Support During the Doctorate 

As a supervisor you play a pivotal role in advancing the scientific and interdisciplinary qualification of your doctoral researchers. You take on this responsibility with a solid understanding of the regulatory frameworks and a commitment to act as a role model.

At KIT you have access to a wide range of support services that help you accompany your doctoral researchers.

The ▶ Guidelines for the Doctorate at KIT serve as a compass and orientation for developing effective supervision relationships. They also lay out the doctoral regulatory framework – including Good Research Practice statutes, the doctoral regulations, and the “Good Work at KIT” self‑commitment.

Discuss mutual expectations openly. When the supervision involves additional subject-specific contacts (e.g., group leaders, postdocs), define each person’s role clearly and schedule regular joint meetings.

KIT offers a variety of support and training opportunities for you as supervisors and leaders (e.g., ▶ PEBA, ▶ FTU, ▶ KMB).

Beyond the subject-specific guidance of a doctoral project, you also help your early-career researchers build interdisciplinary competence. In addition, surveys of KIT doctoral researchers show a strong demand for career‑development discussions with their supervisors (e.g., during the ▶ annual appraisal).

Interdisciplinary qualification and career development are essential pillars of the doctoral phase – alongside the research itself. As a supervisor you help your doctoral researchers acquire competences needed for a range of professional career paths so that they can compete for attractive positions both inside and outside academia, nationally and internationally.

KHYS offers the interdisciplinary further-education program ▶ "Fit for your next career step" (FIT), co-created with partner organizations to address the specific demands of the doctoral stage. The program covers five core areas:

  • Research Skills·
  • Communication
  • Management and Leadership
  • Languages
  • Career

Participation is free of charge – KHYS covers the fees.

For career development, KHYS also provides individual ▶ career coaching with external professional coaches, tailored to each doctoral researcher’s goals.

KHYS actively promotes networking for your doctoral researchers – both within KIT and beyond – to boost exchange and raise the profile of your research group.

Inter-departmental networking is encouraged through events such as:

▶ Welcome Event for Doctoral Researchers
▶ KIT Doctoral Days
▶ KHYS-Foyergespräche

International mobility is also a priority. KHYS supports early‑career researchers who wish to go abroad and helps internationalize activities on site in Karlsruhe. The ▶ KHYS Research Travel Grant, creates new opportunities for your group to establish and deepen contacts abroad. The ▶ HIDA Mobility Program of the Helmholtz Information & Data Science Academy offers the possibility to apply for research stays at selected partner institutions abroad or at another Helmholtz Center. In addition, ▶ HIDA Course Funding facilitates the organization and implementation of own training events in (applied) information and data science through financial support.

Supervising a doctorate is a demanding, often long‑term partnership. Diverging expectations or personal challenges can quickly turn into tension or misunderstandings. Spotting such issues early and addressing them openly is essential.

Both KHYS and KIT offer a wide range of counselling and support services for you and your doctoral researchers:

KHYS offers open consultation hours in principle every Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m. in Bldg. 30.96, room 116. [▶ more]

KIT appointed special Ombudspersons for doctoral researchers and supervisors to support the solution finding for problems or conflicts which arise as part of the supervisory relationship. You can find further information and personal profiles of the Ombudspersons ▶ here.

Compliance with the rules of good research practice is indispensable for all scientists. The ▶ Ombudspersons for Safeguarding Good Research Practice, as persons of trust, advise those who inform them about suspected scientific misconduct by others. On the other hand, those suspected of misconduct can also contact the responsible Ombudsperson.

In addition to their advisory activities, the Ombudsmen regularly give lectures at KIT, for example during the KIT Doctoral Days. Further information can be found in the presentation ▶ How to Avoid Scientific Malpractice (PDF file, only in German). Moreover, the ▶ Office for Good Scientific Practice and Ethical Principles at KIT (Office GWP) supports the communication and implementation of good research practice (German: "Gute wissenschaftliche Praxis", GWP) at KIT.

In addition, the ▶ Ombuds Committee for Research Integrity in Germany (OWID) appointed by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; DFG) is available to all scientists for advice and support on questions of good research practice and its violation via scientific dishonesty.

The ▶ Guidelines for Ethical Principles of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) declare that all members of KIT are to make use the freedom of art and scholarship, research, and teaching, as described in Art. 5 par. 3 of the German Basic Law in a conscious and responsible manner.

The KIT Senate actively supports the discourse on ethics in science. To this end, it has appointed ▶ two Ombudspersons for Ethical Principles and an Ethics Committee. They are responsible for the further development of the ▶ Guidelines for Ethical Principles of KIT and for advising KIT members and associates and support them regarding sensitive issues. As a KIT member, you can contact one of the Ombudspersons with your questions at any time.

In addition, the ▶ Office for Good Scientific Practice and Ethical Principles at KIT (Office GWP) supports the Ombudspersons for Ethical Principles and the KIT Ethics Committee.

The conflict management and psychosocial counseling unit (KMB) serves as an additional contact point for all members of KIT and offers competent help in the shape of individual counseling, coaching, conflict counseling, mediation, team support and arranging further support services. The counselling services provide assistance with all problems that limit your ability  to work. These can be based on both the work context as well as your personal situation.

For all legal questions regarding the processes for the doctorate and the doctoral ordinances please contact the service unit ▶ Higher Education Law and Academic Affairs (DE HAA).

KIT offers its members further contact points. On the ▶ website of the Conflict Management and Psychosocial Counseling unit (KMB) you can find an overview. In addition, we have compiled a selection for you:

▶ Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination Working Group
▶ Compliance Staff Unit
▶ Contact Person for Anti-discrimination
▶ Contact Persons for Sexual Harassment
▶ Contact Person for the General Equal Treatment Act
▶ Conventions of Doctoral Researchers
▶ Equal Opportunities
▶ Gender and Diversity Management
▶ International Welcome Office (IWO)
▶ KIT Suggestion Box
▶ Medizinische Dienste (medical services)
▶ Network Health
▶ Occupational Safety
▶ Personalrat (staff council)
▶ Personnel Service
▶ Representative for Students with Disabilities and Chronic Diseases BBC
▶ Schwerbehindertenvertretung (representatives for the severely handicapped)
▶ Studierendenwerk Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe student services)
▶ Whistleblower Portal