Integrated in the University's graduate academy, the Helmholtz Institute Jena offers a structured doctoral program for PhD students on the topics Laser-driven particle acceleration, Laser-generated radiation and X-ray and particle spectroscopy at particle accelerator and high-power laser facilities. Currently, the Research School of Advanced Photon Science (RS-APS) supports the studies of45 PhD students working at Jena and/or the associated Helmholtz centers (GSI/FAIR, DESY and HZDR). Apart from the scientific work conducted within the research projects pursued at HI-Jena, doctoral students are being offered training courses to consolidate their understanding of their PhD topics, as well as to broaden the students’ soft skills. Moreover RS-APS supports all its members financially through travel grants and approx. 20 PhD students through scholarships or working contracts.