Insurance and taxes

Germany has a well-developed social security system. Doctoral students who work in Germany and are subject to social security contributions are generally members of these five statutory insurance schemes: health, long-term care, pension, accident and unemployment insurance.

Promotion students are not automatically covered by health insurance in Germany. Depending on their status (employee with an income of more than €450/month, scholarship holder, employee with a marginal income of less than €450/month or self-financing), there are different regulations and options for health insurance.

Those who have an employment contract at TU Bergakademie Freiberg or with another employer are compulsorily insured in the statutory health insurance scheme. The health insurance contributions are automatically deducted from the salary and paid to the health insurance fund.

Those who receive a scholarship or finance themselves must take out voluntary insurance either with the statutory health insurance provider or with a private provider. Scholarship holders who receive funding from the DAAD or one of its partner organisations (e.g. DFG) can take out affordable private health insurance via the DAAD group tariff.

For low earners (monthly income <€450/month), family insurance via the spouse is an option if the spouse has an income subject to social insurance contributions and is covered by statutory insurance.

Employees and enrolled doctoral students at TU Bergakademie Freiberg are covered by statutory accident insurance as long as they are within the university or on their way there or home. This provides comprehensive insurance cover for accidents at work and occupational illnesses. Students enrolled at the university are also covered by leisure accident insurance provided by the Student Union. This insurance cover includes all leisure accidents. It is valid worldwide and around the clock, but the benefits are limited.

Those who do not belong to any of these groups are not insured against accidents. They are strongly recommended to take out accident insurance valid for Germany, either with an insurance company in their home country or in Germany. The insurance covers damages if an accident is caused or suffered.

The TU Bergakademie Freiberg does not have liability insurance for its members. Such insurance must therefore be taken out privately by everyone in order to avoid having to pay for damage caused to others and the resulting claims for damages out of their own pocket.

The DAAD and its partner organisations also offer private insurance for these two types of insurance for their scholarship holders as part of the DAAD group tariff.

Degree of health insurance in your home country

Sufficient statutory or private health insurance cover valid for Germany and including the following benefits is required for entry into Germany:

  • medical and dental treatment
  • provision of medicines, dressings, remedies and aids
  • hospital treatment and medical services for rehabilitation
  • benefits for pregnancy and childbirth

foreign health insurance (valid for Germany) should therefore already be taken out in your home country. Otherwise, German health insurance must be taken out before enrolment at TU Bergakademie Freiberg. As it takes some time to take out a degree, all foreign doctoral candidates are recommended to take out international travel health insurance in their home country for the first four to six weeks in Germany. Young scientists from countries with which the Federal Republic of Germany has a social security agreement (EU/EEA countries and Switzerland) should obtain the necessary EU certificate E 111 (short stays) or E 128 (longer stays) from their health insurance provider in their home country, the certificate HD 111 in Hungary, the certificate D6 in Croatia or the certificate D 6 in Switzerland. Detailed advice on this can be obtained from Cornelia [dot] jacob [at] tk [dot] de (Techniker Krankenkasse) (the health cooperation partner of TU Bergakademie Freiberg).

Promotion students from non-EU and non-EEA countries and countries with which the Federal Republic of Germany does not have a social security agreement must provide proof of health insurance that is sufficient for Germany.

Health insurance in Germany

Promotion students who come to Germany from abroad must take out private insurance in any case. The corresponding EU certificate or proof of private insurance (see above) must be presented to the health insurance company in order to obtain the relevant health insurance policy. The health insurance certificates required for the residence permit and for enrolment will be issued after the insurance has been taken out.

A selection of private health insurance companies in Germany can be found here.

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Academic Fixed-Term Contract Act

Fixed-term employment contracts for academic staff are very common in the German academic system. This is regulated by the Act on Fixed-Term Employment Contracts in Science (Act on Fixed-Term Academic Contracts - WissZeitVG). The time limits apply regardless of the restrictions of the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act.

For detailed information and explanations on the Academic Fixed-Term Contracts Act, please visit Homepage of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

In principle, academic staff can be employed for a maximum of twelve years (with more than a quarter of regular working hours - currently ten hours per week) on a fixed-term contract - six years before and six years after the doctorate. However, this is only possible in the case of employment that serves to further your own academic qualification. This can be a doctorate or habilitation, but also other academic qualifications (learning research methods, further qualification in teaching, etc.). The duration of the fixed-term contract must be appropriate to the qualification objective, which is why a qualification objective must be stated in every employment contract.

If the doctorate is successfully completed in a shorter period of time, the remaining years in addition to the six years after the doctorate can be used for fixed-term employment contracts.

An extension of the maximum fixed-term period by two years is possible if you are caring for your own children, stepchildren or foster children (two years per child) or if you have a disability or chronic illness.

The twelve-year maximum fixed-term period does not always apply to externally funded projects. If there is an objective reason for the fixed-term employment (e.g. project duration), the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act also permits fixed-term employment regardless of the employee's own qualifications. The duration of the fixed-term employment is then based on the project duration, but is counted towards the maximum fixed-term duration for the qualification (Section 2 (3) WissZeitVG).