Can I obtain financial support?

We provide financial support during both phases (of course assuming adequate progress). During the preparatory phase starting after your BSc degree, this support comes in the form of scholarships (800 € per month) or teaching and research support contracts. During the research and dissertation phase, you are supported in the form of stipends (about 1400 € per month) or of research or teaching assistantships.

During the preparatory phase there is a tuition fee of 500 € per semester.

Which are the participating research institutes?

• Computer Science Department at Saarland University
• Max Planck Institute for Informatics
• Max Planck Institute for Software Systems
• German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI)
• Center for Bioinformatics

All these institutes are housed right next to each other on the Saarland University campus in Saarbrücken, an unparalleled concentration of computer science research expertise in Europe.

How can I apply?

We ask for the following materials

• CV
• transcript of all academic records, including high school diploma
• a brief statement explaining your motivation for pursuing a doctorate in computer science
• 2 letters of recommendation (to be sent to us directly by the referees, as prompted by the OAS * please note that only official affiliation e-mail addresses will be considered valid)
• if available, TOEFL scores, or equivalent record of English proficiency (TSE, Cambridge Certificate scores), otherwise a short statement with respect to your English qualifications.
• if available, GRE scores

To be considered for the next round of admissions, your complete application materials must reach us by October 31st, 2009.

Please use the online application system: OAS, and follow the instructions there.

In exceptional cases, they can be sent by traditional mail to

Universitaet des Saarlandes
Graduiertenschule Informatik
Campus E1 3
D-66123 Saarbrücken
GERMANY

or via email as a single pdf-document (except for the letters of recommendation) to
applications "at" gradschool.cs.uni-sb.de

Which other support is available?

The graduate school cooperates closely with the

• International Max Planck Research School for Computer Science (IMPRS-CS). In addition, it works in cooperation with the
• Research Training Group Quality Guarantees for Computer Systems, as well as with
• The European Post-Graduate College in Language Technology and Cognitive Systems

Please also have a look at the regulations for Ph.D Students.

For further questions contact:
Dr. Michelle Carnell,
email: carnell at cs.uni-saarland.de, Tel.: +49 681 302 5523