You need a Master degree or equivalent to start a Ph.D. in Luxembourg.

In general, a Ph.D. in Luxembourg takes three years (full-time) with an additional fourth year to finish the dissertation.

The answer to this question depends on for what kind of Ph.D. offering you are applying:

• If you apply for one of the advertised Ph.D. offerings, your topic should stay within the scope of the position. However, it should be noted that we keep every topic broad enough to adapt to individual preferences. Developing your own perspective on a topic and finding ways to extend it into a career is part of every project.
• Of course, you can also propose a topic of your own, especially if it belongs to our areas of expertise. We encourage you to get in contact so that we could talk about the details.

There are various funding opportunities available. However, which one might apply to you depends heavily on your topic. Please get in contact to talk about details.

We do not offer the possibility to do an entire Ph.D. remotely because we value the collaborative exchange with the team.

All doctoral researchers in Luxembourg share the same status and salary as specified by the laws. The first step is apply for the advertised position and discuss your topic. If both sides agree on working together, we provide you with the contract details of a representative of our Human Resources department to discuss contact and salary details as well as take your final decision.

All of our doctoral researchers belong to the Doctoral School in Humanities and Social Sciences. As such, you need to acquire at least 20 ECTS points in three categories (6 in your discipline, 8 across disciplines, and 6 across a broad range of generally useful topics). The Doctoral School offers a wide range of courses to select from. You are also free to choose external course offerings or online courses, and you are also granted ECTS for publications and conferences. We will discuss the details during your first year of doing a Ph.D.

We highly encourage you to do your research in English.

Doing a Ph.D. is a demanding task. In general, you need the following skills to successfully pursue your Ph.D. studies in Luxembourg:

• a strong interest in research and a good knowledge of scientific methods
• a team-oriented spirit and a high interest in collaboration
• language skills in English and one of the additional official language in Luxembourg (French, German, and Luxembourgish)
• a willingness to learn and constantly challenge yourself
• a strong intrinsic motivation and drive to perfection

In general, there are three to four rough phases of every Ph.D. project:

• year 1: defining research questions, doing literature research, and planning your own learning and publications
• year 2: doing studies to answer research questions, first publications
• year 3: finishing studies, publishing, and presenting at conferences
• year 4: finishing dissertation and building a strong academic profile

However, every project is slightly different, and there will likely be a mix of every activity in each year.

As a research-oriented university, there is no general need to teach during your Ph.D. projects. However, if you want to teach, we support you and help you growing your experience in doing so. You should also keep in mind that teaching is a necessary skill in some academic environments. If you have any questions, your supervisor will certainly discuss these topics.

Conferences are an important part of an academic career. There are various budgets for academic conferences available for every doctoral researcher.

You can start a Ph.D. at any point during the year. It might happen that you have to wait for the next semester to start with courses, but this is not an issue for your overall progress.