We offer PhD students the opportunity to realise their promotion in cooperation with the BMW Group. The dissertation is a relevant step on the way to a scientific career – which you can create with us. In cooperation with experienced mentors, you will have the opportunity to combine passion and scientific competencies with real-life challenges and thereby help to shape the future of mobility. As a PhD student, you will have the chance to qualify yourself with your dissertation for a further career at the BMW Group, to promote your chosen specialist area in our company and to position yourself for your aspired career. We support you financially as well as professionally – with many excellent trainings and development opportunities.
Shape your passion into a career.
With our PhD Programme ProMotion.
PROGRAMME CONTENT IN DETAIL.
ONBOARDING.
What is the programme flow like? Who are the contact persons? In an introductory event, we will go into all the programme modules and you will find out more about our company and the people who will accompany you over the three years.
PRACTICAL ASSIGNMENTS.
We want you to gain as much experience as possible during your time with us. In this way, you get to know the company better in various assignments (an assignment abroad is also possible) and you have the opportunity to network in a wide range of fields.
QUALIFICATION.
We attach particular importance to your professional and personal development. In addition to subject-specific training, you will also acquire overarching qualifications and further education with us, through which you can develop yourself personally.
DIALOGUE DAY.
Once a year, at the ProMotion Dialogue Day, our PhD students present their dissertation topics to a broad audience. Here you have the chance to build a bridge between business and science.
DOCTORAL NETWORK.
Networking is the key to success – and that is exactly why you are part of an internal scientific network of ambitious PhD students with us. Here you can exchange ideas and make social, cross-departmental contacts from which you can benefit for a lifetime!
EVENTS.
During forums or expert presentations as well as fireplace chats with executives, you will gain insights into the company and the opportunity to network.
THE PROGRAMME AT A GLANCE.
GENERAL CONDITIONS AND DOCTORAL CANDIDATE CONTRACT.
Contract.
Contract.
As a participant in the BMW Group ProMotion programme, you will receive a doctoral candidate contract with a term of three years. And you will receive a monthly remuneration. Your presence in the department and at the university can be scheduled flexibly.
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Admission as a PhD student.
Admission as a PhD student.
Supervision of the dissertation takes place at the university and in close cooperation with a BMW department. When a doctoral position is advertised on our careers pages, the doctoral topic and the supervising college or university have already been determined. The admission as a PhD student is a responsibility of the respective university as well as the applicable doctoral degree regulations.
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Your BMW Group supervisors.
Your BMW Group supervisors.
Your contact for general questions about the ProMotion programme and the acceptance process is the programme director. Your specialist contact will be your departmental supervisor who will also support you in your personal development. You also have the option of a personal mentor as a contact and coach.
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Supervisor at university.
Supervisor at university.
Additionally to that you have regular meetings with your supervisor at university to ensure the scientific progress of your PhD thesis.
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Permanent position afterwards.
Permanent position afterwards.
After completing your doctoral degree, you can apply to BMW internal job ads worldwide. Taking part in the programme, you have the best possible chances to start a professional career at the BMW Group.
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YOUR WAY INTO THE PROGRAMME.
Your application should reach us four months prior to your desired start date at the latest. Please apply online only. Before signing the contract, all essential questions about your PhD should be clarified with the supervising professor and the BMW specialist department.
Job Finder.
Explore our 1574 current vacancies.
FAQs.
All open vacancies will be posted on this website. Please note that there are no fixed application periods for the ProMotion programme and new positions may be added at any time.
Our doctoral programme ProMotion is designed for all those who would like to do a PhD in cooperation with the BMW Group after their master's degree.
An application for our ProMotion programme is possible at any time. There are no fixed application periods here, but we advertise as required. But please note: Apply online via our Job Finder at least 4 months before the desired start date. You can always find current vacancies on this page.
It is very important to us to make the selection process as simple and fast as possible for our applicants. Therefore, we inform all applicants immediately about the status as soon as the application has been reviewed. However, due to the large number of positions and applications, it can sometimes take a while before the first response is received.
After successfully completing your doctorate, you can apply for internally advertised positions worldwide. As a programme participant, you have excellent chances of being hired. We are constantly looking for creative minds for challenging tasks in all areas of the company – and who better to take on these tasks than our ProMotion participants?
You do not have to be a doctoral candidate to apply for the ProMotion programme. When a doctoral position is advertised on our career pages, the doctoral topic and the supervising university have already been determined. This means that you do not have to search for a supervising university.
To ensure a quick start to your dissertation, everything is prepared for you: a supervising university has already been found by BMW and the dissertation topic has been defined together with the university. You can get started straight away!
An assessment centre is not part of the selection process. In interviews with the relevant department and our HR management, we find out whether you fit the advertised position.
There is no fixed grade point average that you must have to be accepted into the ProMotion programme.
The advertised positions are based on the research and competence needs of the company and our departments. Therefore, please apply only for advertised positions. An unsolicited application is unfortunately not possible.
I independently coordinate budget and capacity for my project and have all the freedom I need to devote myself fully to my doctoral thesis.
PhD candidate Augmented Reality
As a PhD student at BMW you get to experience a proper hands-on mindset and you get to see how you can really make things happen – it's a super feeling to watch your work shape our mobility in front of your very eyes.
PhD candidate Autonomous Driving
The programme is a unique opportunity to work on cutting-edge research in industry while also making a significant contribution in academia. It also helps to build a large network and understand the company from a wider perspective through orientation assignments.
PhD candidate AI and Robotics
Discover more.
Page Overview: PhD Programme ProMotion