Are chemistry doctoral students at German universities paid decently? Or do they scramble from one six-month contract to the next? Are there enough state or third-party funded positions or scholarships? Is it an exception that the position or scholarship has already expired and doctoral candidates finish their doctorate "on unemployment benefit" or is this now the rule? Do they live off their parents or even Hartz IV? Do they have to wait tables on the side to make ends meet?

The GDCh investigated these questions in 2016 and surveyed doctoral candidates with a degree in chemistry, biochemistry, food chemistry, etc. aged between 24 and 33 who were completing their doctorate in Germany during the survey period.

The detailed analysis of the survey was published in the October 2016 issue of Chemistry News starting on page 1012 and is published in the Wiley Online Library.

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