In the future, engineering graduates will also be able to pursue doctoral studies in their field at Hessian universities of applied sciences (HAW). A corresponding cooperation agreement between RheinMain University of Applied Sciences (HSRM), Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Fulda University of Applied Sciences, and the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen for the joint doctoral center "Systems-Integrated Engineering" was signed by the university administrations. The doctoral center's office is located at HSRM.
The Chairman of the Hessian Association of Universities of Applied Sciences (HAW Hessen) and President of Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr. Karim Khakzar, expressed his great satisfaction at the signing: “Following the successful introduction of the independent right to award doctorates at Hessian universities of applied sciences in 2016 and the subsequent expansion of the Hessian model to practically all federal states, an important development step was due in Hesse – the establishment of a university-wide doctoral center for engineering disciplines. This also reflects the special significance of universities of applied sciences in the technical disciplines, as most engineers nationwide are trained at universities of applied sciences. With the doctoral center ‘Systems-Integrated Engineering Science,’ applied research in this field now receives significantly better framework conditions and thus an important boost.”
“The new inter-university and inter department doctoral center ‘System-Integrated Engineering Science’ is another milestone for Hesse. We are very pleased that, as universities of applied sciences, we can now guide our own young researchers to a doctorate in this profile-defining area of Hessian universities,” said Prof. Dr. Eva Waller, President of RheinMain University of Applied Sciences.
The doctoral center includes professors from the fields of civil engineering, electrical and information engineering, geomatics, engineering sciences, physical engineering and mechanical engineering.
The researchers at the new doctoral center are conducting research on topics including resource efficiency, sustainable energy supply, medical and physical technology, and digitized systems. For example, they are working on how future energy grids must be designed to be socially acceptable, demand-driven, and economically viable. They are also investigating improvements in medical technology through novel materials and functionalized surfaces, as well as aspects of our digital and technological sovereignty. At the same time, the doctoral center offers doctoral candidates excellent, quality-assured conditions on their path to a doctorate.
The member universities have been granted the right to conduct independent doctoral procedures and to award the academic title “Doctor of Engineering” (Dr.-Ing.) in the field of “System-Integrated Engineering” by the Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture (HMWK) as of October 1, 2025.
Following the THM 's doctoral center specializing in Life Science Engineering, this is the first doctoral center for the Dr.-Ing. Engineering) in the traditional engineering disciplines. Since Hessian universities of applied sciences were granted the independent right to award doctorates, inter-university doctoral centers have already been established in the fields of Applied Computer Science, Social Work, and Mobility and Logistics. Furthermore, Fulda University of Applied Sciences has its own doctoral centers for Social Sciences and Public Health, and Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences has a doctoral center for Sustainability Sciences.
