Organisational Structure
The GCSC is built on management structures that ensure its efficient internal governance. These structures are complemented with a set of clear-cut mechanisms regulating the allocation of funds on a performance-related basis, following the principle of internal competition based on excellence. The various organs of the GCSC include those with executive or advisory functions (Executive Board, Board of Directors, Manager, International Advisory Board, Graduate Student Committee, Selection Committee, Gender Equality Committee), as well as academic and managerial staff (junior professor, postdoctoral and doctoral assistants, secretary). At a general assembly held at least once a year, all members of the GCSC discuss matters of interest to the GCSC, elect the members of the Board of Directors, the Selection Committee, the Graduate Student Committee, and the Committee for Gender Equality, and make decisions about changes to the general statutes of the GCSC.
Board of Directors and International Advisory Board
The GCSC is headed by the Board of Directors, consisting of members at all different stages of their academic careers, including professors, postdocs, postgrads and staff elected by the general assembly. It serves as a steering committee responsible for determining the research programme, general management policy and finance plan, approving the curriculum, suggesting new members to the faculty and appointing the members of the Executive Board. The Board of Directors is supported by an International Advisory Board, which guides decisions about the thematic orientation of the curriculum and research programme as well as other strategic decisions, and regularly evaluates the centre.Executive Board
The Executive Board is responsible for the day-to-day management and coordination of the GCSC, as well as for budget allocation. It consists of the Director of Graduate Studies, the Graduate Studies Executive, the Head of the Teaching Centre, and the manager of the GCSC. The Director is the principal point of contact for the faculties, departments, and doctoral programmes. He has overall responsibility for the curriculum, the graduate research groups, the Graduate Career Services and our inclusion in international networks. The Graduate Studies Executive is in charge of all formal aspects of graduate studies such as admissions procedure, the graduate prospectus, university policy regarding graduate study in the participating faculties and guidance regarding applications for grants. Assigned to the Graduate Studies Executive is a postdoctoral assistant, responsible for coordinating the research areas and scholarship advice. The Head of the Teaching Centre is responsible for courses and workshops on academic teaching as well as individual advice for instructors. Supported by the GCSC staff, the manager administrates and organises the curriculum, graduate research groups, Career Services, finances, public relations, marketing, the newsletter and KULT_online.Additional organs of the GCSC
Additional organs of the GCSC include two junior professors of theory of culture and cultural history, the Graduate Student Committee, the Selection Committee, the Committee for Gender Equality and an independent Ombudsman who helps to solve conflicts.
The junior professors provide momentum for research projects and further the interdisciplinary focus of the curriculum.
The GCSC is founded on the principle of including its students in decision-making at all levels. On the Board of Directors, the GCSC's highest decision-making body, PhD students have four representatives, voted in at an annual election meeting. In addition, a 'Graduate Student Committee' of four GCSC members is to advise the Board of Directors. Consequently, the task of the Committee is to foster the interaction among GCSC graduate students, as well as to strengthen the flow of communication between these and the GCSC as a whole. The Committee represents graduate students' interests if it comes to individual issues, as well as in the decision-making process as regards the GCSC teaching staff. Accordingly, it campaigns on behalf of the graduate students for conjointly maintaining the best possible terms and conditions at the centre.
The Selection Committee is responsible for the allocation of GCSC-memberships and -scholarships to doctoral students. It consists of the members of the Executive Board, three Principal Investigators and one junior professor or postdoctoral researcher.
The Gender Equality Committee, consisting of two Principal Investigators, one junior professor or postdoctoral researcher and one doctoral student, is responsible for monitoring the measures proposed in the GCSC gender-equality plans and suggesting additional measures.
An Ombudsman helps solve conflicts between members of the centre.
