Call for applications for 3 Scholarships (Predoc) in Ancient Studies starting on July 1, 2024 at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

The Berlin Graduate School of Ancient Studies (BerGSAS) offers 3 scholarships (Predoc) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in the field of Ancient Studies, each with a duration up to of 5 months. The scholarships start on July 1, 2024 at the earliest. Funding that runs into the year 2025 is not possible. The scholarship holders receive a scholarship of EUR 1,000 per month.

Funding is available to graduates who have completed their Master's degree and are planning to complete a doctorate at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, within BerGSAS. Therefore, when submitting the application, please specify who the potential supervisor of your future dissertation at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin should be and thus the advisor in the Predoc-phase to be funded; please enclose a letter of confirmation (see below).

Possible subjects in Ancient Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin are, for example: Ancient History, Ancient Philosophy, Archaeology and cultural history of Northeast Africa (Egyptology), Classical Archaeology, Classical Philology, History of Ancient Science, and Protestant Theology.

BerGSAS offers five doctoral programs. For detailed information on the programs see: https://www.berliner-antike-kolleg.org/bergsas/programme/index.html

Receiving a Predoc scholarship is connected with the admission to the propaedeuticum of one doctoral program of BerGSAS. Scholarship holders will participate at a workshop that provides information on funding opportunities in Germany and will have the possibility to present the planned research project in a forum for critical discussion.

The purpose of the scholarship is to complete a proposal for a doctoral dissertation topic to be sent to potential scholarship providers within the funding period. It is expected that the dissertation will be written at and submitted to the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The Predoc scholarship holders, who successfully apply for external doctoral funding, will be admitted as full members to BerGSAS and participate in the regular curriculum of the chosen doctoral program.

Application process:

Please send your application documents with the reference number 2024-Predoc-HU by 12 May, 2024, 00:00 CET to carmen.marcks-jacobs@berliner-antike-kolleg.org

Please submit the required documents as 1 PDF file (max. 10 MB) in German or English (Arial 12pt, 1.5 line):

• a cover letter (maximal 1 page) in which you 1) explain your motivation for applying, 2) tell your decision for one of our five doctoral programs and 3) state how many months you would like the scholarship to run for
• a project outline for a doctoral dissertation (ca. 10,000 characters including spaces)
• a letter of confirmation of the advisor in the preparatory phase of the doctorate at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
• a curriculum vitae (cv, resume)
• copies of your academic degrees and transcripts of record: B.A. and M.A.
• In addition, a letter of recommendation from one of the supervisors of your MA thesis is required. We ask the reviewer to send the letter directly to carmen.marcks-jacobs@berliner-antike-kolleg.org

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Study places (without funding)

The Berlin Graduate School of Ancient Studies (BerGSAS) accepts applications for both winter and summer admissions for all five doctoral programs. The starting date for doctoral studies in the summer semester is the first of April – for the winter semester, the starting date is the first of October.

If you would like to apply for summer admission, please you submit your application materials by September 30 of the preceding year.

If you wish to apply for winter admission, we request that you submit your application materials by April 30 in the year you wish to start.

Prospective doctoral students apply for one of our five doctoral programs. Each of the programs has its own curriculum, which takes six semesters to complete. In the course of their doctoral studies, doctoral students have the opportunity to spend a semester at one of our partner universities – Harvard University, the University of Michigan, the University of Oxford or Princeton University – and can receive financial support for that purpose.

Minimum requirements for applicants

• Completion of a master’s degree with a very good result in a field of ancient studies or a closely related discipline, e.g. prehistory, classical or Near Eastern archaeology, Egyptology, ancient Near Eastern studies, physical geography, ancient history, medieval history, religious studies, philosophy and the history of knowledge, theology, art history, classics, Byzantine studies, Iranian studies.

• When you submit your application, you must be able to prove that you have a way of financing the three-year course of doctoral studies or at least show that you have submitted a request for the funding of your doctoral project to a third party.