The following links might prove useful for (prospective) PhD students,
particularly those in the U.S. and in computer science or math. A
lot of the material is pretty much universal, though. If you know of
other great resources that I could add to this list, send me e-mail
at mylastname@cs.ucdavis.edu.
Effective Scientific Electronic Publishing
By Markus G. Kuhn, University of Cambridge.
Read this before placing your papers online. http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/publ-tips/
doktorandenforum.de
By my cousin Sebastian Veelken (in German).
Website with many hints for PhD students in Germany; includes
a lively discussion forum. http://www.doktorandenforum.de/ (English summary)
DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)
Comprehensive information on tertiary education, including PhD studies, in Germany. The site includes information on financial aid. http://daad.de/deutschland/index.en.html
Advice for Foreign Students Wishing to Pursue Graduate Study in Computer Science at UCSC By Jim Whitehead, UC Santa Cruz.
This text provides some insight for foreign students as to why life might be harder
for them at public schools as opposed to private schools. http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/~ejw/advice/
If you're looking for schools to apply to and know what area you'd like to pursue, these hints might help to
find departments that are strong in your particular field.
Ask a professor in that discipline, preferably one that is familiar with your work (and hence your
chances to get in). Maybe she will also happen to know that a fellow colleague is currently looking for
talented students...
At least for cryptography, there are many pages around that have lists of researchers in the discipline.
Use your favorite search engine to search for "lists cryptographers" or so.
Check the journals. Who's work do you like?
Keep records of everything
Another general advice: When applying, keep a copy of everything you
send out (e-mails, applications, ...), everything that you receive, and
everything that you have other people send out for you (test scores in
particular). Make yourself a list
right when you start so that you will know when you sent off that
letter they claim they haven't received yet. Most admissions offices
receive vast amounts of mail, so invariably something will get lost.