With the prize money awarded to the Friedrich Schlegel Graduiertenschule by the Einstein Foundation Berlin in 2022, FSGS will establish a predoc program in the coming years for doctoral candidates from the Global South, with an interest in German Studies or Comparative Literature with a German-language component.

The program comprises on- and offline components and begins with a six-month phase during which PhD candidates will complete digital modules from their home countries, followed by a one-year program-funded residency at FSGS. (For more information on funding, click here.) The digital modules, which will be developed into an autonomous digital predoc-program by the end of the funding period, consist of synchronous elements (e.g. online workshops and courses), and asynchronous components (e.g. podcasts and online guides). These digital modules will inform the participants about doctoral opportunities in Germany, prepare them for doctoral studies, supervise them during their initial predoc phase, and familiarize them with external funding (e.g. a scholarships or research positions). In this manner, PhD candidates will have the opportunity to secure external funding during their tenure at FSGS to obtain a PhD position. Naturally, we will offer comprehensive academic supervision to the participants throughout the entire program.

Through the integration of graduate students from the Global South, we aspire to consolidate academic networks that reach beyond the Global North. Moreover, FSGS strives to include hitherto neglected research perspectives regarding the decolonization of knowledge and the reduction of systematic inequalities and aims to challenge the dominance of knowledge shaped in the Global North.

After the three-year long funding period, the digital program will continue at FSGS and will gradually extend to doctoral candidates from different countries in the Global South. Additionally, the program will serve as a “best practice” example for other doctoral programs at Freie Universität and Berlin University Alliance.