Cooperative doctorates in Lower Saxony – current situation and challenges

In Lower Saxony Universities of Applied Sciences are not able to award someone a doctorate. But there is still an opportunity for doctoral candidates to work and research at Universities of Applied Sciences. In association with a university they can do their doctorate as a cooperative doctorate. These process is not standardized until now, so the doctoral candidates have to contend with many challenges during the process. This article explains the current conditions of cooperative doctorates in Lower Saxony and provides an insight into the situation of doctoral candidates.