Are you passionate about literature and looking to take your academic journey to the next level? Here's your chance! The Graduate School Practices of Literature (GSPoL) invites international candidates to apply for its three-year PhD programme, offering two scholarships starting on October 1, 2025. Our scholarships provide funding for three years with the possibility to apply for a one-year extension. This opportunity is sponsored by the Graduate School Scholarship Programme (GSSP), funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in collaboration with the Federal Foreign Office.

• Profile & Curriculum

  PhD projects should be related to the research profile of the GSPoL, which comprises the following three areas:
  
  1. Literature, Culture and Society
  relationship between literature, culture and society; social theories; cultural theories; cultural turn and/in literary studies

  2. Theories of Literature and Culture
  science studies; history, theory, and methodology of/in literary/cultural studies

  3. Literary/Cultural Studies and the Professional World
  professional sectors that require expertise in literary/cultural studies; the literary marketplace; transferable skills

  Curriculum: Lecture series, colloquia, group projects, workshops, practical training, and academic teaching

  Mentoring: Each doctoral candidate will have an individual, interdisciplinary support group consisting of three members. A mentoring agreement and an individual timeline will be established and signed by the PhD candidate and their supervisors. The supervisors will assist the candidate in applying for a scholarship.

  Areas of study: English/American Studies; Arabic/Islamic Studies; German Studies; Latin Studies; Middle and New Latin Studies, Dutch Studies; Scandinavian Studies; Romance Studies (Main Areas: French, Spanish and Italian Literature); Sinology; Slavic Studies.

  Find out more about your potential supervisor's research focus.

• Application Process and Timeline

  Step 1	Dec. 31, 2024	written application to the GSPoL
  Step 2	Jan./Feb. 2025	interviews & nomination by the GSPoL
  Step 3	approx. Feb. to May 2025	online application via the DAAD portal & DAAD funding decision

   

• Formal Admission Requirements

  • excellent academic profile & a GSPoL-related university degree (generally a master's degree in literary studies with a GPA of 2.0 or better, or, in exceptional cases, a bachelor’s degree with a GPA of 1.50 or better, according to the German grading system)
  • German and English language skills (one language at the level of C1, the other at the level of B1, in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages); if necessary, the DAAD programme may include a German language course before the first semester
  • additional foreign language skills according to Annex B of the PhD study regulations of the department of history/philosophy and philology (see also  FAQs)
  • at the time of the nomination (i.e., the submission of the nomination letter to the DAAD), applicants must not have resided in Germany for more than the past fifteen months (please note that additional, country-specific mobility rules for DAAD Research Grants - Doctoral Programmes in Gernany may apply)
  • as a rule, applicants should not have graduated more than six years before the nomination (exceptions apply)
  • applicants with a PhD are not eligible
  • research phases outside Germany during the funding period can be supported if they do not exceed 25 percent of the total funding period and do not take place directly at the beginning of the PhD programme

• Application Documents

  Written applications (in German or English) should include the following:

  • letter of motivation giving reasons for the application at the GSPoL;
  • proof that the applicant has completed a GSPoL-related university degree (generally a master’s degree in literary studies with a minimum grade of 2.0 or a bachelor’s degree in literary studies with a minimum grade of 1.50) according to § 5 (1) the GSPoL study regulations; please include a degree certificate and a transcript of records listing your courses and grades and explaining the grading system at your home university as well as a certified translation if the original documents are not in German or English
  • proof of German, English and possibly additional foreign language skills according to § 5 (2) of the GSPoL study regulations;
  • curriculum vitae (without photograph);
  • a brief (approx. half-page) abstract of the dissertation project;
  • project proposal of approx. 10 pages in length, which discusses the research aims and methodology as well as the contents, originality and significance of the project;
  • detailed timeline for the three-year PhD programme, including optional stays/studies abroad of up to nine months in total (= 25 percent of the funding period), which may not be scheduled at the beginning of the programme;
  • two letters of recommendation, including at least one letter by a professor from the applicant's home university; if the applicant holds a bachelor’s degree or completed university studies with a regular duration of less than eight semesters, three references are required; please use the DAAD template and ask your professors to email the confidential letter directly to the GSPoL.

  Please submit your application (via email as a single PDF file, except for the letters of recommendation) to:

  Dr. Anna Thiemann
  Graduate School Practices of Literature
  Universität Münster, Fachbereich 09 (Philologie)
  c/o Germanistisches Institut
  Schlossplatz 34
  48143 Münster 
  thiemann.gspol@uni-meunster.de

  For further information please contact
  Dr. Anna Thiemann (Coordinator)
  thiemann.gspol@uni-muenster.de

• Additional Information from the DAAD

  The DAAD database provides additional information on the objectives, requirements and financial aspects of the Graduate School Scholarship Program.

  Please also refer to the GSSP website and the DAAD guidelines for scholarship applicants.