Pursuing a doctorate at the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences

  • Why a doctorate?
  • What motivates people to achieve the highest academic degree?
  • What is the fascination of working intensively on a research question or research topic over a very long period of time?
  • What (interdisciplinary) skills are acquired during the doctoral process?

The phenomenon of "motivation" can provide answers to these questions. Motivation is understood as the drive that drives people to pursue certain goals and to make efforts to achieve them (Michalke, 2021, Motivation fördern und erhalten, Springerverlag, pp. 239-258). For doctoral candidates, motivation is particularly diverse. It ranges from curiosity and the urge to solve scientific problems to the desire for academic recognition, the presence of social influences and the development of new career prospects, such as a professorship as a long-term goal.

A doctorate at a university of applied sciences offers the opportunity to conduct application-oriented research in smaller university structures.

The research project is being worked on continuously and intensively. Important scientific skills are acquired in the process, such as the ability to analyze, quickly grasp complex issues or understand cause-and-effect relationships. In addition, doctoral candidates acquire personal skills such as perseverance, persistence and the ability to deal positively with setbacks.

The process of gaining a doctorate also involves being enthusiastic again and again, convincing others of your ideas and engaging with new issues or even rethinking them. The focus of a doctorate is always on gaining scientific knowledge.

Reasons for pursuing a doctorate at a university of applied sciences

At a university of applied sciences, you work and conduct application-oriented research. You will always try to establish a practical connection with the scientific issues. If you are pursuing a doctorate as part of a research project, you will usually be working with partners from the field who can contribute specific practical problems.

The supervising professors at HFT Stuttgart want to ensure direct and intensive contact throughout the entire period of doctoral supervision. This includes regular status updates in the form of the "Thesis Committee" or informal, frequent meetings to discuss your research project.

Our professors not only have many years of expertise in their specialist disciplines, but also networks in industry and with public institutions. You can build on this pursuing your doctorate.

During the duration of your doctorate, you can attend various specialist and interdisciplinary continuing education courses. HFT Stuttgart has a continuing education center (SKiLL), which can also be used by our doctoral candidates. In addition, the Graduate School offers a qualification program tailored to doctoral candidates as well as the Promotionsverband as part of its BW-CAR DEEP Doctoral Empowering Excellence Program.

Why pursue a doctorate? Enjoying research is a prerequisite, but also a special motivation and curiosity to delve deep into a topic and gain your own insights.