Starting on April 1, 2025, the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne will award 8 Integrated Track Doctoral Scholarships.

Application deadline: October 31, 2024

The a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School serves the entire Faculty of Arts and Humanities and covers all qualification levels of academic training in the arts and humanities – from Master to postdoc. The structured model of doctoral studies of the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School, the so-called “Integrated Track”, enables students to complete a high-quality dissertation within three years in a lively, interdisciplinary research environment.

With its distinctive interdisciplinary emphasis, the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School encourages young scholars to go beyond the boundaries of their disciplines. This dialogic, cross-disciplinary approach aims to foster an understanding of a wide range of knowledge processes in all their complexity. Seeking to bridge the disciplinary divide between the humanities and the natural sciences, a.r.t.e.s. focuses on the complex intersections between language, history, culture, mediality, anthropology, and ethics.

Candidates admitted to the structured doctoral model Integrated Track are supervised by a team of three researchers and participate in a curriculum that includes, among other things, the attendance of regular meetings with one of the interdisciplinary graduate classes.

 

Procedure

Each year, the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School offers Doctoral Scholarships, awarding at least fifty percent of them to students who completed their studies at a university other than the University of Cologne. All applicants meeting the scholarship requirements will enter the selection process and will be reviewed by independent experts who will determine a ‘review grade’. In addition to the review grade, the class mentors and the coordinator of the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School will agree upon a ‘commission grade’ in a commission meeting. Each grade makes up fifty percent of the overall score. Invitations to selection interviews will be issued based on this overall score. All shortlisted applicants will be interviewed in person by a committee consisting of the class mentors, the coordinator of the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School, and, in case of external candidates from a University other than Cologne, by the prospective supervisor at the University of Cologne. Important criteria informing the selection process during the interview include, among other aspects, an assessment of the candidate’s potential to engage with the interdisciplinary framework of the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School.

 

Call for Proposals

a.r.t.e.s. addresses excellent graduates of the humanities who are still in the process of developing their doctoral dissertation projects. Since the doctoral projects of the scholarship holders will be supervised by professors of the University of Cologne, applicants are urged to contact potential supervisors during the course of application.

The a.r.t.e.s. Doctoral Scholarship is a full scholarship of EUR 1600 per month that is awarded for three years starting April 1, 2025.

Please submit your application by October 31, 2024. The interviews will take place in February 2025.

 

Application requirements

In addition to an outstanding final degree, the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School particularly seeks to promote young talented graduates who have successfully completed their studies as quickly as possible and who look for immediate funding opportunities after their final examination. In this framework, a.r.t.e.s. also wants to support young researchers from non-academic family backgrounds. The Graduate School would like to further support international students hailing from outside of the EU.

Please note that special circumstances such as parental and family leaves, obligatory state and military services, illnesses, disabilities and/or voluntary work can only be recognised if you provide evidence with the application documents. Any extended periods of study or breaks in stuies should be explained in writing with appropraite documentation if necessary upon submission of the application.

Information on double/multiple applications

For more information on double/multiple applications, please see FAQ.

 

Application via a.r.t.e.s. access

To apply for an a.r.t.e.s. Doctoral Scholarship, please create an account with a.r.t.e.s. access. After login, please choose the application procedure “a.r.t.e.s. doctoral scholarships (starting April 2025)” and follow the instructions.

In addition to general information about yourself and your doctoral dissertation project, please upload the following documents via the web portal:

• Covering letter providing a statement of your motivation to apply
• Curriculum vitae
• Scans of university diplomas and transcripts of records
  Please note:
  • In the case of a Master's degree, please upload the diplomas of any prior Bachelor's degree as well.
  • If necessary, please include scans of authorised translations of the documents into either German, English, or French.
  • Please note that we need a complete transcript of records along with your degree certificate and – in case of international degrees – an overview of your university's grading system (preferably with a conversion table) that is usually in appendix to your final diploma.
  • Please note that you must have passed all examinations determining your final grade in order to qualify for the programme. If you do not possess your diploma yet, please submit a transcript of records and/or certification of the responsible examination office and/or supervisor. The final deadline for submitting the diploma is November 12, 2024.
• Report on the degree thesis (e.g. M. A. thesis)
  (The report on your degree thesis may be handed at the latest on November 12, 2024)
• Research proposal for the doctoral dissertation project
  (7,000–12,000 characters (incl. spaces) plus footnotes, appendix & bibliography)
• Expert report on the doctoral dissertation project
  (Please note: This document can be submitted separately via e-mail to artes-application(at)uni-koeln.de.)

Please hand in all application documents via the web portal by the application deadline of October 31, 2024. The university diploma and the report on your degree thesis may be handed in later (by November 12, 2024) by email to artes-application(at)uni-koeln.de.

For all questions concerning the a.r.t.e.s. Doctoral Scholarships, please see our FAQ. Contact for further questions: artes-application(at)uni-koeln.de. If you have any questions regarding doctoral studies at the University of Cologne’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities in general, please visit the FAQ of the Central Doctoral Office.