The Graduate School for East and Southeast European Studies at Universität Regensburg will admit three PhD candidates and two Predoctoral researchers to its programme, beginning on 1 April 2023.

The Graduate School for East and Southeast European Studies (GS OSESUR) is an interdisciplinary and cross-faculty collaborative research network of the Universität Regensburg. GS OSESUR continues the doctoral training program that was established and jointly organized by LMU Munich and the University of Regensburg from 2012 to 2019 as part of the German Excellence Initiative. Since 2020, the interdisciplinary and structured doctoral program in the field of East and Southeast European Studies has been financed by the University of Regensburg and the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and the Arts. For more information see: http://www.gsoses-ur.de.

With its primary regional focus on East and Southeast Europe, the Graduate School collaborates across the following disciplines: History, Literary, Language and Cultural Studies, Social Anthropology, and Law. Research at the GS OSESUR focuses particularly on interrelations and interdependencies between East and Southeast Europe and other parts of the world. For this reason, the School’s expertise in Area Studies is complemented by insights from European History and North American Studies. The GS OSESUR therefore especially welcomes projects with a transnational / transregional or comparative approach.

This year, the Graduate School is once again able to announce a call for scholarships to start on 1 April 2023. A maximum of three doctoral scholarships and two predoctoral scholarships are to be awarded.

- The doctoral scholarships are initially awarded for a limited period of 18 months, with a further 24 months’ funding (maximum of 42 months in total) available after successful evaluation
- The predoctoral fellowships are awarded for a total of 12 months. It is expected that within this funding period a doctoral project in a research field of the GS OSESUR will be developed in preparation for an application for external funding

The doctoral and pre-doctoral scholarships are granted at a monthly rate of EUR 1,365.00 (plus EUR 103.00 monthly material cost allowance) plus travel funds and, if applicable, childcare allowances (200.00 EUR monthly for the first child, another 100.00 EUR for each further child). All other regulations relating to the grants follow the German Research Foundation (DFG) guidelines for Research Training Groups (Graduiertenkollegs).

The doctoral scholarship holders must complete their doctorate at the University of Regensburg. For successful participation in the doctoral and qualification program of the Graduate School, residence in Regensburg is expected.

The twelve-month predoctoral fellowships are intended to enable Master's graduates to make a timely transition to the doctoral phase. The predoctoral fellows are given the opportunity to participate in the program of the GS OSESUR at an early stage. The international working environment of the GS OSESUR offers ideal conditions for the realization of excellent PhD projects in the humanities and social sciences, as well as in law, which focus on East and Southeast Europe and the entanglements of this region with other regions of the world. The GS OSESUR is integrated into the Eastern and Southeastern European research focus at the University of Regensburg, which also includes non-university research institutions such as the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Research (IOS) and the Institute for Eastern Law (IOR). Excellent library resources are another plus. As an international research institution, the GS OSESUR also explicitly invites applications from international candidates. The Graduate School’s seminars are bilingual (German and English). Therefore, appropriate language skills are expected. For doctoral researchers from abroad, we expect a willingness to learn German.

Requirements

- very good graduate degree (Master’s, Magister, German Diploma, State Examination or equivalent degree) in, or related to, one of the fields mentioned above
For applications to the predoctoral program where the master’s degree (or equivalent) has not yet been awarded, the minimum requirement is that you have submitted your master’s thesis
- independent research project within the fields of interest to the GS OSESUR
- interest in interdisciplinary research questions and openness to entanglements, transnational approaches and spatial perspectives
- knowledge of languages relevant to the proposed research project
- excellent English language skills are required, German language skills are a plus

Application

- for doctoral scholarships: outline of your proposed doctoral project (5–6 pages that includes an indication of: the aims and relevance of your project; your key questions and methods; how your project relates to existing research and debates in relevant fields)
- for predoctoral-fellowships: outline of a doctoral topic (3–4 pages, with justification of the relevance of the topic and presentation of your ability to work on this topic)
- a covering letter (max. one page) outlining your motivation for applying
- work plan and schedule
- indication of the preferred supervisor
- Curriculum Vitae
- scans of higher education degree certificates
- abstract of the Master’s thesis (or equivalent)
- list of publications and presentations (if applicable)
- indication of two university lecturers or professors (name and contact) who could provide references

Please submit your complete application by email (consolidate/merge all documents into one file preferably in pdf format, 5 MB max.) to the administration office of the Graduate School at: graduiertenschule@ur.de (please make in the subject line clear: “Application Doctoral scholarship” or “Predoctoral fellowship”).

The deadline for applications is 20 November 2022.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview via video conference with the speaker of the Graduate School, the Admission Committee, and their future advisor. The interviews are scheduled for the week 9 to 13 January 2023. Following the interview, the Admission Committee will decide on the candidate’s admission to the Graduate School. Please refrain from inquiries about the results before 3 February 2023.

The Graduate School is committed to ensuring the compatibility of family and careers. It therefore encourages applications from women. As an international research institution, the School welcomes applications from abroad. Applicants with disabilities possessing essentially equivalent qualifications will receive preferential consideration. If applicable, please mention the disability in the application.

For more information on the application process, please contact the managing director of the GS OSESUR, Dr. Heidrun Hamersky, at heidrun.hamersky@ur.de or tel. +49 941 943 5332.