University of Bayreuth particularly attractive for young researchers

The National Academics Panel Study (Nacaps for short) is a Germany-wide study on the doctoral and living conditions and career prospects of doctoral students. In 2019, 2021 and 2023, respondents were asked about their reasons for choosing a university and questions about supervision and support during their doctorate. Up to around 250 doctoral candidates at the University of Bayreuth took part in 2021 and 2023. The Nacaps study thus provides a solid basis for in-depth analyses of doctoral conditions at UBT.

Concrete results: 

1. Supervisor as the main reason for choosing a university: The majority of doctoral students choose their university because of a specific supervisor (2021: UBT 65% vs. federal government 61%; 2023: UBT 63% vs. federal government 60%). Another important reason is familiarity with the university through previous studies or employment (2021: UBT 58% vs. federal government 53%; 2023: UBT 52% vs. federal government 50%). Research conditions also play a significant role in why doctoral students chose UBT (2021: UBT 38% vs. federal government 33%; 2023: UBT 37% vs. federal government 32%).

2. Problems with supervision play a lesser role in thoughts of dropping out: Problems and crises during the doctorate are not uncommon, and some of the doctoral students at UBT also stated that problems with supervision played a role in thoughts of dropping out. Nevertheless, UBT performs better compared to the federal benchmark (2021: UBT 20% vs. federal government 26%; 2023: UBT 19% vs. federal government 27%), which also illustrates the comparatively good supervision situation at UBT.

3. Satisfaction with supervision and services for doctoral students: General satisfaction with supervision increases compared to the federal benchmark across the two surveys (2021: UBT 65% vs. federal government 63%; 2023: UBT 66% vs. federal government 61%). Satisfaction with the UBT's services for doctoral students is even almost 10 percentage points higher than the federal benchmark in the last survey (2021: UBT 50% vs. federal government 43%; 2023: UBT 50% vs. federal government 41%).

The doctoral candidates are consistently satisfied with the quality of the services offered by various support institutions and also rate the individual measures of the University of Bayreuth Graduate School, such as the qualification program or the individual budget for conference and research trips, positively. This underlines the attractiveness and value of the wide range of services offered at the UBT, which provides tailor-made support for individual target groups and career phases.

"The promotion of early career researchers is a central task for the university and extends across all departments. The Nacaps doctoral panel is therefore of great value," says Prof. Dr. Thomas Scheibel, Vice President for Research and Early Career Researchers at UBT. Through continuous monitoring, it provides crucial insights into current doctoral conditions as well as long-term trends and developments. This not only helps to understand the current needs and challenges of doctoral students, but also to observe future measures to support and improve doctoral conditions in follow-up surveys. Scheibel emphasizes: "The results help us to respond specifically to the needs and challenges of doctoral students and to further improve the framework conditions. The findings also serve as motivation to continue current efforts to ensure that the University of Bayreuth remains a more attractive place for young talent."