How to apply

Applications should be submitted by completing the online application form. Please make sure you have assembled all the necessary information before starting to complete the form, since there is no possibility of saving the information you have entered during the process. We recommend filling in the application form at least a few days before the deadline. Otherwise, should you experience problems, we will not be able to provide adequate support.

Application Deadline: May 15, 2016 (23:00 CET)

As part of the form, you will be asked to upload a single PDF file. The PDF should not exceed a size of 10 MB. Please name your PDF „YOURNAME.pdf“ (substituting your last name for YOURNAME). The PDF should contain:

Outline of proposed dissertation project including bibliography (3,500 words max., not counting the bibliography). In this outline, you should describe your proposed topic, its context, the material you want to study, your research questions and methodology, and relate these to the state of the art in the relevant field(s) as well as to the RTG’s research profile.
Proposed work and time schedule. Please provide a provisional work and time schedule covering a period of three years, in order to demonstrate the feasibility of your project and the likelihood of completing it within the funded period.
Curriculum vitae
Letter of motivation (2-3 pages)
Degree certificates and transcripts. Degree certificates in languages other than English or German must be translated into English or German by a certified and nationally accredited translator. Please include an explanation of the grade system used in the certificates/transcripts.
Writing sample in English (e.g., thesis chapter or independent academic publication, max. 5,000 to 7,000 words)

Please refrain from including a photograph of yourself in your application.

In the form, you will be asked for the following information:

Personal data
Academic information: Please provide information on your completed degrees. You can enter up to three different completed degrees. In general, these will be your B.A. and M.A. degrees or equivalent. Should you have completed more than three degrees, please choose the most relevant ones and include the others in your CV.
Most recent degree: In general, this will be your M.A. degree. Please specify the title of your thesis, the grade you received, and your supervisor(s).
Publications: Please list your academic publications (monographs, (co-)edited volumes, journal articles, book chapters, review articles etc.). This is a non-mandatory field.
Honours, scholarships, prizes, awards, fellowships.
Language skills: Please tick the appropriate box or boxes. If you are you a native English speaker, no further information is required. If you have completed a degree with English as its language of instruction, please specify which of the above-mentioned degrees this was. If none of the above apply to you, please choose „other“ and specify your English proficiency level. It is not necessary to provide a certificate of language proficiency at this point. Should your application successfully pass the first stage of the selection process, we will actively solicit this information. For required language proficiency levels, see Formal requirements.
References: Please do not submit letters of reference, but indicate the names and contact details of two potential referees. The RTG will contact the referees if further information is required. The referees should know you personally and be familiar with your academic work. Good choices would be your thesis supervisor(s) and/or other professors who know your work. Please make sure that the persons you name have agreed to write a letter of recommendation on your behalf if solicited, and to being contacted by phone or e-mail by the RTG.
Proposed dissertation project: This section includes information on your project’s working title as well as a short description (approx. 200 words). Please indicate which of the RTG's research areas you would locate your project in.
Submitted documents: Please check that the PDF you upload contains all the necessary information and meets the formal criteria (file size, name).
Additional information: You may use this field for any additional information you deem relevant.

On the basis of the written applications, the selection committee will identify the 20 most promising candidates. These candidates will be invited for interviews (to be conducted via video conferencing for all candidates to ensure equal opportunities). Interviews will be held in the first half of June. Successful candidates will be notified by the end of June.