Skip to content
Technical University of Munich

Joint Academy of Doctoral Studies

Flagship partnership program of TUM and Imperial College London

TUM and Imperial College London have combined their strengths in research, innovation and education in a strategic flagship partnership. As an essential part of this partnership, the new Joint Academy of Doctoral Studies (JADS) has been launched in 2020 with the aim of fostering research collaboration at the doctoral level and beyond in fields highly relevant to the partnership. Within the context of this bi-lateral cross-disciplinary program, a cohort of up to six joint projects is funded in a field of interdisciplinary cutting-edge research, in which both universities enjoy an outstanding reputation. The specific topic for each year's cohort is jointly selected by TUM and Imperial and will address grand societal challenges to research and involve several schools and departments on both sides. Each university also names an academic lead for the topic.

Each year, a call for project proposals on the selected topic is published at both TUM and Imperial. Every approved collaborative research project, with each individual project led by both an Imperial and a TUM supervisor, is underpinned by two doctoral candidates (one from TUM and one from Imperial). A coordinating postdoctoral researcher will support the entire cohort. Doctoral candidates in the program will have access to world-leading academic supervisors and state-of-the art facilities at both institutions and participate in a specifically targeted qualification program. Each cohort of doctoral candidates will start at the beginning of October. All JADS doctoral candidates at TUM are members of the IGSSE.

The first JADS cohort 2020 consists of six projects in the theme of "Artificial Intelligence, Healthcare and Robotics". For the cohort 2021 six projects were selected in the field of "Mathematics of Information: Theory and Application". The cohort 2022/2023 with the topic "Circular Economy and Transition to Zero Pollution" consists of five projects.

Projects will be supported through their individual institutions based on doctoral training stipends and relevant mobilities and consumables funds for a total of four years. At TUM this support includes:

  • 1 doctoral scholarship per project (2.000 € per month stipend)
  • Mobility funds for doctoral researchers (4.000 € total)
  • Fund for research stay at Imperial (12.000 €)
  • Funds for student helpers (4.000 € total)
  • Direct project costs/consumables (4.000 € total)

TUM and Imperial doctoral researchers complete a flexible, yet mandatory qualification program, consisting of

  1. Subject-specific curriculum (joint seasonal schools, selected courses, etc.)
  2. Annual JADS Symposium
  3. A 12-month research stay at the co-supervisor's research institute
  4. Professional skills training.

At TUM, all JADS doctoral researchers, being members of IGSSE, also complete an adapted IGSSE qualification program including these requirements. Their peers from Imperial are invited to participate in all trainings.

A JADS transcript of records, presented along the doctoral degree by the hosting university, lists all accomplished elements of the training program.

In addition, all doctoral candidates benefit from the co-supervision by the Imperial and TUM principal investigators and the joint thesis examination committee. This is mirrored in a special joint supervision doctoral certificate.

To top