Positions available at the GSPoL

Two DAAD scholarships

Current positions available at the Graduate School 'Practices of Literature' at the Westfälische Wilhelms-University in Münster, Germany, in cooperation with the Graduate School Scholarship Pro-gramme (GSSP) of the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service).

Doctoral education in structured PhD programmes has become an essential part of the qualification process of young academics in Europe and Germany. High quality standards regarding the selection and hosting of doctoral students, as well as an international research environment, create unique perspectives particularly for foreign applicants.

In cooperation with the DAAD, the Department of Philology at the Westfälische Wilhelms-University in Münster is offering two scholarships for interested and qualified international doctoral candidates in the area of literary studies starting October 1st 2017. The Graduate School 'Practices of Literature' offers the opportunity to complete your doctoral degree within three years and to prepare for an academic career in university or non-university professions.

Each DAAD scholarship in this programme comprises funding for up to three years, or up to four years for applicants coming from developing or emerging countries.

Participating areas of study: American/English/Postcolonial Studies, Arabic/Islamic Studies, Baltic Studies, Book Studies, German Studies, Comparative Literature, Latin Philology/Studies, Dutch Studies, Scandinavian Studies, Romance Studies, Sinology, Slavonic Studies.

In its research, the graduate school focuses on the following three broad areas:
1. Literature and Society
(The relationship between Literary Studies, Social Theories, Cultural Theories and Studies, and Literature)
2. Theories of Literature
(Philosophy of Science, History and Theory of Literature, Literary Theories)
3. Putting the Study of Literature into Practice
(Occupationally-oriented areas that apply Literary Studies, the literary marketplace, key quali-fications, the relationship between Literary Theory and professional practice)

Curriculum: Lectures/series of talks, colloquia, group projects, workshops, practical training, aca-demic teaching.

Mentoring: Each doctoral candidate will be allocated to an individual, interdisciplinary support group consisting of three members. A written agreement regarding the mentoring as well as an individual work- and time schedule will be drawn up.

Guidelines for applications for the Graduate School Practices of Literature

The application for a scholarship follows a three-step procedure:

1) Candidates will submit an application to the GS PoL, followed by 2) a personal interview and a final nomination to the DAAD, followed by 3) the standard application procedure at the DAAD (an online application with supporting documentation via the DAAD online portal).

Requirements

• A qualifying degree at the level of Master/Magister/Staatsexamen (minimum grade: “gut”/B), in exceptional cases a Bachelor’s degree (minimum grade: “sehr gut”/A).
• Very good German language skills are recommended, as the courses at the GS PoL are taught in German
• At the time of the application, the last final exam should have taken place during the past six years
• At the time of the application the applicant should not have resided in Germany for more than fifteen months.

Deadline: The application deadline for the winter semester 2017/18 is the 30th of November 2016.

Format of the application
Applications for the Graduate School must be submitted in written form (in English or German, preferably via e-mail in one PDF file) and should include:

1. A letter of motivation explaining the application at the GS PoL
2. Curriculum vitae (without photograph)
3. Proof that the applicant has completed a qualifying course of studies - the degree awarded must at least be 2,0 (B) or better (according to § 5, Abs. 1 and 2 of the study regulations)
4. Proof of German language skills according to appendix A (Anhang A) of the study regulations.
5. A detailed project proposal of the planned dissertation of about 10 pages in length, including a description of aims and planned topics, relevance within literary scholarship and method of research, as well as a detailed work and time schedule and a bibliography.
6. Two letters of reference. If the applicant holds a Bachelor’s degree or has completed a first course of studies with a regular duration of less than eight semesters, three refer-ences must be submitted.

Please address applications to

Graduate School Practices of Literature
WWU Münster, Fachbereich 09 (Philologie)
Schlossplatz 34
48143 Münster, Germany

Please send your application via e-mail to
amthiemann@wwu.de

For more information please contact
Dr. Anna Thiemann (Coordinator of the GS PoL)
amthiemann@wwu.de