Application

Am I an eligible candidate for the Summer Student Program?

If you are interested in applying for the summer students program, please check that you fulfill the following requirements:

• You are a university student of natural sciences (physical or life sciences) or related studies.
• You must have a valid university enrollment covering the whole period of the program from July till September 2025. HZDR is no university, i.e., you need the enrollment at your home university.
• You must have finished at least 3 years of total university studies before the upcoming summer (Bachelor degree or official confirmation required).
• You can prove a good academic performance through your grades and a letter of recommendation written by a professor or scientist from your university who knows you and your work and is in the position to evaluate it.
• You have good knowledge of the English language in order to take part in all activities of the program.
• Applicants already holding a master's degree but not being student of a different course as well as PhD students are not eligible for the program.
• Students who had a contract at HZDR one year before first of July of the targeted year are not eligible for the summer student program.
• If you are not enrolled at an university (e.g., you are holding a bachelor's degree and you are only planning a master's studies course) you are not eligible for the summer student program.

Please also check the FAQs.The candidates will be selected according to their academic performance, the research area chosen in the application form and their field of studies or specialization. The student, however, will make the final decision for a specific research group.

How to apply for the Summer Student Program?

Fill out the application form.

1. Your CV

• Enter the required information about yourself.
• Tell us,
  • if you will be enrolled as a university student during the HZDR summer student program from July till September 2025,
  • if you will have completed at least three years of your university studies by July 1, 2025,
  • if you will receive your Bachelor’s degree by July 1, 2025,
  • your most recent semester grade in 0-4 grade point average (gpa) system.
• Enter the starting year of your current University studies, the field of study, the University name and address and the name of the recommending group leader/Professor. Note that a recommendation letter from this person is required.

2. Time period

• Specify the period of time you are available. We expect you to stay for at least 6 weeks and 9 weeks at most. Your presence during the lecture period from calendar week 31 to 35 is obligatory (core time). We will not make any exception.
• Tell us, if you are willing to cover your travel expenses to and from Dresden.

3. Choice of topic

• Rank the proposed research fields according to your priorities. You can also exclude fields, but be aware that the more fields you exclude, the lower your chances of being accepted.

4. Kind of work

• Select the kind of work you would prefer to do (both experimental and theoretical usually include programming).

5. Specification of your research interest (optional)

Only fill this field, if you have special research interests. We can not guarantee, that you will work in the field.

Next page: Upload documents

• Press "Save" to enter the new page, where you should upload your documents.
• Prepare your documents beforehand. Please provide all documents in English or with english translation.

• Upload a Curriculum Vitae in English (pdf).
• Upload a copy of your academic grades/records in English or with english translation (pdf).
• Upload a copy of your student ID (image file).
• Upload a further document, if needed.
• Only after pressing the "Finish registration" button, you will receive a link where a professor or senior scientist from your university can upload a letter of recommendation. Please make sure, that we receive the letter before the application deadline. Without the letter of recommendation we will not consider your application.

The application period ends on 23 February 2025. Acceptance or rejection notifications will be sent by email once the selection has been made (by end of April 2025).

More dates that are important can be found here.

Please also check the FAQs.