DAAD scholarships are for candidates with a non-German citizenship who are holding a Master's degree or equivalent in Sociology, Political Sciences, Economics, Statistics, Demography, Empirical Educational Sciences or Psychology. Candidates should propose an original dissertation project fitting thematically into at least one of our four research pillars. The two main criteria are the candidate's proven record of academic excellence on the one hand, and BAGSS' ability to ensure competent, research-led supervision on the other. A concise overview of the topics that can be supervised by our faculty can be found here.
A DAAD scholarship can be awarded for up to four years. The scholarships are initially granted for one year, an extension of the grant period will depend on positive evaluation of the progress made in the past year. The DAAD scholarship comprises:
- a monthly scholarship rate of 1,200 EUR
- a travel allowance depending on the country of origin
- a combined health, accident and liability insurance
- a study and research allowance of 460 EUR per year
- a rent and/or family allowance if applicable
Candidates should not have lived in Germany for more than 15 months by April 2019. Furthermore, the last final examination for the highest university degree (usually the Master's degree) should not have taken place more than six years prior to April 2019. The selection process for the DAAD Scholarships comprises two stages. In the first stage, applicants send their application to the Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences via the online application form. The Graduate School selects candidates based on the following criteria:
- A complete, formally correct application has been submitted by the advertised deadline and in the required fashion.
- The statutory criteria for admission to doctoral studies at Bavarian universities are met.
- The research topic for the doctoral thesis, as proposed in the application, matches the academic profile of BAGSS (the Four Pillars).
- At least one faculty member of BAGSS, who is qualified to examine doctoral theses, agrees to supervise the suggested thesis topic.
- The complete application has been judged as excellent by a panel of academic assessors from the Graduate School in competition with other applications.
The Graduate School nominates at least two candidates for both scholarships. These candidates are then asked to submit their application materials to the DAAD. Eventually, the DAAD decides upon the successful candidates. Applications for the scholarship year October 2019 - September 2020 are accepted from 31 October 2018 until 15 February 2019. In order to be considered for a DAAD Scholarship, each application must include the following documents:
- A cover letter that demonstrates your acquaintance with our programme and your qualifications in your subject area.
- Your complete CV - including full contact information.
- An abstract of your research proposal (see below #4) of at most 1 page.
- Your research proposal of the planned dissertation project (only one research proposal) on at most 5 pages (font Arial, size 11, 1.5 line spacing). The proposal should include a work schedule. In the work schedule, please indicate planned periods and destinations of research or field trips.
- Scans of the following transcripts and certificates. a) School leaving certificates giving the right of entry to higher education in your home country, with individual grades. b) All university transcripts, for the bachelor's, master's or any other degrees, stating all individual grades. c) All university diploma or degree certificates indicating the final grade, including an explanation of the grading system (i.e. maximum attainable grade, minimum grade to pass, etc.). If your transcripts or certificates have been issued in other languages than English or German, then certified translations need to be provided.
- Proof of English language proficiency. Please attach a copy of one of the following official test results: IELTS (minimum band score of 7), TOEFL (minimum score of 95 ibt), CAE (pass), Unicert III (pass). An academic degree completed entirely in English, i.e. with a final thesis written in English is NOT accepted as a sufficient proof of your English language skills. You have to provide one of the above mentioned certificates. Exceptions are made for nationals of the following countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States of America and New Zealand.
- Please include also a short self-written statement about your knowledge of German. While the programme is conducted entirely in English, willingness to learn German or improve existing German language skills is expected.
- A concise statement on your knowledge of social science research methods. This short, self-written description (not more than half a page, font Arial, size 11, 1.5 line spacing) should contain information on your methodological training or practical experience in applying methods.
- Two letters of recommendation. These letters should be sent to us via post in a sealed envelope. Please use the form provided by the DAAD, which can be found here. (Please do not include the letters of recommendation in your application file. The letters have to be sealed by your recommenders before they are handed to you.). Your recommenders should send the letter to this address: University of Bamberg, Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences, Feldkirchenstr. 21, 96052 Bamberg, Germany.
- Privacy Policy Agreement. This document must be signed. Download the document here.(308.8 KB)
All application materials must be submitted in English (except for certificates and transcripts, which may also be provided in German). Please do not attach any documents other than those requested. All documents need to be submitted as a single PDF (max. 30 MB). In this single PDF, you must arrange your documents in the following order:
Cover Letter
CV
Abstract
Research Proposal
Scans of school leaving certificate, university transcripts and degree certificates
Proof of English language proficiency
Short self-written statement about your knowledge of the German language
Statement of knowledge of social science research methods
Privacy Policy Agreement (for download see application materials)
Two letters of recommendation need to be sent by your recommenders to us via post, in a sealed envelope; see section "What application materials are required?". The recommendation letters should not be included in the PDF file which you upload. Applications that are not submitted in this order will not be accepted. Free software for creating PDFs and merging them into a single document is available on the internet, e.g. the PDFcreator. Please, use your surname to name your application file (SURNAME.pdf; make sure to avoid special characters). Please submit the completed file using our online application form here. Applications will be accepted between 31 October 2018 and 15 February 2019. In case of technical problems, please contact us: admissions.bagss(at)uni-bamberg.de .