
Ask HN: PhD in Germany - blitzkrieg
Hello all,
I currently live in Germany. I want to apply for a PhD position (Computer Engineering) here. My problem is that I have done Masters without thesis. Wherever I find a suitable position for myself it&#x27;s expected to send an abstract of Master Thesis with application. I am even ready to do Research Assistantship under a professor if required to show that I am capable of doing research. How should I proceed with my application ? 
Thanks in advance for help.
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probably_wrong
I didn't even know you could get a Masters without a thesis. Live and learn.

Did you get your degree outside Germany? If so, you should check in the Anabin
database [1] whether your degree is properly recognized in Germany. If it
isn't, you'll need to figure out a way to convince the University that your
degree is valid. Your future PhD advisor can guide you through this - the
procedure often involves sending enough proof to a committee that will then
say "yes, this is acceptable".

If your degree is recognized, then you should explain in your cover letter
that you have a non-thesis Masters. A paragraph about the extra work you had
to do instead would be nice. If/once you make it to the interview, I would
expect to be asked a couple questions about this.

[1] [https://anabin.kmk.org/anabin.html](https://anabin.kmk.org/anabin.html)

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barry-cotter
Send emails to professors you would be interested in working under. As I
understand it in Germany you absolutely must have a faculty sponsor to do a
Ph.D. anyway. Ask about either doing an independent project under their
direction or working as a research assistant. Good luck.

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AlDante2
Possibly change your user name before contacting any German universities...
:-)

