The 21 universities of applied sciences (HAWs) in North Rhine-Westphalia agreed on details of the cooperation in the new Doctoral College NRW (PK NRW) during the meeting of their state rectors' conference on April 27, 2023 at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences in Sankt Augustin. On November 17, 2022, NRW Minister of Science Ina Brandes ceremoniously awarded the PK NRW the right to award doctorates at a ceremony in Essen, thus laying the foundation for a true innovation in the North Rhine-Westphalian scientific landscape: For the first time, doctorates supervised by professors from HAWs are possible in the PK NRW without cooperation with a university. With this model, NRW is taking an independent path at a time when other federal states are also opening up the right to award doctorates to HAWs.
"The cooperation of the 21 HAWs in the Doctoral College NRW is a milestone in the development of higher education in NRW. The PK NRW bundles the academic competences of the HAWs in North Rhine-Westphalia and offers young academics an excellent environment for academic qualification," explains Prof. Dr. Bernd Kriegesmann, President of the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences, Chairman of the State Rectors' Conference of the HAWs as well as of the Board of Owners of the PK NRW. The award of the right to confer doctoral degrees by the state was preceded by an in-depth assessment of the PK NRW by the Science Council and a corresponding positive opinion for the award of the right to confer doctoral degrees.
"With today's signing of the cooperation agreement between the 21 universities and the PK NRW, we are regulating in detail the cooperation in the doctoral process in line with the recommendations of the Science Council," explains Prof. Dr. Martin Sternberg, Chairman of the PK NRW. "In this way, we create transparency in the processes and ensure the high quality of the doctoral procedures at the PK NRW. In this way, we offer clear orientation to the cooperating colleagues from the universities as well as to young scientists from HAWs and universities who are interested in doing a doctorate."
The processes for acceptance and registration as a doctoral candidate will start in the course of the summer.
