Hello all

I have a BE of Coputer Science from Syria.
I hope to complete my postgraduate study in Germany since it is cheaper than other countries.
I know living is somewho expensive in Germany, at least 600 Euro /monthly.
I'm working now in Saudi Arabia for a big IT company as Consultant software engineer for Microsoft Infrastructure solutions and shortly I will be moving to IT project management.

My question is about how much roughly I have to save from may work here in order to secure my living in germany during my PHD study.
Idea also to have a one year stop to work in germany after finishing the Master degree in order to save the money needed to complete the 2 PHD years remaining.
Note: I have a family with one little child only, and 5 years of experience in IT field.

Thanks for helping me to achieve my stratigic aim in life

ahmadmuhm@yahoo.com

Hi Ahmad

Sorry, I dont get some things from your post.

First of all, you are making now a MsC studium now? Or you plan also to do this here?

Second: you have to make a lot of things before comming here to make a PhD. I know you know it, but a PhD is not like a course. You dont just enroll in it and start/finish. It´s all a project you have to develop, under the direction of a Doktorvatter (a PhD from a University in Germany) to finish with a Thesis, after around of three years.

Most of the university don´t charge you for this PhD process but it takes a while and lot of papestuff to the university accept you as a "Doktorand".

An Msc is different, you enroll and pay (I dont really know how many but somebody here has told us before - just search in the forum) and after studying a lot and a Thesis you get your Msc or MBA.

The most common thing here is if you have enough academic background and experience, you can search/find a "Doktorandstelle" in which you work in your project and you get paid for that and when you finish your project, you make the dissertation and you also finish your work.

And saving the best for last, I can tell you Germany is extremely expensive. I thing I use 600 Euro just for food. Please check old threads, there was a long long thread about it last year and many people lives with very low money (I cannot) but mostly singles or couples with no kids. The costs of living are highly related with the area you plan to live. Smaller cities are cheaper than big cities.

Good luck

YO

Monthly 600 € will not be enough for a family with one child in Germany.. this amount is meant to be for a single who is eager to live in relatively bad (student) conditions.. (sharing the flat, shopping always from Aldi.. cooking your food at home.. etc..)

Lacrima

Hi Lacrima,

"cooking your food at home", where do you usually cook your food? My wife always made ours at home :-)

D.

Thanks for reply

Actually I'm preparing to do both the MsC and PHD in Germany, I need to know if I can have a IT job to support me during my study.I heard one can work only 3 months during study; is it easy to get job for only 3 months!!!!

I think as Mr. YO cleared; I can get paid after I finish the MsC during the PHD research.
And so before geting to Germany, I think I have to prepare money needed only for the MsC study duration (University & living fees)

Thanks in advance.

Hi Ahmad,

Let me say some about Germany considering your currently situation.
After finishing your Bachelor degree you you can get admitted into a Germany University in Masters leven. Until now most of the universities do not incurr any tuition on students. But universities are going to impose a higher enrollment fee (about €600 per six months).
If you are in Germany and you have some experience of programming you can get a job at a university as a HiWi or at a company. At the university you are permitted to work upto 20 hours per week. You are also allowed to work at a company 90 working days at any time.
In Germany there are laws, but there are also the holes of laws. If your employer really wants you, you can definately work there anytime. Everything is possible.
Take steps to gian your goals: No Risk, No Gain!

You can contact with me any time if you have further questions.

Good Luck!

@Nobody

"where do you usually cook your food? My wife always made ours at home "

:-) Ehm.. I tried to mean "not going to restaurant and eating the food that you have cooked/prepared by yourself".. but when I read the sentence again.. you are right.. I see that I formulated it in a way which misleads to a totally different meaning.. One of my English teachers at High School used to say.. "dont think in your native language, when you speak a foreign language.. think in that foreign language.." which I dont seem to achieve most of the time.. :-)

Lacrima

Salam ComputerEng,
I hope you the best, I agree with those who advised that 600 € are not enough for a family, for the minimum acceptable level of living standard at least double of that amount is needed for your family.
regarding financing your PHD I came across this useful link..
http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2001/01/25/8

Good luck
alom.

