The following doctoral programmes are based at the DiZ:

1. The doctoral programme funded by the state of Lower Saxony with twelve "Georg-Christoph-Lichtenberg-Scholarships" ran from October 2016 to the end of 2020 "STEM Learning in Informal Spaces - Investigation of Processes of Inquiry-Based Learning" (GINT). The programme refers to GINT rather than STEM education, as the subject of geography supplements the canon of subjects with Computing Science, Natural Sciences and Technology instead of mathematics. Philosophy and educational science are also involved in the programme. The spokespersons are Prof Dr Michael Komorek (physics didactics) and Prof Dr Peter Röben (technical education). The programme is being carried out by the University of Oldenburg in co-operation with the universities of Hanover, Vechta, Odense (Denmark) and Rethymno (Greece) as well as around 15 extracurricular educational institutions (in particular regional environmental education centres, Wadden Sea houses, energy education centres, coastal research institutes and science centres).
   The doctoral students on the programme are using empirical methods to investigate the development of extracurricular specialist learning opportunities in the participating disciplines, among other things. The focus is on how learning takes place at extracurricular learning locations in detail and how the development of regional educational landscapes, including the integration of extracurricular educational programmes into school lessons, takes place.
   
2. The doctoral programme "Learning processes in transitional areas - empirically investigating and modelling the practical phases of student teachers" (LÜP) uses empirical methods to investigate the learning and professionalisation processes that student teachers go through during their practical phases at schools. It thus addresses a particular research deficit, as little is known about the processes that take place among students in the "transitional space" between the predominantly theoretical parts of training before and after the practical phase and the practical implementation in their own lesson design and how these can be modelled. The programme was approved by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture at the end of 2012 and ran until the end of 2016.
   
3. The doctoral programme Processes of subject didactic structuring (ProfaS) investigates processes of subject-didactic structuring of teaching among (prospective) teachers in different subject domains and in different phases of teacher training and professionalisation. The programme thus brings together strands of research that have so far been largely unconnected, including research on subjective beliefs, pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), models of lesson design and the importance of learner perspectives in the classroom. Through its structural implementation in a network of experts from all phases of teacher training, ProfaS enables the direct "translation" of research findings into teaching practice and teacher training. The internationalisation of teacher training research is structurally anchored in ProfaS. The programme was approved by the MWK at the end of 2009 and officially started on 01.04.2010.
   
4. With the doctoral programme Didactic Reconstruction (ProDid) a programme has been established in which the conditions for teaching conducive to learning are investigated across disciplines and cultures. Since 2001, the Didactic Reconstruction doctoral programme has been funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) for a total of 6 years (2 funding periods: 2001 - 2004 and 2005 - 2008) with a total funding amount of almost 1.5 million euros. Since 2001, a total of almost 50 doctoral candidates (including 27 scholarship holders) have received funding. The dissertations were published as part of the BzdR series (Contributions to Didactic Reconstruction).
   This series was continued after the end of the programme under the editorship of Prof. Dr Barbara Moschner and Prof. Dr Michael Komorek.