Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) – The importance of the Hessian universities of applied sciences (HAW) for young scientists is being strengthened. In its report published on Monday, an independent scientific commission came to the conclusion that universities have successfully developed their own right to award doctorates for research-intensive disciplines. The right to award doctorates – i.e. the opportunity for young scientists to acquire a doctorate at these universities – can now be extended for the centers.
In 2016, Hesse was the first federal state to enable its universities of applied sciences to award doctorates in research-intensive disciplines. Previously, this was reserved for universities alone. The evaluation now shows that the Hessian model is successful and is rightly regarded as a role model for other federal states, emphasized Science Minister Angela Dorn (Greens). The commission assessed the right to award doctorates at the universities as a whole and the four oldest of the seven doctorate centers in Hesse.
The independent right to award doctorates for universities of applied sciences is important because it closes gaps in the scientific and economic system, explained Dorn when presenting the results. “It opens up individual opportunities for the students and societal opportunities through the application-oriented research that it supports.” Through their research, the universities provided innovative, practical and interdisciplinary insights to combat climate change and species extinction.
The commission was able to convince itself that viable structures for the supervision of qualitatively demanding doctorates had been set up in the doctoral centers under consideration, explained the chairman Matthias Kleiner. The result of the evaluation confirms that the universities of applied sciences are basically able to do a doctorate at a high scientific level, said the chairman of the HAW Hessen, Frank Dievernich.
According to the Ministry of Science, there are currently seven doctorate centers in Hesse for different disciplines, three of them across universities. In addition to the general conditions and procedures of the right to award doctorates stipulated by the State of Hesse, those doctorate centers that have been in existence for at least four years were assessed.
