Doctoral Scholarships

The GCSC offers up to 10 PhD scholarships per year.

Scholarships are granted for one year with the possibility of two extensions of one year each. The scholarships include a monthly stipend of approximately € 1,100. PhD candidates seeking an excellent research environment will find ideal working conditions and maximum support at the GCSC and will have access to all the advantages offered by the GCSC to its members. The current round of scholarships was announced in late 2009 and will start in October 2010, the deadline for applications is March 1st, 2010.

Eligibility

The GCSC particularly welcomes applications for PhD scholarships from students who

• graduated with excellent marks from their home universities in one of the GCSC’s academic subjects or in cultural studies.
  Please note: If your main subject does not appear on the list of affliated departments (for example, if you have a degree in Cultural Studies), you may still be eligible for membership of the GCSC, provided your research project fits into one of the GCSC’s research areas.
  
• are proposing a research project that fits into one (or several) of the GCSC’s research areas
• are fluent in English or German.

Acceptance of a scholarship requires participation in the study and research programme and the wide-ranging events offered by the GCSC, as well as active involvement in the relevant GCSC graduate research group. Scholarship holders must be registered as PhD students at Justus Liebig University and are expected to take up residence in or near Giessen. PhD supervisors from among the GCSC faculty may be chosen by the applicants before or soon after their admission. There are no tuition fees for doctoral students at JLU, except for an enrolment fee of approximately € 200 per semester.

How to apply

We are delighted that you are interested in applying at the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture. In the following, we will provide you with some information on our two-stage application process for doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships. Should you have any further questions, please see our Frequently Asked Questions section. You, too, are welcome to contact our team at any time at gcsc-application@uni-giessen.de.

First Stage

To apply for GCSC-scholarships, you will first be asked to fill in and submit our online application form and to upload the following documents before the current deadline:

• a 1-2 page cover letter, explaining your motives for applying at the GCSC;
• a short abstract of your research project (approx. 500 words), including the title of your project and a brief outline of the methodology you will use;
• a curriculum vitae.
• Please compile one single PDF-document containing all of the above documents (1-2 pp. cover letter, abstract, and CV) . This document should then be labeled according to the following format: Lastname_Firstname.pdf.
• Once you have created the PDF-file, please fill in our online application form. You can then upload your PDF-file as a part of the online form and submit your application by pressing the “send” button. You will receive an email confirming the submission of your application. Should you not receive this email, please check your spam filter before resending your application form.
• In addition, we require two letters of recommendation provided by university professors. Please make sure that these references reach the GCSC by the announced deadline. References should be posted to the following address:
  
  Director Prof. Dr. Ansgar Nünning
  International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture
  Alter Steinbacher Weg 38
  35394 Giessen
  Germany
  
  Your two referees (who you will already have specified in your online application) can also send us their letters of recommendation directly, or email them to gcsc-application@uni-giessen.de.

2nd Stage

In the 2nd stage, we will notify you of the success of your application. Should you have been selected for the second stage of the application process, you will be requested to submit further documents supporting your application: For this second stage you will be asked to submit the following documents in print (unstapled) to the Director of the GCSC (see address above) by the announced deadline (date of receipt). Please do not submit any original documents or certificates. Only copies are required:

• Copies of your school and university transcripts
• A project proposal including a short summary, an overview of the research conducted so far, your topic and methodology as well as a selected bibliography. In your proposal, you should explain the connection of your research project to the GCSC’s research profile. Proposals of candidates applying for doctoral scholarships should not exceed 10 pages; if you are applying for a postdoctoral scholarship, please submit no more than 20 pages.
• A detailed schedule describing the specific stages of your work over a period of three years (doctoral scholarship), or two years (postdoctoral scholarship).
• Doctoral students should submit a copy of their M.A.-thesis. Postdoctoral applicants are expected to provide a copy of their dissertation as well as further publications supporting their application, if available (printouts are sufficient in all cases).

Please note that we cannot return any material to you. We would thus ask you to not submit any original documents!

Your entire application will be sent to two internal referees. Together with their evaluation comments, your application will be submitted to the Selection Committee of the GCSC, who will compile a shortlist. We will notify you whether you have been accepted as member of the GCSC and whether you will be invited to an interview for one of the GCSC-scholarships.

We hope that you find this information helpful for preparing your application. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact our team at gcsc-application@uni-giessen.de.

We look forward to receiving your application!

Selection Process

On the basis of the applications, the distribution of places will be decided by the Selection Committee.

The selection of candidates will be determined by their academic qualifications as well as by the quality of their research proposal and the suitability of the project to the GCSC research programme. Short-listed candidates will be invited to a 30-minute interview, which will be scheduled after applications have been submitted.