pondicherry University, MSc Microbiology CGPA: 7.64/10 - 10th Overall grade: A+ 12th Overall grade: A - Requirements: I had to give email IDs to my referees and I believe TransEvo officials sent them questionnaire. - Interview Round: I had to go through one round of 1st interview directly with my supervisor Prof. Dr. Hinrich Schulenburg. This interview was an online call over zoom, where I discussed my previous MSc dissertation work with him, then after I was invited to participate on a selection symposium in Kiel Germany back in 2022. I had to present my previous work in the form of a poster to other professors in my graduate school and there was a discussion with fellow colleagues and the Q&A session. The selection symposium lasted for three days, on the second day I had to go through couple of interviews with my PI, Hinrich, my current lab mates and two other Professors related to my field.

As I said, Kiel University does not charge any fee for the tuition. However to enjoy food, transportation options and other offers from the University, students are encouraged to enroll themselves in the semester, which usually costs definitely not more 300 Euros, i.e. INR 26.807,70 for 6 months.

I have a doctoral contract with Kiel University for 3 years, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) Translational Evolutionary Research 2501. The salary is based on the contracts for the German public service policy (65% TVL-E13).