Apart from personal means or external funding through cooperation projects with industry and business, most doctoral candidates receive financial support through temporary employment as academic staff or from scholarships.
While a formal registration (Immatrikulation) is not required, it can be useful or indeed nescessary, e.g. to fulfill visa requirements. In accordance with Bavarian law, registration as a doctoral student is possible for up to three years without payment of tuition fees. In specific cases, this period can be extended for a further year. The degree can still be still completed after that period and without official registration.
Nevertheless, pursuing a doctoral degree presents a substantial financial challenge with opportunities for funding differing greatly according to the subject area.
Temporary employment opportunities for doctoral candidates are mostly funded through third-party funding, followed by cooperation agreements with industry and business and temporary employment financed by the university.
An alternative way of funding doctoral research are scholarships which do not entail formal employment with the university. Scholarship opportunities are regularly published on the Graduate School website.
Vacancies for doctoral candidates can be found on the university website. Please refer to the pull-down menu "Berufsgruppe" and select "Wissenschaftlicher Dienst".