The brain-drain starts here

[skull_bearer]

So, what with education in the UK being stripped of basically everything, and the PM cutting anything which has 'public' anywhere near it. I've been eying the old Deutschland more and more appraisingly. After reading that Masters degrees are next on the chopping block (First they came for the undergraduates, and I said nothing....), I decided to see just what it was like over the channel and far away.

I swear this is some sort of dumb plot.

The scattering of pages my google search: 'Germany education news' brought will be paraphrased as follows:

Germany proposes 'happiness index'!
Germany education minister pledges to spend more money in higher education!
Germany's impoving economy in trouble because of lack of skilled workers!
Germany proposes bringing in more foreign students to its universities to make up for lack of skilled workers!
Visit our amazing International university in Berlin! (okay, that one was a bit random)

Grief. I mean, I'm used to moments where then world seem to be scream 'YOU! DO THIS!', but I though that was usually limited to Holocaust related stuff.

Unfortunately Paramour's previous visit to Germany was as part of the occupying forces, and being of the baby boom generation I think he still has the 'kraut=nazi' shorthand. He says he'll probably get over it.
Which is good, I have two years to do this course, and unless things get turned around sharpish, there's not going to be much for me to do around here.

So, you peeps who live in Germanland, please tell me what education is like at your end (ps, don't tell me it's crap, everything thinks their education is crap). My German teacher tells me that the fees are something like £1,000 a year (or was it in euros?) and if that's true it's already miles better than the UK.

Ok, I won't be able to sing 'Night of the Long Knives' in public, but then I probably shouldn't have done that anyway.

Comments

[machiavelli-imp.livejournal.com]

Yep. despite my PhD field claiming that the universe is both homogeneous and isotropic, I am certain that a) the universe has a centre and b) it is Berlin.

It's good to see that politicians in all countries like fulfilling their election promises by spending the taxpayers' money on useless niche initiatives. (Sensible politicians will come into power shortly before the sky begins to fall.)

Good news: Strict course requirements aren't a problem for me doing a PhD. No exorbitant fees for international students sounds GREAT (here, add a zero to the end of your course costs if you're not an Australian citizen). Public transport may be expensive (honestly, I didn't notice, except for the stupidly expensive intercity DB services) but at least it doesn't claim things like "98% of our trains are on time, on time being the scheduled arrival time plus or minus five minutes."

Bad news: Good universities in small hick towns? How dull! I did notice that one of the universities for which I'm applying is the Ludwigs-Maximilien Universität München, but it sticks us all in Garching, which sounds suspiciously like a satellite village. I'll have to check the different policies in different Ländser too. Berlin not known for great universities? That's a real shame, since I was hoping to study there. I don't suppose there are any you can recommend for physics?

[linndechir.livejournal.com]

In that case I am happy to live at the centre of the universe.

I don't know what the PhD courses are like in physics. I just know that my brother, who's doing a PhD in history, has no classes or anything, he just works on his thesis wherever and however he likes.

The student fees are of course downright ridiculous compared to what you guys must be used to. The public transport is just bloody expensive here in Berlin, no idea what it's like in other cities. So having a ticket for Berlin is really a big plus. Doesn't help you with the Intercity, of course, but at least you get everywhere you want in and around Berlin without paying. ;)

Munich isn't a hicktown, obviously, though I have no idea where exactly Garching is. But since nobody can afford to live in the centre of Munich anyway, it probably doesn't really matter that your university is not in the centre either.
Yeah, we have some really good universities in fairly small towns like Freiburg, Heidelberg, Greifswald. The universities in Berlin aren't bad as such, but they're very big, meaning lots of students and few professors, while the smaller universities just take better care of their students. Of course, there's also Potsdam - you can easily live in Berlin and study in Potsdam, or live in Potsdam but go to Berlin whenever you like, it's only about half an hour by train.

Physics ... I have a friend who's studying physics in Dresden, he seemed fairly happy about it, but then again he's in the Bundeswehr so I don't really know if he had any choice about what university to go to. If you like, I can ask him if he can recommend anything.

[machiavelli-imp.livejournal.com]

I wish I had a PhD "coutse" like your brother's: every physics PhD I've seen requires completion of lecture courses as well as the thesis. Of course some places are more relaxed than other about what completion entails. Does he have to do an oral defence? Australia seems to be the only place that doesn't require one.

Oooh, free public transport? Yay, that means more money to spend on opera (which appears to be affordable over in Europe, rather than $200 a seat). There's food and rent to consider, but I think PhD students get a stipend for that, around 1000 euros a month. Hopefully I wouldn't have to live out of a cardboard box, like I would have to if I went to Cambridge.

It would be great if you could ask your friend for advice. It's pretty useless reading the university web pages, since they all have lots of promotional stuff and very little practical content.

[linndechir.livejournal.com]

AFAIK there are also PhD courses here that actually deserve to be called a course. ;) He has to do an oral defence, although I think that's pretty much a piece of cake compared to the work he has to spend on his thesis first.

I think many German universities have free public transport included in the student fees, but I'm not sure. And opera is more affordable here than it is apparently in Europe, but still not cheap as such. As for rent, it really depends on where you are: there are cities like Berlin (ridiculously cheap for a capital) and cities like Munich (ridiculously expensive), and everything in between. As for the stipends, you have to apply for them, and there aren't that many. Also, I have no idea how that works for non-German students.

I'll send an e-mail to him and ask him. I hope he'll reply soon, because often he doesn't. ;)

[skull-bearer.livejournal.com]

... 1000 euros a month?
I had to live off a £3,000 a year loan....