How to Find a PhD or Postdoc Position in Germany
The tutorial below is written specifically for Germany, with a focus on the fields I’m most familiar with (cognitive science, psychology, linguistics, or similar). It might contain tips that are useful for other countries or research fields, but please double-check, as there may be differences.
It is not an exhaustive list of options, just my personal experience and that of people I know – prepared as a guideline for anyone interested. I often receive questions about how to find a PhD or a postdoc position in Germany, and here is the answer.
If you spot a mistake, a broken link, or have any suggestions on how to improve the page, just contact me.
So, how to find a PhD or a postdoc position in Germany?
Two pathways:
🟦 (A) Apply for an existing position
🟧 (B) Secure your own funding + find a host
Both routes are used frequently in Germany, and many international researchers combine them.
1. What these positions are called (English + German)
PhD positions are commonly called:
PhD position
Doctoral Researcher
Research Assistant (PhD)
Doctoral Candidate
German terms:
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (Mitarbeiter*in) (65% or 75% E13)
Doktorand (Doktorand*in)
Promotionsstelle
E13 TV-L (salary scale)
Postdoc positions are commonly called:
Postdoctoral Researcher
Research Associate
Postdoc / Postdoctoral Fellow
German terms:
Postdoktorand (Postdoktorand*in)
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (Mitarbeiter*in) (100% E13/E14)
E13/E14 TV-L (Vollzeit)
Key insight:
Many German PhD and Postdoc positions are actually titled Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (Wissenschaftliche*r Mitarbeiter*in) (research employee).
This single term covers both PhD and postdoc roles.
The % (65% vs. 100%) and the job duties usually indicate the career stage: 65-70% for PhD positions and 100% for postdocs.
2. Where to search for existing funded positions
Most portals have a filtering system, e.g., filter by country or even city, career stage, or discipline. Once you find a good combination of parameters that works for you, you can save the searching page and regularly check it, or even set a regular job alert on your profile (on some of the portals) and receive relevant job offers via email.
⭐ EURAXESS (academic job portal for Europe)
Jobs from all German institutions:
https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/search
How to search:
Country: Germany
Research fields: Psychology, Neuroscience, Linguistics, Cognitive Science
Researcher levels: R1 (PhD), R2 (Postdoc)
⭐ Graduate schools (structured PhD programmes)
Examples:
Max Planck School of Cognition
https://cognition.maxplanckschools.org/
IMPRS Graduate Schools (Max Planck Society)
https://www.mpg.de/en/imprs
(Cognitive neuroscience, psycholinguistics, neuroimaging, linguistics)
These recruit internationally and always include funding.
⭐ University job portals
Identify universities where your discipline of interest is represented. For example, here are some universities with strong cognitive science / psycho- / neuro- / linguistics (examples, not ranking):
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin https://www.hu-berlin.de/de/service/arbeit/stellen
Freie Universität Berlin https://www.fu-berlin.de/universitaet/beruf-karriere/jobs/index.html
TU Berlin https://www.jobs.tu-berlin.de/stellenausschreibungen
Universität Leipzig https://www.uni-leipzig.de/universitaet/arbeiten-an-der-universitaet-leipzig/stellenausschreibungen
Universität Osnabrück https://www.uni-osnabrueck.de/universitaet/arbeiten-an-der-uni/stellenangebote
LMU https://www.lmu.de/de/die-lmu/arbeiten-an-der-lmu/stellenportal/
TUM https://www.tum.de/ueber-die-tum/karriere-und-jobs/stellenangebote
Universität Tübingen https://uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet/karriere/freie-stellen/
Universität Potsdam https://www.uni-potsdam.de/de/verwaltung/dezernat3/stellenausschreibungen
RWTH Aachen https://www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/root/wir/karriere/~buym/rwth-jobportal/?showall=1
Universität Konstanz https://www.uni-konstanz.de/personalabteilung/stellenangebote-1/stellenangebote-der-universitaet-konstanz/
Universität Freiburg https://uni-freiburg.de/stellenangebote/
etc.
Then search for the university webpage listing academic job postings. These sections are usually titled:
Job offers
Stellenangebote
Stellenausschreibungen
Jobs
Career
Karriere
Ausschreibungen
Use filters to find suitable positions. Check those pages regularly.
⭐ Aggregators for academic positions
Across all job portals / aggregators, use filters to find suitable positions. Sometimes, you can set up a search request and receive lists of suitable jobs via email on a regular basis.
DUZ Wissenschaftskarriere (in German)
https://wissenschaftskarriere.duz.de/jobs/wissenschaftlicher-nachwuchs
jobs.myScience
https://www.myscience.de/en/jobs
Leibniz career portal
https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/en/careers/jobs
Max Planck – Job offers
PhDGermany – The platform for doctoral positions in Germany
https://www.daad.de/en/studying-in-germany/phd-studies-research/phd-germany/
ResearchGate Jobs
https://www.researchgate.net/jobs
⭐ Generic job boards
These surprisingly often include academic posts:
LinkedIn Jobs
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/
StepStone
Jobted
Check those portals and aggregators, as well as university webpages, regularly, e.g., once a week. Also, identify networks and mailing lists relevant to your field and subscribe to them.
