Is anyone familiar with the academia in the UK / Germany?

[ahwndlnd]

Hi,

I just started my soc phd program in the US (top 15 ish?), but I have plans to relocate to Europe for personal reasons in a couple years. I will most likely end up in Berlin or London. I want to gather as much information as possible before I plan the details of my move, and I need to decide if I want to continue my studies at all. I really like LSE (got accepted to their MSc but chose to go for PhD), but I don’t know anything about the realities of being a PhD student in Europe. ANY insight / advice would be much much appreciated!!! FYI: I have a pretty broad range of interests: culture, economic sociology, social psychology, comparative sociology, social movements, etc. I’m also open in terms of career options, and not super adamant on staying in the academia / becoming a professor. 

 

Some specific questions I have are:

- Both for UK & Germany: how do schools compare to the US? In terms of culture, academic traditions, funding, job market stress, or anything else.

- Will not being fluent in German become a significant obstacle if I want to study in Germany? Or is it easy to study in English?

- Is there anything I should note as a non-EU citizen? (I’m also not a US citizen so I’m used to the intl student life...)

[societyisinteresting]

Hi,

I don't feel super qualified to speak to most of this but I'm from the U.S. and currently doing an MA in Germany (not in sociology) so I'll try to provide some insight. In Germany, school will unambiguously be free and I have not met a PhD student that doesn't also have additional funding. All of the research presentations etc. I've heard of are in English. There is probably some bias here (I'm more likely to hear of them if they're in English as I speak no German) but I get the impression that it's not a significant barrier to not know German. Two of my four professors don't speak German at all. It seems most graduate-level education here is primarily in English. I think academic culture is pretty similar to the U.S.--I can't think of anything that's shockingly different based on my limited experience.

You're expected to have a master's degree before entering a PhD in Germany and the UK. I have heard that getting funding as an international student in the UK can be a problem but I don't know the details.

Hopefully someone who knows more about doing a PhD can jump in, but let me know if you have any other questions about Germany and I'll help however I can!

[janeausten]

Disclaimer : I did Masters in Germany. I was offered PhD, but did not want to do, so my answer is based on my experience+ what I hear from friends continuing for PhD.

I agree with stuff @societyisinteresting has written. Unless the PhD job post specifically mentions that you need to know German, language wont be an issue. Although if you plan to study sociology, you may have to check whether such programs are available. What I have noticed it, for sciences and especially computer science, biology etc, language is never a barrier in Germany. But the more you move away from this cluster, language may become an issue, meaning that it may be difficult to find courses and projects available which do not require knowledge of German. If you do have to move to Europe, UK and Netherlands may be a better option from language perspective, as projects would expect english knowledge. Atleast in my college, I had noticed that if you wanted to study law, social science, philosophy or even theoretical maths, subjects were only offered in german, and same for projects.

As for funding, you wont need to pay any money in Germany and funding and salary is pretty good. All the best!

[HeartOfGlass]

Hi there! I have never studied in either countries, but I have thought about doing my MA and PhD in Germany so I did a lot of searching. I am speaking from the info I know, and I hope they help you a bit!

Language: If you are doing quant stuff it's more likely you are using English exclusively in academia. Some survey projects aimed to German speaking audiences might require German skills, but in general, you should be fine. Also European countries have pretty close academic relationships with each other, so most European scholars speak good English just to better communicate. As for daily speaking, major cities or college town like Berlin and Heidelberg have a very considerable English speaking population, but in rural places ppl (especially elders) generally only speak German. Just like any other non-English-speaking places. From my own experiences traveling in Germany, they usually speak good English. And it is never hurtful to learn a new language, right? If my memory serves, German government fund programs to teach immigrants and foreigners for free. 

Money:  Living in Germany is cheap. Like, really cheap. Eastern part of Germany is cheaper than western part. If you are not sure you can check the cost of living online. Plus universities don't charge tuition, give you cheap/free transportation card, and you rarely need a car. But if you do own a car (although I don't see why that's necessary), the gas is very expensive. It's expensive across Europe.

Academic tradition: most German schools provide solid training and they treat their research seriously. Also, they bring up questions and topics that are not common in the US, which is a nice way to think about stuff from a different angle. If your area of research is not the more popular in the US, Germany could be a nice place to look at. That said, many schools are not very competitive in the US, because they are in different systems and American Sociology value North American schools more. So if you are moving back to US, it is something to keep in mind. There are famous institutions considered reputable in US, depends on what your field of study is. I think the best way would be to ask your academic advisors and other uni profs, since they are experts and are more likely to know what's going on in Europe. Within Europe/Germany, most unis have solid reputation. 

Another note on German academia: Besides Universities, there are other reputable (if not more reputable)  research institutions across Germany. Institutions like Max-Planck and Leibniz have many research centers (NOT limited in hard science) all over the country, and they are worth to look at. They pay well, have a lot of research funding, and are usually internationally reputable.