Dear All

Thanks for your very valuable information to me.
Trust7 is really the place to read before you join Germany...

I'm planning now to invest my time here to learn dutch and save money for study.

Still I have two inquiries;

First: Is it possible to prepare for dutch language course and pass it -lets say-at the germany embassy advisory institute? and thus no need for language course when I get to germany (is there a certificate like TOEFL to pass?).

Second: Regarding IT knowledge & experience preferred to get better job in germany; may you please have recommendations?
Really I dont like programming; instead I have good experience in: Microsoft AD, Exchange, ISA, SMS, MOM
Veritas Backup Exec, OPENTEXT livelink
I'm PMP, ITIL foundation certified, MCSE

I have also common knowledge about networking and cisco.

Regards

By the way..
why you gonna learn "Dutch" ? are you planning your studies in Holland ? :-) you should better learn "Deutsch", if you consider Germany as a destination.. :-)

ok.. apart from the joke.. :-) yes there is a "Toefl" like exam which proves your german language abilities and exempts you from the language exams in German Universities.. as Germans like to be complicated.. there are more than one exam which does this..
so check out the web site of Goethe Institut..

http://www.goethe.de/enindex.htm

I think, you may have good chances with all your certificates and experience.. but your german should be also good to find a job here..

Have fun

Lacrima

Ahhh.. there are also Universities and/or diciplines where English is the teaching language in Germany.. maybe this is a better option for you instead of investing a lot of time/effort to learn the german language on a University student level..

Lacrima

"why you gonna learn "Dutch" ? are you planning your studies in Holland ? you should better learn "Deutsch", if you consider Germany as a destination.. "

Sorry for typographical mistake ;)

>>"cooking your food at home", where do you usually cook your >>food? My wife always made ours at home.

Nobody is articulate !
Nobody likes sarcasm !

Onye ?
Are you becoming the lawyer of the other posters or what ?
I clearly mentioned that it was a joke when I posted for "Dutch", "Deutsch" mistake..

Dont you realize that you are also doing a kind of "sarcasm" by telling to me that "Nobody likes sarcasm" ?

I am not gonna change the way I am just because you dont like sarcasm.. although what I did was not sarcasm..

Have fun

Lacrima

@lacrima

>> Are you becoming the lawyer of the other posters or what ?

Actually , I referred to Nobody(in other words NoOne).
So my post should cause Nobody to take offence !

should I really take offence? Hell no! My wife does cook our food at home :-) Even if sometimes we go to eat at the Greek or the Chinese restaurant and it really tastes good.

What offence you're talking about anyway?

D.

>should I really take offence? Hell no! My wife does cook our food >at home Even if sometimes we go to eat at the Greek or the >Chinese restaurant and it really tastes good.

> What offence you're talking about anyway?

I am taken aback by the attitude exhibited as regards my post.
I recognise the need not to think positive these days though !

I'm sure some folks would take my post literally because I did referred to NoBody(I didn't refer to AnyBody).Although I recognise the need for "NoBody" to blush and then try to give us another impression that he sometimes can afford taking his family out to eat in exotic restaurants which is actually uncalled for.

it's starting becoming not that clever, and I'm not sure it will help a lot of people.

You don't want to think positive, man, I ain't gonna jump in your mind, thinking positively or negatively is one of the choice God gave to each and noone will stand against that. That's like jumping out of your bed in the morning, noone forces you too :-) (Except if you really need to go to the toilet, but then, it's still a choice you make of going or not, but when you choose not to go, then problems come ;-) )

Affording going to a restaurant? Come on, how much does it cost you if you want to get yourself out sometimes and enjoy your life with your family and kids?
It has never been a matter of time, nor a matter of price, but just the pleasure to see one's kid face and smile when you can pass the time with them after being out everyday working. Kids deserve that, maybe you don't have kids so yuo won't understand, but if you have a girlfriend than you can seemly be able to get it.

D.

Finally; I've won the full attention of the Orator himself. My Greetings ! I always admire the way you chose your words.

Your statement about being positive or not.
Is actually a food for thought !

Your other statement about :-
Putting a smile on your kid's or Girlfriend's face is quite loving !