Graduate Academy Doctorate
Insurance Cover

Information on Compulsory Insurance for Ph.D. Candidates

The following details on health, accident and liability insurance are intended as orientation for Ph.D. candidates at Leibniz University Hannover. Individual questions on insurance should always be clarified with the appropriate departments. The Graduate Academy takes no legal responsibility.

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Health Insurance

The type of health insurance for Ph.D. candidates depends upon how their doctoral studies are financed and upon whether they have a contract of employment at the same time.

Ph.D. candidates who are also employed as research staff

Ph.D. candidates who are employed as research staff at the university during their doctoral studies normally have statutory health insurance within the framework of their contract of employment.

External Ph.D. candidates with a contract of employment

External Ph.D. candidates who have a contract of employment during their doctoral studies are likewise normally insured within the framework of their contract.

External Ph.D. candidates who do not have a contract of employment

Ph.D. candidates who do not have a contract of employment during their doctoral studies are “insurance-free”. This refers in particular to those Ph.D. candidates who finance their studies by means of a scholarship, mainly freelance work or minor employment. In this context, however, “insurance-free” means only that one may choose between statutory or private health insurance. Ph.D. candidates must in any case take out statutory health insurance. It should be noted that Ph.D. candidates are not treated as students by the statutory health insurance funds and are therefore not eligible for reduced student rates. The basis for their contribution is their assessable income.

External Ph.D. candidates who have family insurance

Ph.D. candidates who are not yet 25 years old (possibly older due to national or community service) or live in a civil partnership/ are married and are insured as a family member do not need to apply for health insurance.

For further information, please see the following brochure of the GEW.

GEW´s brochure on social insurance for Ph.D. candidates (GER)

If you have further questions, please contact the Advisory Service of the Student Services Organisation in Hannover.

Advisory Service of the Hannover Student Services Organisation

Liability Insurance

There are also differences in the way in which Ph.D. candidates at Leibniz University Hannover are insured against damages, which arise within the framework of their doctoral studies. These differences depend on whether Ph.D. candidates are research staff members and thus have a contract of employment with the university or not.

Research staff

Ph.D. candidates who are employed as research staff by the university are exempt from liability towards their employer, the university. This means that they are not held liable for any damages, which they may cause within the framework of their contract, unless they caused these, damages through negligence or even deliberately.

Ph.D. scholarship holders and external Ph.D. candidates

If there is no contract of employment between a Ph.D. candidate and the university, he or she is not insured against any damages, which he or she may cause within the framework of his or her doctoral studies.

In the case of damages, Ph.D. scholarship holders and external Ph.D. candidates are not subject to insurance cover from the university. They are therefore urgently advised to take out private liability insurance. Care should be taken that this private insurance also covers damages, which arise at the workplace. If he/she is in any doubt, the Ph.D. candidate should have this checked by his or her insurance company.

Accident Insurance

As obligatory matriculated students, Ph.D. candidates at Leibniz University Hannover are insured within the framework of statutory accident insurance. The latter cover all work, which is carried out in the organisational area of the university within the framework of doctoral studies. This includes, for example, presence at lectures and seminars or the use of libraries. The condition for this is matriculation which is legally binding for Ph.D. candidates in Lower Saxony (cf. § 9 section 2, clause 4 Lower Saxony Higher Education Act).

Ph.D. candidates who are employed as research staff at Leibniz University have statutory accident insurance cover based on their contract of employment with the university.

For further information on statutory accident insurance, please see the website of the Gemeinde-Unfallversicherungsverband Hannover (Hannover Accident Insurance Association)

Hannover Accident Insurance Association (GER)