PhD Program - 2nd Phase of Direct Track
In the 3-years PhD phase of Matter to Life (MtL), you will pursue interdisciplinary research in one of the MtL Fellow laboratories distributed all over Germany. In this phase, you are going to apply your gained knowledge and experiences from the first phase to a specific research question building up on latest scientific achievements and applying cutting edge technologies. Because of the nature of the MtL program, you will also benefit from the MtL community and your network which you started developing during the first phase and which will continuously grow over this time. We highly encourage our students to use this opportunity to collaborate and exchange on an easy, unique and excellent level.
During the master phase, you have enough time and plenty of opportunities to get to know the MtL Fellows in order to choose the best fit for you and your project during the PhD phase. Therefore, it is not necessary to think about projects or contact a respective Fellow before the program actually starts.
"Thanks to the different practical experiences in my various areas of interest during lab rotations and thesis project during the Master’s phase, I discovered my passion in science and gained special skills which then led to my PhD project."
Aysecan Ünal, MtL PhD Student
In order to ensure the best supervision and support during this phase, similarly to the master phase, you will have the option to consult a mentor and discuss scientific as well as career-oriented topics. On top of this, your progress will be evaluated during an annual meeting with your thesis advisory committee consisting of scientific experts in your research area, which offer additional support and guidance for your project. This ensures not only broad scientific input, additional exchange and collaborations, but will also help you to solve possible conflicts with your project and supervisor.
In addition to everything mentioned above, you will participate and contribute to various events, including scientific symposia and conferences, skill and career workshops and community events. These are designed to follow the needs and interests of our students and will complete your individual training and scientific development.
All student will be employed with a contract and enrolled additionally at the university of their respective supervising Fellow.