Opportunities after completing your PhD

Having completed your PhD is a major accomplishment. A doctorate degree is also an entrance ticket for attractive post-graduate positions.

If you have completed your doctorate degree and have gained several years’ worth of experience in international research, a leadership position in a junior research team could be the right next move in your academic career.

If your passion is applied research and you are working on a topic that will be a good fit for corporate research and development departments, you may want give postdoc positions at companies a closer look.

If your long-term goal is a professorship and you want to stay in academics/science, then a position as a junior researcher at a university or non-university research institution may be right for you.

The foundation “Baden-Württemberg Stiftung” supports excellent young researchers with the “elite program for post-docs”. Selected outstanding young scientists receive funds to pursue their own research project.

For young female researchers, Baden-Württemberg has instituted the “Margarete von Wrangell program”. The program aims at supporting excellent female post-docs on their way to becoming university professors. The scholarship money is used to fund a position at a university department. The female post-docs also receive special trainings and are invited to networking events.

Academic careers for postdocs

If you want to start a career in academics as a postdoc, Baden-Württemberg offers excellent opportunities at research universities, collaborative research centers and independent institutes.

Postdocs at R&D departments

Seeing your research transform into real-world products and solutions can be highly appealing. If applied research is your passion, a postdoc position with a company is right for you.

Junior research leader

To advance your career at a university or research institutes to the next level, a junior research team leadership position could be right for you.