Report on the Survey 2012 amongst doctoral candidates within the Helmholtz Association: Created, carried out and evaluated by the Helmholtz Juniors, the PhD representatives of the Helmholtz Association

Abstract

The Helmholtz Juniors are the PhD students‘ network of the German Helmholtz-Association (HGF). Their main mission is to intensify collaboration between the PhD students of the different Helmholtz research centers and improvement of the PhD education. In order to represent the interest of the PhD students at the Helmholtz Association, we need to have precise and up-to-date knowledge about the working conditions, problems and wishes of PhDs. This survey is a crucial basis. In the report, firstly we provide information about the background of the participants. Secondly we address four main topics of interest, namely PhD project planning, the income situation of PhD students, conditions for starting a family during the time as PhD student and the situation of students of foreign nationalities within the HGF. And thirdly we report results regarding the Helmholtz graduate schools.