Germany’s universities and higher education institutions saw a continued increase in doctoral candidates in 2024, with a total of 212,400 individuals pursuing doctoral degrees. This represents a four percent, or 7,500 person, rise compared to the previous year, according to data released Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office. The proportion of female doctoral candidates remained stable at 49 percent, with an average age of 31 years for both men and women. Approximately one quarter, or 52,800, of all doctoral candidates held international citizenship.
The largest field of study for doctoral researchers was medicine and health sciences, encompassing 60,300 candidates – 28 percent of the total. This was followed by mathematics and natural sciences with 47,700 (22 percent), engineering sciences with 39,200 (18 percent) and law, economics and social sciences with 33,300 (16 percent). Gender distribution within fields also varied significantly; engineering sciences had a notably higher proportion of male candidates (77 percent), while arts and humanities fields comprised two-thirds female candidates.
A total of 34,700 individuals commenced their doctoral studies for the first time in 2024, an eight percent increase from 2023. The number of international students beginning doctoral programs stood at 9,500, representing 27 percent of all new doctoral candidates – a higher proportion than the overall percentage of international doctoral researchers.
Doctoral activity remains concentrated at a number of key institutions. Seventeen percent of all doctoral procedures were conducted at just four universities. The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich led with 9,700 doctoral candidates, closely followed by the Technical University of Munich (9,400), Heidelberg University (9,300) and RWTH Aachen University (7,900).
