The Graduate Centre at HTWK Leipzig is celebrating its tenth anniversary. To mark this occasion, the university has reached a milestone: for the first time, more than 100 doctoral students are currently working towards their doctorates there.
A PhD is the highest academic qualification following the completion of a university degree and opens up a wide range of prospects for an academic career – and beyond, as a PhD with a strong practical focus in particular offers numerous career paths even outside academia. For ten years now, the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK Leipzig) has been supporting PhD candidates on their path to a doctorate. In the summer of 2016, it became the first University of Applied Sciences (HAW) in Saxony to establish a Graduate Centre. Since then, the GradZ has served as the central coordination and service point within the university’s Research Department for researchers at the early stages of their careers. It advises prospective and current PhD candidates, provides support with funding and grant opportunities, offers interdisciplinary training programmes and promotes networking across disciplinary and faculty boundaries. At the time of its opening, the university was already able to draw on five years’ experience with the CompeTE+ Competence School for PhD Candidates. CompeTE+ had been providing interdisciplinary training for postgraduate students since 2011 and was funded by the European Social Fund and the Free State of Saxony. With the establishment of the Postgraduate Centre, HTWK Leipzig finally made this structural support for doctoral candidates a permanent feature.
On the path to a PhD: More than 100 PhD students currently studying
It’s paying off: for the first time, more than 100 researchers are currently working towards their doctorates at HTWK Leipzig in collaboration with a university. On average, around ten of them successfully complete their doctorates each year; since the establishment of the Competence School – now known as GradZ for doctoral candidates – 150 people have already been awarded a doctorate with HTWK involvement. In this way, HTWK Leipzig has supported its doctoral candidates by awarding 92 scholarships, five postdoctoral grants and by helping to establish 13 early-career research groups. In more than 250 training courses, doctoral candidates gained insights into topics such as project management, funding, academic presentation and research communication.
“Ten years ago, with the GradZ programme, we established structures that enable high-quality doctoral studies at a university of applied sciences. More than 100 ongoing doctoral projects impressively demonstrate the importance that research and the promotion of early-career researchers now hold at HTWK Leipzig,” says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Faouzi Derbel, Vice-Rector for Research and Sustainability and Scientific Director of the Graduate Centre.
Pursuing a PhD at HTWK Leipzig
At Saxony’s universities of applied sciences (HAWs), graduates can pursue a doctoral degree through a collaborative PhD programme. This involves cooperation between a HAW and a university. To date, the HAWs in Saxony do not have the right to award doctorates independently. Nevertheless, doctoral candidates can carry out their research work entirely at HTWK Leipzig; many are directly involved in the university’s research projects as research assistants. The doctoral degree is ultimately awarded by the partner university. HTWK Leipzig is strongly advocating that research-intensive universities of applied sciences in Saxony should, in future, be able to conduct doctoral programmes independently and award the doctoral degree to their researchers themselves.
On 5 October 2026, a public hearing on this topic took place in the Committee for Science, Higher Education, Media, Culture and Tourism of the Saxon State Parliament. The Bündnis 90/Die Grünen parliamentary group had tabled a motion in the State Parliament regarding the right of Saxony’s universities of applied sciences to award doctorates independently. At the hearing, the Rector of HTWK Leipzig, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jean-Alexander Müller, also had the opportunity, together with his counterparts and external experts, to present arguments in favour of independent doctoral degree-awarding powers for universities of applied sciences. They highlighted in particular the benefits for Saxony, especially for the Saxon economy, which could benefit from a strengthened practice- and application-oriented doctoral programme and the resulting increase in highly qualified specialists.
“We are proud of our doctoral programme at HTWK Leipzig, which has been running successfully for many years. 100 doctorates is a milestone. It demonstrates that we have mastered sound academic practice and that we possess both the structures and the expertise to support doctoral candidates on their journey. I would like to thank all the professors at HTWK Leipzig who make this possible. I would also like to thank the leadership and management of GradZ, my colleague Prof. Faouzi Derbel and Dirk Lippik, and the members of the GradZ Academic Advisory Board, who are committed to the doctoral programme at HTWK,” emphasises HTWK Rector Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jean-Alexander Müller.
Dissertation Prize for Outstanding Achievement
Once a year, the HTWK Foundation honours particularly outstanding doctoral theses from the previous year with a high degree of practical relevance by awarding a dissertation prize. During the networking event ‘Research Meets…’ on 10 June 2026, the dissertation prizes for the past two years were awarded. The 2025 Dissertation Prize was awarded to Dr.-Ing. Tom Radisch, who, in his doctoral thesis on the comparison of heating system variants, developed a method enabling planners to identify the most suitable heating system for a building at an early stage. In doing so, he made a contribution to supporting the energy transition in the heating sector. The 2026 Dissertation Prize was awarded to Dr. rer. pol. Ann-Kathrin Dieterle, whose research explored how cross-organisational collaboration can help to build and practically implement resilience within companies. Her specific recommendations for action are of interest to all those sectors of the economy currently facing challenges and undergoing transformation processes.
Background information
- Visit the GradZ website
- Interview on the lack of independent doctoral rights in the research magazine Einblicke 2026
- Completing a PhD at HTWK Leipzig – and then what? In this feature, 12 PhD graduates outline their career paths
- On the 2025 Dissertation Prize: Which heating system is right for your home?
- On the 2026 Dissertation Prize: More resilient businesses through collaboration
