Fachhochschule Dortmund and the other 20 universities of applied sciences (HAWs) in North Rhine-Westphalia have agreed details of their cooperation in the new Graduate Center NRW (PK NRW).
"The awarding of the independent right to award doctorates by the state to the PK NRW is a particular success following the comprehensive evaluation by the Science Council," emphasized Prof. Dr. Tamara Appel, Deputy Rector of Fachhochschule Dortmund. "Our doctoral students now also have a new opportunity to obtain a doctoral degree. I would like to thank all those who have worked with great commitment on this milestone in the past, which bundles the scientific expertise of the UASs and strengthens university autonomy," she said after the meeting of the State Rectors' Conference on April 27, 2023 at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Sankt Augustin.
Transparency in the processes
"With today's signing of the cooperation agreement between the 21 universities and the PK NRW, we are regulating cooperation in the doctoral process in detail in line with the recommendations of the German Council of Science and Humanities," explained Prof. Dr. Martin Sternberg, Chairman of the PK NRW. "We are thus creating transparency in the processes and ensuring the high quality of doctoral procedures at the PK NRW. In this way, we offer clear guidance to cooperating colleagues at universities and young academics from HAWs and universities interested in pursuing a doctorate." The processes for acceptance and enrollment as a doctoral candidate will start in the course of summer 2023.
Background to the right to award doctorates
Back in November 2022, NRW Science Minister Ina Brandes ceremoniously awarded PK NRW the right to award doctorates at a ceremony in Essen, laying the foundation for a real innovation in the state's scientific landscape. For the first time, doctorates under the supervision of professors from HAWs are possible at PK NRW without cooperation with a university. With this model, NRW is taking an independent path at a time when other federal states are also opening up the right to award doctorates to HAWs.