Due to the unsatisfactory availability of data on the career paths of young scientists and researchers at German universities, the iFQ has begun to set up a longitudinal survey on doctoral candidates (Panel). The project will start by addressing the question of whether the increasing introduction of structured doctoral programmes at German universities is changing the career patterns of doctorate holders.

The project will initially start with a sample of two contrasting groups: Doctoral candidates from the DFG-funded Research Training Groups (Graduiertenkollegs) and Collaborative Research Centres (Sonderforschungsbereiche) will be compared with the group of “traditional doctoral candidates” without involvement in specific doctoral training groups. ProFile is partly funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Participants will be interviewed at the start of their doctoral training (first wave), when they graduated (second wave), and once more two to four years after their graduation (third wave). The technical realisation of ProFile is currently being produced by Qleo Science GmbH (formerly FACT Science GmbH). The survey started in April 2009.

As the project advances, we plan to cooperate with partners in other countries in order to compare the conditions and career patterns of doctoral candidates in Germany with those found abroad.