Geethanjali, look at it this way: In Germany in most/all universities/institutes you would be a 'Wissenschaflicher Mitarbeiter'; which means something like 'Scientific worker'. You would NOT be a student but an employee, even if you are only receiving half a salary. Since you are an employee however, your PhD work (which is something separate to your primary purpose as a WM) unfortunately comes second to the work they want you to do, even if you do have a sympathetic supervisor. It would be highly likely though that your supervisor wouldn’t think to operate in any other way, given that they themselves have done their PhD under that approach. You might be lucky in that there is a strong coincidence with your paid work and your research work, but very often there won't be and there won't be much you can do about it. This system seems to be well known for exploiting people like ourselves, we're often seen merely as cheap labour. The situation is becoming worse with the lesser money that the DfG can afford to allocate to projects, and unfortunately, WM's are the most expendable in the chain to many professors

Hi there,

if you are looking for a PhD position in germany try:
www.bioberufe.de
This is for all types of jobs in biology, so search for promotion positions.

Done my undergrad in Germany. PhD in UK. Don't go to Germany!!!! It's much better in the UK. :-)

I am currently working on my PhD in Germany. I am working in electrical eng. Unfortunately, I must confirm what Karen said. As an employee, your project is not a priority at all. In fact you do have legal regulations that are supposed to protect you from being overloaded by tasks beyond your research. The problem is that if you chose to complain about your load and the progress of your PhD work, then in all cases, it is your word agaisnt that of your supervisor. In Germany, professors are immune. So you can deduce the outcome.

I work with people from France too, and I can say that it is much cleaner over there. Plans and tasks are made transparently. In France you are not allowed to start unless the funding is secured for 3 years. In addition, because extensions are rare, everything is done to make you graduate within 3 years, otherwise, your department, and thus your supervisor, share the responsibility of your failure. The only reason fror some people to go to Germany for a PhD may be the money, and again, only if you are on a full BAT scale.

I expected a lot from Germay and its system. It is all over not very competitive. Education is not eliterian and is at most subordinate to industry, in the same way as the training department in a factory. As a matter of fact, the best German students leave for the US, Canada, and even Australia these days.

"Be aware that in Germany it's not like the Kindergarten it is here, so you will have to be really independent. That has its positive and negative sides. Your education in Britain will be better, but you essentially don't do really any original work."

I am smiling right now. If it takes most German labs 5 years to write one conference paper while elsewhere people finish a PhD in 3 years, I say there is no comparison.

Lyndsey, I say look in the US. It's the best place for research and a great career. Good Luck.