How to Apply for PhD Positions, Student Assistant Jobs, and Internhips

This is a personal note of Markus Krötzsch. Other professors may have other views on the matter.

I am receiving many solicited and unsolicited emails where students around the world apply for a PhD position, student assistant job, or research internship. Most of them are unsuccessful, and many are not even answered. This page is meant to give some advice to those who consider writing such an email to me.

General Advice

Preferably, just see me after a class or make an appointment for my student consultation hours. No need to write emails if you are local.
Keep your emails short. I often get AI-written emails that are long and take too much time for me to read.
Be clear about your current status (student? which official subject? where in the world? which semester? etc.).
Be clear about what you are applying for. Do not send general requests that ask me to find out what kind of cooperation arrangement might work for you.
Attach all relevant documents with understandable file names. Most applications require your CV, a full academic transcript (with grades of individual courses you took), and copies of your research works or theses. I am not going to chase after missing documents if you don't send them.
Do not apply to many people at the same time. It is usually very obvious if emails are meant to go to many recipients, and it leads to much worse return rates than if you focus on what is most suitable for you. Using AI to personalise emails to the recipient can help to pass the first stage, but will lead to failure on the next level of engagement, when it becomes clear that your half-hallucinated interests and skills do not really match your real ones. Always apply as yourself and with your true interests to have the best chance of really getting a position in the end (not just a first return email that soon leads to mutual disappointment after more information was exchanged). Academia is a field of hyper-specialisation, so it can be hard to find the fitting opportunity, but it pays off to do this.
We live in a time of AI-based deception where digital communication in any form ceases to be a reliable way to get to know somebody. This is very problematic, and nothing we can solve easily. As an applicant, you should keep this in mind and think about what you can offer to support your claims.

Please be mindful about your personal data and encrypt your emails. You can use my encryption certificate (from my signed emails or by configuring ldap.pki.dfn.de for your email client) or post your message via the TUD Securemail portal (one-time registration required).

PhD Positions

If you are an international student, first inform yourself about PhD positions in Germany and how job applications work here (as opposed to, say, the US).
All positions we offer are fully funded and officially advertised on the TUD job portal (salary group E13, Faculty of Computer Science).
Check out the Promotionsordnung of the Faculty of Computer Science. In particular, it requires that you can only be admitted as a PhD student if you completed your studies with sufficiently good grades, so it is important that your grades, GPA, and grading system are clear from your application. PhD student applications that do not include transcripts of your university grades will be ignored.
The quality and suitability of your prior academic education will be most important. This includes a study at a research university with top grades in a closely related subject (ideally computer science, possibly math or subjects in between the two). Own research publications are not expected of a fresh MSc graduate; a structured undergraduate curriculum with a focus on foundations is more valuable at this stage.
Prior experience in Germany or Europe is a plus, since it means that you will find it easier to transition to your new environment, and that you know what you can expect – both will make you more productive in your new position.

Student Assistant Positions (SHK, WHK)

Only local students should apply for such jobs, unless there is a job ad that says otherwise. Normally, student assistants meet their supervisor regularly or even are embedded into our offices (if we find space).
Normally, you should have a proven track record at TU Dresden before we hire you (i.e., at least one successful semester of study).
Most of our student assistants consistently receive top grades in their examinations. We do not want to hire somebody who already struggles with the baseline demands of their study programme, hence we focus on students who evidently have left-over capacity even after meeting the demands of their study programme to full extent.
Most of our student hires develop out of prior engagements with my research group as part of their study (e.g., taking part in a class of mine or having a project thesis supervised by me).

If these items do not seem to describe your situation very well, then it is likely not useful to apply for a student assistant position yet. Better focus on your studies first and steer them into our direction (e.g., in the courses and project topics you pick).

Internships or Exchange Visits

If you are looking for a host in programmes such as Erasmus+ or DAAD exchanges, then most likely I cannot help you. There are many talented students at TU Dresden, and I wish I had more time for working with each of the people we supervise at my chair. Taking on students of other universities does not make sense in this situation and would not be fair to our own students.

The exception are students of our academic cooperation partners. If you study with a supervisor who has been doing research with us, or is at least active in the same community, then you are welcome to get in touch.

Otherwise, if you want to become a student of mine, you should study at TU Dresden.

Applying for Admission in a Study Programme

Such applications always have an official submission path. They should never be sent to me personally.

Applying for a Scholarship

Such applications always have an official submission path. They should never be sent to me personally.