The application deadline for the 2025 FSGS and EXC Temporal Communities call has passed. The 2026 call will be published in the fall of 2025.

1. Applicants for a project scholarship must:

• be at the end of their master’s studies or at the beginning of their dissertation project in literary studies (the MA thesis must already be registered at the time of the interview and must be submitted before June 1);
• have an innovative and independent idea for an exposé;
• be prepared to continue working on this idea and to develop an innovative ad theoretically valuable research project;
• find a suitable first supervisor from the ranks of our PI list;
• aspire getting their PhD at Freie Universität Berlin / FSGS;
• work on an application for external funding (grants / research assistant position);
• have very good knowledge of both German and English.

At the time of the application, applicants for a project scholarship do not have to be enrolled at Freie Universität Berlin. However, enrollment is mandatory for the start of the scholarship in June.

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2. Applicants for an Einstein fellowship must:

• a master’s degree in literary studies (with a focus on German Studies) at an institution of higher education;
• live in one of the countries of the Global South;
• have an innovative and independent idea for an exposé;
• be prepared to continue working on this idea and to develop an innovative and theoretically valuable research project;
• aspire getting their PhD at Freie Universität Berlin / FSGS;
• find a suitable first supervisor from the ranks of our PI list;
• have very good knowledge of both German and English;
• choose a structured doctoral studies program purposely

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3. Applicants for a PhD position in the structured doctoral studies program “Literary Studies” should have secured funding for the duration of their dissertation (external funding / research assistant position) or be prepared to secure such funding. The following requirements apply:

• a master’s degree in literary studies at an institution of higher education;
• good knowledge of German and English;
• ongoing plans to submit or already submitted applications for external scholarships / positions as research assistant;
• an exposé that demonstrates the dissertation project to be innovative, independent and theoretically valuable;
• a suitable first supervisor from the ranks of our PI list, who supports the application at FSGS;
• choosing a structured doctoral studies program purposely.

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4. International applicants for a DAAD grant (in German studies) for the structured doctoral studies program “Literary Studies” should:

• have a master’s degree, a “Staatsexamen” or equivalent degree in German studies at an institution of higher education (the degree may not be more than 5 years old);
• reside outside of Germany or have only moved to Germany in the year of their application;
• have very good knowledge of German and English;
• provide an exposé that demonstrates the dissertation project to be innovative, independent and theoretically valuable;
• find a suitable first advisor from the ranks of our PI list;
• have purposely chosen a structured doctoral studies program.

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5. Applicants for a position as a research associate at the Cluster of Excellence 2020 “Temporal Communities: Doing Literature in a Global Perspective” (EXC TC) in combination with a PhD position at FSGS must:

• hold a master’s degree from a program with a focus on literary studies, cultural studies, or art history (diploma has to be submitted at the latest by September 1 of the funding year);
• have very good knowledge of German and English;
• in case of an application with an individual project within the context of one of the EXC TC Research Areas), provide an exposé which outlines the research project (abstract, hypothesis, state of existing research, theories and methods, preliminary work, bibliography) that establishes the project as innovative, original, and theoretically sound (max. 10 pages, in German or English). The exposé should put special emphasis on demonstrating how the project will contribute to the cluster's research agenda and how it fits with the chosen research area;
• in case of an application in the context of an EXC TC project, upload a short draft of a dissertation proposal that relates to the selected cluster project in terms of methodology and content;
• identify a suitable first supervisor from the ranks of Principal Investigators of the Cluster of Excellence Temporal Communities (contacting the potential supervisor in advance is not necessary);
• be prepared to enter a structured PhD program and to participate in an extended interdisciplinary research project.

Please also familiarize yourself with the requirements of the discipline in which you wish to pursue your doctoral studies.

The PhD program begins on October 01.
The project scholarship begins on June 01.

You are welcome to contact our office if you have any further questions.