This number is likely to increase further in the next few years. This is primarily due to the commitment of the people involved, but also to two institutions that supported doctoral students and supervisors as well as those interested in doing a doctorate: the TH Lübeck doctoral center and the Schleswig-Holstein doctoral college.
Promotion center offers advice and support on site
The Doctoral Center on the TH Lübeck campus has been offering advice and support for all phases of this diverse career path directly on site since it was founded in 2023. Our doctoral center has quickly developed into an indispensable partner in the doctoral network at our university
said Prof. Karen Cabos, Vice President for Research and Internationalization. Doctoral candidates, those interested in doing a doctorate and supervisors receive all the important information they need for networking and skills development in this important career phase in one place.
In addition to individual advice, it is above all the tailor-made advice Qualification offers and networking events to support doctoral candidates.
The SH doctoral college’s right to award doctorates strengthens Schleswig-Holstein
Another important task of the doctoral center right from the start was the collaboration with the Schleswig-Holstein Doctoral College (PKSH). The PKSH is an association of the seven state universities in Schleswig-Holstein. With the granting of the right to promote doctorates on January 13, 2025 by the Ministry of Education, Training, Science, Research and Culture The topic of doctoral studies at universities of applied sciences (HAW), which also includes the TH Lübeck, received strong support in Schleswig-Holstein. HAW professors can now also be responsible for supervising doctorates and no longer have to find a suitable tandem partner at a university for each individual research project
said Dr. Suzanne Czech, head of the PKSH office based in Kiel. With this attractive new variant, TH Lübeck now offers researchers another attractive option for this exciting career path in addition to the tried and tested option of a cooperative doctorate
adds Rike Ruppenthal from the Lübeck Promotion Center. One Industrial doctorate In the future, it will be possible both as a cooperative doctorate or via the doctoral college.
First doctoral candidate at PKSH from TH Lübeck
The first doctoral student to take advantage of this opportunity was already in the starting blocks at the end of 2024: Niklas Pelka Civil engineering studied in Lübeck, gained practical experience at a Hamburg construction company during his master’s thesis and quickly realized that he would like to get involved in application-oriented research on the subject of recycled concrete. The founding of the PKSH at the end of 2024 was a great stroke of luck for me, because I can now do my doctorate at the TH Lübeck in my own state of Schleswig-Holstein and at the same time continue to work as a construction manager in Hamburg
he says. Since January 2025 he has been working as part of his Doctorate at the Department of Civil Engineering with resource-saving concrete to ensure a holistic circular economy in concrete construction – a topic that is highly relevant in times of climate change and in this form is exemplary for HAW research.
Grow beyond yourself with your doctoral thesis
The work is carried out by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Raphael Kampmann (TH Lübeck) and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Görtz (HAW Kiel) supervised. The practical project partner is the Otto Wulff construction company. Particularly in doctoral studies, young, committed people often grow beyond themselves and solve problems the day after tomorrow that we didn’t even know how to define yesterday
Raphael Kampmann observed. It is a great pleasure for me to accompany this and to challenge the civil engineers of tomorrow in order to promote them. With the PKSH, Schleswig-Holstein will now become even more attractive for young scientists, as they will now have an even easier opportunity to help shape and advance our practical and applied research.
Support during your doctorate – and beyond
There are now three more researchers who are doing their doctorates at the TH Lübeck via the PKSH: Ruben Schlonsak and Marco Gabrecht are supervised by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Denys Matthies, Fabian Hettler is doing his doctorate under Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dipl. Phys. Tim Jürgens. More will follow: The development and support of our young scientists is important to us
says Dr. Katrin Blankenburg, head of the University Development Office and consultant for strategic projects and young scientists. We support doctoral projects from the initial interest through to the completion of the doctorate.
Tailor-made training courses and network maintenance programs ensure that doctoral candidates do not get lost in the research thicket – and also find a good path to knowledge after graduation. In addition to a career in business, the path to a professorship is particularly attractive. We will take advantage of the opportunity that the new doctoral law offers us
says Blankenburg.
Background: The Schleswig-Holstein doctoral college
The Schleswig-Holstein Doctoral College (PKSH) is an association of seven state universities in the state:
- Christian Albrechts University in Kiel
- University of Lübeck
- European University of Flensburg
- HAW Kiel
- Flensburg University
- West Coast University of Applied Sciences
- Lübeck University of Technology
The aim of the college is to create qualified doctoral opportunities within the framework of cross-university research cooperation. Since 2025, professors at TH Lübeck have had the opportunity to be responsible for supervising and assessing doctorates. A doctorate at PKSH is currently possible within the three research teams Economics, MINT (Mathematics, Computer Science, Natural Science and Technology) and Innovation in Social Work and Childhood Education.