The University of Oldenburg is involved in three of the eight new doctoral degree programmes funded under the Lower Saxony Doctoral Programme. This is a great achievement and a lovely Christmas present for the university, explained the University of Oldenburg’s Vice-President for Research, Prof. Dr Reto Weiler. The University of Oldenburg is demonstrating ever more clearly that it is making great strides forward in research. “This has taken many years of intensive effort. We are now reaping the rewards of this strategy in the area of supporting early-career researchers too,” said Weiler.

The doctoral degree programme in brain research, “Integrative Neurosensory Sciences”, designed in collaboration with the University of Göttingen, will receive annual funding of 300,000 euros for 15 scholarships. Funding of a similar magnitude is also being provided for the degree programme on hearing (“Function and Pathophysiology of the Auditory System”), which the University of Oldenburg runs in collaboration with Hannover Medical School.

A doctoral degree programme in the humanities focusing on music research is run jointly by the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media and the Universities of Göttingen, Oldenburg and Osnabrück. It is entitled “Memory – Perception – Meaning: Musicology as a Humanities Discipline” and will be able to award eight scholarships annually.

Funding for the doctoral degree programmes is limited to four years in the first phase. The total annual funding for the eight programmes approved across Lower Saxony amounts to just under two million euros. A total of 32 proposals were submitted, all of which were assessed by the Lower Saxony Scientific Commission.

“Strengthening structured doctoral training is an essential prerequisite for nurturing a new generation of outstanding academics. The doctoral programme will have a tangible impact and further enhance the appeal of Lower Saxony as a centre of higher education,” emphasised Lutz Stratmann, Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science and Culture.

Contact: Prof . Dr Reto Weiler, University of Oldenburg Tel.: 0441/798-5456
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