Natural Science plus Management

"Science & Management" - this is the name of the future-oriented doctoral program that KIT has been offering together with the international C-llège des Ingénieurs since 2011. For the first time in Germany, it offers the opportunity to combine a doctorate in the natural sciences with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. The program includes study visits and project work in other European countries. Interested parties can apply from March 2011.

There is no lack of entrepreneurial talent among young scientists, but only a few receive adequate support for these skills. "However, scientists with excellent management and leadership skills are equally in demand as junior managers in industry and research - and have been for some time, both nationally and internationally," says Professor Jürgen Becker, Chief Higher Education Officer at KIT. "KIT is the first German university to meet this demand by offering a dual degree with the corresponding qualifications."

The new doctoral program offers young scientists who aspire to a leading position in research or in a company a unique opportunity: They can combine their professional know-how with management training at the renowned Collège des Ingénieures (CDI), which is specially designed for scientists and engineers. "When the graduates hold their doctoral certificate in their hands, they will also know how to run a company and manage projects. Terms such as innovation management or leadership are no longer unwieldy foreign words," says Professor Stefan Bräse, Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry and Biosciences, which is in charge of implementing the concept at KIT. The prerequisite for an application is initially a doctoral position at this faculty, but the program will also be open to graduates from other disciplines in the future.

The doctoral certificate and the MBA diploma are preceded by three years of doctoral studies at KIT with short interruptions for a total of 16 intensive seminar weeks at various CDI locations throughout Europe, plus six months of project work in a management environment at a CDI partner company, also in another European country.The CDI programme is financed by companies and is free of charge for participants. Knut Stannowski, Managing Director of the CDI, emphasizes the uniqueness of the doctoral programme in Germany: "The advantage is that young top scientists are introduced to entrepreneurial thinking and action at an early stage. This has never been done before in this form."

The Collège des Ingénieures is an independent institution that was founded in 1986 and today prepares over 100 science and engineering graduates each year in France, Germany and Italy for a management career as part of an MBA. The Collège does not charge tuition fees as it is fully funded by industry.

Further information can be found at http://sam.chem-bio.kit.edu/

Further contacts:

KIT / Institute of Organic Chemistry

Professor Dr. Stefan Bräse

Phone +49 721 608-42902

Collège des Ingénieurs, 215 Boulevard Saint Germain, F 75007

Paris

Knut Stannowski

Tel. +33 1 49547262

E-mail: knut.stannowski∂cdi.eu