{"id":952,"date":"2025-09-09T11:40:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T09:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/?p=952"},"modified":"2026-07-15T10:31:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T08:31:34","slug":"changing-universities-for-your-doctorate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/2025\/09\/09\/changing-universities-for-your-doctorate\/","title":{"rendered":"Changing Universities for your Doctorate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Marie-Claire Steinkraus<\/a>, doctoral researcher and research assistant in English studies at Saarland University, talks about changing universities and academic systems during her studies and doctorate. In this interview, she shares her experiences of studying in England, Germany and Scotland, explains why she chose to pursue her doctorate in the German system, and reflects on what academic mobility made possible for her – professionally and personally. She also talks about support structures, everyday academic life as a research assistant, and what helped her feel at home in a new academic environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

audio <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Highlights<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201eI think even for people who are a bit more scared of change I think starting a PhD is actually one of the best opportunities to try that and to try change in your life if you still want that, because I mean, doing a PhD is a sort of new start in itself. And you still be integrated in a university where there’s lots of people your own age. So I think rebuilding community, doing a PhD at a new university, it does have its challenges, but it’s probably easier than in some other jobs. \u201c<\/p>\nMarie-Claire Steinkraus, research assistant at the University of Saarland<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

SUMMARY<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

English:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This episode discusses the experience of doing your doctorate at a university that is new to you, as well as international academic mobility. Our guest is Marie-Claire Steinkraus, a doctoral candidate and research assistant in British Literary and Cultural Studies at Universit\u00e4t des Saarlandes, who has studied in England, Germany and Scotland. Marie tells us about the process and her experiences of doing a degree abroad and explains her reasons for choosing Germany for her doctorate, such as the quality of supervision, teamwork, and the academic environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marie-Claire\u2019s academic journey began at the University of Exeter in England, where she studied English Studies before entering a dual master’s program at the Universit\u00e4t Bonn and the University of St Andrews. While seeking international experiences, Marie encountered challenges like finding housing in Bonn, but valued her small student group there. In the UK, she initially had communication difficulties as a non-native English speaker, but gained confidence over time. For both her time abroad and her time in Germany she also addresses different funding options for students and doctoral candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her German heritage and the strong integration of the German academic system influenced Marie-Claire\u2019s decision to pursue her doctorate in Germany. After careful consideration, she chose Universit\u00e4t des Saarlandes for its fit with her research interests and supportive environment. She attributes her successful transition back to Germany to the support of her partner, family, and colleagues. Marie-Claire also advises future doctoral researchers to trust their instincts regarding universities and research opportunities and to remain flexible in their dissertation topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She gives an insight into her weekly routine, balancing work as a research assistant with her doctoral studies and emphasizing the importance of networking through academic events for personal growth. When building a social life in a new area, she suggests joining clubs and actively meeting new people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, Marie-Claire reflects positively on her experiences and emphasizes the value of creativity in academic mobility, the misconception of loneliness, the importance of being prepared for a PhD, and that moving universities always means finding support in new environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[see the full transcript of the episode here<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

German:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In dieser Folge geht es um die Erfahrung, an einer f\u00fcr einen selbst neuen Universit\u00e4t zu promovieren, sowie um internationale akademische Mobilit\u00e4t. Unser Gast ist Marie-Claire Steinkraus, Doktorandin und wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin im Bereich Britische Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft an der Universit\u00e4t des Saarlandes, die bereits in England, Deutschland und Schottland studiert hat. Marie berichtet von ihrem Weg und ihren Erfahrungen mit einem Studium im Ausland und erl\u00e4utert, warum sie sich f\u00fcr eine Promotion in Deutschland entschieden hat \u2013 etwa aufgrund der Betreuungsqualit\u00e4t, der Teamarbeit und des akademischen Umfelds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marie-Claires akademischer Werdegang begann an der University of Exeter in England, wo sie Anglistik studierte, bevor sie ein Doppelmaster-Programm an der Universit\u00e4t Bonn und der University of St Andrews absolvierte. Auf der Suche nach internationalen Erfahrungen stie\u00df sie zwar auf Herausforderungen \u2013 etwa die Wohnungssuche in Bonn \u2013, sch\u00e4tzte dort jedoch die kleine Studiengruppe. Im Vereinigten K\u00f6nigreich hatte sie als Nicht-Muttersprachlerin anfangs Kommunikationsschwierigkeiten, gewann aber mit der Zeit an Sicherheit. Au\u00dferdem spricht sie \u00fcber verschiedene Finanzierungsm\u00f6glichkeiten f\u00fcr Studierende und Promovierende, sowohl f\u00fcr Aufenthalte im Ausland als auch f\u00fcr die Zeit in Deutschland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ihre deutschen Wurzeln und die starke Einbindung in das deutsche Wissenschaftssystem beeinflussten Marie-Claires Entscheidung, in Deutschland zu promovieren. Nach sorgf\u00e4ltiger \u00dcberlegung entschied sie sich f\u00fcr die Universit\u00e4t des Saarlandes, da diese gut zu ihren Forschungsinteressen passt und ein unterst\u00fctzendes Umfeld bietet. Dass ihr der Wechsel zur\u00fcck nach Deutschland so gut gelang, f\u00fchrt sie auf die Unterst\u00fctzung durch ihren Partner, ihre Familie und ihre Kollegen zur\u00fcck. Angehenden Promovierenden r\u00e4t Marie-Claire, bei der Wahl der Universit\u00e4t und der Forschungsm\u00f6glichkeiten auf ihr Bauchgef\u00fchl zu h\u00f6ren und hinsichtlich des Dissertationsthemas flexibel zu bleiben.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sie gew\u00e4hrt Einblicke in ihren Wochenablauf, in dem sie die Arbeit als wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin mit der Promotion vereinbart, und betont, wie wichtig die Vernetzung bei akademischen Veranstaltungen f\u00fcr die pers\u00f6nliche Weiterentwicklung ist. Um in einer neuen Umgebung soziale Kontakte zu kn\u00fcpfen, empfiehlt sie, Vereinen beizutreten und aktiv auf neue Menschen zuzugehen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insgesamt blickt Marie-Claire positiv auf ihre Erfahrungen zur\u00fcck. Sie hebt den Wert von Kreativit\u00e4t bei der akademischen Mobilit\u00e4t hervor, r\u00e4umt mit dem Vorurteil der Einsamkeit auf, betont die Bedeutung einer guten Vorbereitung auf die Promotion und unterstreicht, dass ein Universit\u00e4tswechsel auch immer bedeutet, in einem neuen Umfeld Unterst\u00fctzung zu finden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marie-Claire Steinkraus, doctoral researcher and research assistant in English studies at Saarland University, talks about changing universities and academic systems during her studies and doctorate. In this interview, she shares her experiences of studying in England, Germany and Scotland, explains why she chose to pursue her doctorate in the German system, and reflects on what … \u201eChanging Universities for your Doctorate\u201c<\/span> weiterlesen<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8307,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8307"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1662,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions\/1662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fu-berlin.de\/drs_podcast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}