This presentation explores the academic journeys of Indian and Chinese doctoral students in Germany (Boutiuc-Kaiser & Symeonidis, 2025), examining their perspectives on adapting to new learning methodologies, academic standards, and socio-cultural norms compared to their home countries. By analysing 10  biographical narrative interviews, the study highlights the challenges faced and strategies developed by these students during their transition to the German higher education system. Key themes, such as increased autonomy, independent decision-making, and potential psychological distress, highlight the importance of effective adaptation strategies and strong support systems for these students. This study contributes to understanding the experiences of Asian doctoral students, a growing demographic in German and international universities, and can inform universities in developing targeted support programmes to enhance international students’ academic success in Germany, Despite the growing interest in international doctoral students in Germany, few studies have explored the internationalisation of German higher education system and the impact of international doctoral students on German higher education (Zhu, 2012; Lihe, 2015).Against this background, the aim of this study is to address this gap by examining the experiences and perceptions of international PhD students who have moved to German HEIs, with particular attention to autonomy, learning practices, and socio-academic adjustment.

Methodologically, the study employs a biographical-reflexive narrative approach to gain original, genuine, and reliable insights into the academic experiences of international doctoral students at German HEIs (Sigl, 2016). This qualitative approach prioritises the perspectives of the target group and foregrounds the researcher’s choices and ontological and epistemological beliefs, including decisions concerning whom to study, which knowledge and research traditions to draw on, which data to include or exclude, how to address ethical concerns, and how to present findings. The approach also recognises the ethical imperative of valuing “otherness” (Levinas, 1979). Intrinsically linked to the life course perspective (Elder et al., 2003), the biographical narrative approach highlights the significance of individuals’ social contexts and decision-making processes. The empirical material is based on ten biographical narrative interviews with Indian and Chinese doctoral students enrolled at German HEIs, allowing for an in-depth exploration of their academic trajectories and lived experiences.

The findings highlight several interrelated themes that characterise international doctoral students’ experiences in Germany. Participants emphasised the structured and hierarchical nature of the German university landscape and differences in social interactions compared to their home countries. Within German and broader Western academic culture, the university is traditionally understood as a space of autonomous judgement, rooted in Kant’s concept of reason, which defines maturity as having the “courage to use one’s own mind” without external guidance (Kant, cited in Johnson et al., 2000). This understanding underpins supervisory practices characterised by a pedagogy of indifference, where doctoral students are expected to work independently with limited support, often resulting in a demanding period of adjustment marked by uncertainty, isolation, and frustration (Wang et al., 2021). A second key theme concerns learning through interaction with supervisors, research teams, and peers. While international doctoral students from Asia in Germany share similarities with their counterparts in English-speaking countries, they must adapt to unfamiliar learning practices within a doctoral education system that places limited emphasis on coursework and is relatively new to internationalisation (Boutiuc-Kaiser & Symeonidis, 2025). Doctoral education primarily centres on the production of a thesis, with few structured seminars, often organised by supervisors, making social support systems crucial for mitigating challenges and facilitating adjustment. Further findings show that social background shapes how students cope with academic challenges, while feelings of alienation and isolation were common due to unfamiliar social dynamics and the lack of structured peer cohorts. Importantly, international doctoral students were active agents navigating cultural disequilibrium. As “self-forming individuals” (Marginson, 2016), they continuously adapted their learning strategies in response to language barriers, differences in learning environments, and stereotypes (Bilecen, 2013; Hunter-Johnson, 2022; Boutiuc-Kaiser, 2023).

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