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Hamburg Research Academy

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Career outside academia

Your academic qualification opens you a wide range of career paths outside the university. However, how can you start and how can you manage the transition?

Support services

  • HRA Course portal: Regular information events, workshops and networking opportunities.
  • Career & Qualification Center: Central service facility of the University of Hamburg for students and graduates. Users of the HRA can find cross-university offers for doctoral researchers and postdocs via the HRA course portal.
  • Group counseling: An offer of the HRA, open to all doctoral candidates and postdocs of HRA member universities.
  • Career Coaching: A service offered by the Human Resources Development of the University of Hamburg open to all doctoral and postdoctoral researchers of the University of Hamburg.
  • "Mentoring bewegt Karrieren": Mentoring program of the Universitäts-Gesellschaft Hamburg e.V. with executives from Hamburg's business community.
  • HRA Karrieresprung (review 2022): Career day and career fair for career entry after the doctorate .

Further information

  • "Perspektiven nach der Promotion. Berufswege außerhalb der Wissenschaft" published by the German University Association of Advanced Graduate Training (GUAT/UniWiND) in 2018. In Sections 1 to 13, you will find profiles of people with doctorates who have established successful careers outside of academia. Section 2 consists of interviews with over 40 companies giving their perspective on employing persons with doctoral qualifications (in German only).
  • Richard Nelson Bolles, What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers (Ten Speed Press, 2018).
  • Mirjam Müller, Karriere nach der Wissenschaft: Alternative Berufswege für Promovierte (Campus Verlag, 2017) (in German only).

Tips and recommendations: Starting a business

Do you have an innovative idea and want to set up a scalable business model as a young researcher? The start-up scene is booming and offers excellent career prospects. You can approach various institutions specializing in academic research to make your start-up idea a reality.

  • The UHH's Knowledge Exchange Agency is the main service provider for advice on knowledge exchange activities, lending its support in this multifaceted field to members of the University and outsiders alike.
  • Startup port is a collaborative project of seven universities and other research institutions to support young startups.
  • Exist is the funding programme of the Federal Ministry for Economic and Climate Action (BMWK).