This is very common for postdocs, but also possible for PhD applicants.
Process:
Find a host professor/group in Germany willing to supervise you.
Apply for external funding (DAAD, Humboldt, EU MSCA, foundations).
Once awarded, you join the German institution as a funded researcher.
1. How to find a host professor/group
⭐ Use university institute pages
Search for labs in:
Cognitive science
Psychology
Neuroscience
Linguistics / Psycholinguistics
Cognitive modeling
Neurolinguistics
Look at:
publications
ongoing projects
grants
open positions
Contact PIs directly with:
CV
Motivation letter
Short project idea
Why you want to work in their group
⭐ Search by research topic via web tools
Google Scholar (find active labs in your topic)
PubMed
Look for German-affiliated authors and approach them.
Emailing potential supervisors (PhD or postdoc)
Write a short, targeted email:
Subject: “Prospective PhD student in cognitive neuroscience – [Your Name]”
or “Prospective postdoc in psycholinguistics – funding opportunities?”
Include:
1-2 sentences on who you are (degree, current position).
2-3 sentences on your research interests and how they align with the lab.
1-2 concrete ideas or methods you could bring (e.g. experience with EEG/MEG, fMRI, R, Python, psychophysics, corpus linguistics).
Ask if they foresee any upcoming positions or would be interested in joint fellowship/scholarship applications (see details below).
Attach CV + brief research statement (max 2 pages).
This works especially well when combined with:
DAAD doctoral scholarships & research grants
Humboldt / MSCA / other postdoc fellowships
2. Where to get funding (scholarships & fellowships)
⭐ DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)
Main source for international funding for PhD and postdoc projects.
Scholarship database:
https://www.daad.de/en/studying-in-germany/scholarships/
⭐ Humboldt Foundation (for postdocs)
One of the most prestigious postdoc fellowships.
Humboldt Research Fellowship (Postdoc)
https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/
⭐ Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) – Postdoctoral Fellowships
EU-wide, extremely competitive, hosted at German institutions.
https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/
⭐ DFG (German Research Foundation) – for postdocs
https://www.dfg.de/de/foerderung/foerdermoeglichkeiten/programme
Walter Benjamin (for postdocs in early career phase; requires a German host institution).
Einzelprojekte (Sachbeihilfe) à Module Eigene Stelle (independent project; requires a German host institution).
⭐ Various foundations (party-affiliated, religious, or trade-union-associated)
⚠️ Mostly fund PhDs, not postdocs
Exceptions exist, but standard schemes support doctoral candidates.
You do not have to be affiliated with a political party or religious association to apply for this type of funding. It is more about the general alignment of your values and the goals of your project with the values and objectives of the foundation, in a broad sense. For example, if your project can be used to analyze inequalities in school education between children with and without a migration background, it might align with the goals of the social-democratic-affiliated or with a trade-union-associated foundation. If your project focuses on ecological psychology and examines why people tend to ignore information about climate change and avoid taking action, it might align with the goals of the green-affiliated foundation, etc. Another important criterion is that you should demonstrate your civic engagement which aligns with the values of the foundation.
The selection procedure may include interviews or participation in an assessment center. Usually, German language skills are required to receive this funding.
Examples:
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) – social-democratic (SPD)
https://www.fes.de/studienfoerderung
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung – green party (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
https://www.boell.de/en/scholarships
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) – conservative (CDU/CSU)
https://www.kas.de/en/web/begabtenfoerderung-und-kultur/promotionsfoerderung
Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung (RLS) – left party (Die Linke)
https://www.rosalux.de/en/foundation/studienwerk
Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit (FNF) – liberal (FDP)
https://www.freiheit.org/scholarships-for-doctoral-students
Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst – religious
https://www.evstudienwerk.de/foerderung/forschung/psp/
Stiftung der deutschen Wirtschaft (sdw)
You can find more foundations here: https://www.bmftr.bund.de/DE/Forschung/AkademischeLaufbahn/Studium/Finanzierung/Stipendien/begabtenfoerderungswerke/begabtenfoerderungswerke_node.html
⭐ Other foundations for research projects
Some examples:
VolkswagenStiftung – Postdoctoral and thematic calls: https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/en/our-funding-portfolio
Einstein Foundation Berlin – Funding for Berlin-hosted projects: https://www.einsteinfoundation.de/en/funding
If you want speed →
Choose existing positions (Path A).
You can start immediately if selected.
If you want control over your project →
Choose funding + host (Path B).
Ideal for postdocs and for PhD applicants with strong research proposals.
Mailing lists and professional societies are one of the most effective ways to find PhD and postdoc positions in Germany, especially in academic fields where many positions are advertised informally or with short deadlines. By subscribing to the relevant lists, you can receive job postings, conference announcements, and calls for applications directly by email.
Why mailing lists matter
Many labs advertise positions on mailing lists before posting on job portals.
Some positions never appear on public job boards and are only shared in disciplinary networks.
You get highly targeted ads relevant to your subfield (e.g., psycholinguistics, cognitive neuroscience, computational modelling).
It helps you understand what kinds of research groups, projects, and methods are active in Germany.