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1.8% more PhD candidates in 2025

Germany’s PhD Candidates Rise 1.8% in 2025, Women Maintain 49% Share

Source: Federal Statistical Office Germany · August 26, 2026 at 1:04 PM · AI-assisted report

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1.8% more PhD candidates in 2025
Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas / CC BY-SA 3.0

KUALA LUMPUR, 26 AUGUST 2026 —

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Germany’s PhD Candidates Rise 1.8% in 2025, Women Maintain 49% Share

Market Impact

KUALA LUMPUR — Germany had 216,200 doctoral candidates enrolled in its higher education institutions in 2025, an increase of 3,800 or 1.8% from the previous year, according to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The gender distribution remained unchanged, with women accounting for 49% (106,400) of all PhD candidates, mirroring the 2024 figure.

The average age of doctoral candidates stood at 30.5 years, with men averaging 30.9 years and women 30.1 years. Foreign nationals comprised 25% of the total, or 54,200 individuals. The largest group of PhD candidates, 64,100 (30%), were pursuing doctorates in human medicine and health sciences, followed by 47,300 (22%) in mathematics and natural sciences, and 40,100 (19%) in engineering.

Gender disparities were evident across disciplines. Men dominated engineering, accounting for 76% of candidates, while women made up 66% of those in arts and art sciences. In absolute terms, the highest number of male candidates was in engineering (30,400), whereas the largest group of female candidates was in human medicine and health sciences (39,900).

New PhD enrollments in 2025 totaled 35,800, a 3% increase from 2024. Among these new candidates, 27% (9,800) held foreign citizenship, slightly higher than the overall foreign share of 25%. The statistics, introduced in 2017, have been fully comparable only since 2020 due to earlier data collection limitations.

Four universities accounted for 18% of all PhD candidates in 2025. The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich led with 10,200 candidates (5% of the total), followed closely by the Technical University of Munich with 10,100. Heidelberg University and RWTH Aachen University had 9,600 and 8,000 candidates, respectively.

The data, sourced from Destatis, provides insights into Germany’s academic landscape, though detailed breakdowns are available in the GENESIS-Online database and the official Statistics of Doctoral Candidates report. The Federal Statistical Office also offers broader education indicators covering schools, vocational training, and higher education.

Malaysia’s education sector may observe Germany’s PhD trends as a benchmark for postgraduate development, particularly in STEM fields where Malaysia has been expanding research capacity.

Related: Kuala Lumpur

Reporting based on Federal Statistical Office Germany. Figures and claims are subject to revision as the story develops. DomainFork publishes editorial context, not investment advice — see our editorial standards.