General information

Welcome to Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. On this page you’ll find some essential information about doctoral studies at FSGS. Please send us an email as soon as you know when you will arrive in Berlin. We will then make an appointment to show you the school and help you fill out the forms to get access to WIFI, the cafeteria, the libraries, etc.

We would also be happy to support you in your temporary enrollment in our study program "Literary Studies". You can find information regarding enrollment at Gateway for Doctoral Candidates. General information to organize your stay in Berlin can be found on the FUBright website. Also the Welcome Service of Freie Universität Berlin gives you an overview of the wide range of offers, service facilities and contact persons, as well as information about events that may help you to settle in.

Selection of classes / Integration in the Graduate School

FSGS offers you the opportunity to participate in colloquia, and to present and discuss your research project. We also offer seminars you can take. The majority of classes are in German.

Besides all curricular offers, you can participate in all workshops and conferences, as well as help organize or give a lecture yourself. The FSGS members’ joint reading circle offers you informal points of contact to internal professional discourse. On Tuesdays at noon, the Schlegels meet for lunch forum: they eat together, get to know each other, and listen to a short lecture. You can find the current schedule on this website.

Additionally, you may participate in a workshop at Dahlem Research School (DRS) at the Graduate School’s expense. Here, you will find high-quality offers in the field of transferable skills.

At your request, the Graduate School might assign you a work space in one of the PhD student rooms. The more time you spend working at the school, the more you will be able to engage in conversations with others. 

If you are attending a doctoral studies program at one of our partner universities and are visiting through the partnership agreement we will reimburse your enrollment fees and semester fees. Please hand in the receipt at our office.

Have any further questions? Send us an email or stop by (JK 33/110).

ECTS credits

If you participate in any FSGS classes (colloquia, seminars) for a total of 2 SWS = two hours/week during the semester, you can earn 2 ECTS.

Transcript of records

At your request we can issue a transcript of records at the end of your stay for your home university. Please visit our office with all necessary documents (JK 33/111).

You will need the following documents for us to issue your transcript of records:

• please download the transcript of records here in German [PDF] or English [PDF] and fill it out. Take the printout to us or send it to us via email.
• Bring or send us any attendance certificates [German] for all the classes you’ve taken. Please download the attendance certificates, print and fill them out, and have your course instructor sign them.

Information for visiting ERASMUS doctoral candidates

Please contact the general Erasmus office at Freie Universität Berlin for all administrative questions that don’t specifically pertain to FSGS. You can also find a lot of useful information to organize your stay in Berlin on the Erasmus office’s website.