A longitudinal study of doctoral candidates and doctorate holders

Nacaps, the National Academics Panel Study, is a new longitudinal study of doctoral candidates and doctorate holders. This is the first study to systematically collect data on career paths of highly qualified academics in Germany – for the use of researchers, HEIs and academic policy makers.

Nacaps is a research project of the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) that is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Nacaps is collaborating with more than 40 HEIs throughout Germany that are authorised to award doctorates; the survey will be carried out jointly.

The survey period has ended

Participation

Who can / should participate?

    

7 good reasons for taking part

All doctoral candidates of Goethe University are
invited to take part in the survey.
Participation is voluntary.

With your participation you will support a project in
the context of higher education research and science
study, directed above all at the scientific community.

    
  • You will be actively supporting a research project.
  • Your experience will influence future decisions.
  • You will help to underpin arguments with facts.
  • Your personal path counts.
  • You can refelct on your own career.
  • You will be part of a unique study.
  • There is a thank you for participation...

How do you participate?

You will receive a personal invitation via email including a link that grants you access to the online survey. The invitation will be mailed out February 18, 2019 directly from the Nacaps Project Team.

You did not receive an invitation? Please contact us!
We will then forward your contact information to Nacaps, so that you will be invited to the survey.

You should have received a personal invitation if your (correct) contact information was saved during the following actions:

  • Acceptance as a PhD candidate at one of Goethe University's faculty
  • Registration as doctoral student
  • Participation in the GRADE program
  • Member of a structured PhD Program at Goethe University

The contact information were pooled to get a list of all PhD candidates at Goethe University. If you request a personal invitation with an access link, your data will be added to this list. This contact information is used only for survey invitation and will be deleted afterwards.

The procedure has been reviewed and verified by Goethe University's data security representative.

Data protection

Cyber security 3400657 640

What happens to your data?

If you give your consent, Nacaps will save your personal contact data so they can contact you for follow-up surveys. This information will be saved separately from your survey answers in a protected area of DZHW’s in-house server. The information given in the survey is pseudonymised before being processed (i.e. cleared of names or addresses).

Sensitive information and all open statements are specially protected to ensure that they cannot be traced back to individual participants.

You can find more information about data protection at Nacaps here.

Study Design

Starting in 2019, new doctoral candidates will be admitted to the panel at regular intervals. Their consent provided, existing participants will be invited to the survey repeatedly.

If you agree to resubmit the follow-up questionnaire when registering for the first time, your contact details will be stored in compliance with the privacy policy. After two years, you will be invited again as a doctoral candidate or as a postdoc for a follow-up questionnaire.

The survey is carried out in cooperation with over 40 higher education institutions, including Goethe University. Doctoral candidates and doctorate holders throughout the country are surveyed at regular intervals on the study conditions for their doctorates, career aims and professional development, as well as on their general life situation. Consequently, the panel history will give an overview of career paths and the biographical development of doctoral candidates beyond the immediate phase of the dissertation. Detailed information on the study design can be found on the Nacaps website.

Survey Findings

The survey findings will be made available in a publicly accessible data portal, giving you an interesting external perspective on your doctorate and your career. For the participating universities, including Goethe University, the data portal will provide most useful insights into the careers and living conditions of doctoral candidates and doctorate holders in Germany. As a result, they can effectively increase the quality of their qualification programs and higher education offers. Relying on the new and comprehensive data on doctoral study conditions and doctorate success, GRADE, too, aims at supporting doctoral candidates and postdocs even more specifically on their individual pathway during and after their doctorate.

If you would like to be informed about news and first study results in a timely manner, we recommend you to subscribe to the Nacaps newsletter. On Twitter, Nacaps_Panel keeps you updated about various activities of Nacaps, recently published research data and news about early stage researchers.