International PhD Opportunities

PhD students at the Faculty of Education have the opportunity to receive funding through the Erasmus programme to spend one or two semesters at one of the Faculty’s partner universities. To qualify, they must earn 30 ECTS per semester by attending lecture series, research colloquia and other events for PhD students at the partner university. The application process for the Erasmus programme and the list of partner universities are set out here.

PhD students who are also involved in teaching have the opportunity, under the Erasmus programme, to receive funding for a stay of up to two weeks at Erasmus partner universities.

All funding programmes can be found in the DAAD’s scholarship database. The following programmes are particularly suitable for PhD candidates:

• Research grants for PhD candidates: This programme supports research stays abroad whilst undertaking a PhD. Stays abroad can last between one and twelve months; it is possible to split the funding period or to carry out the stay in several countries. (This page is only available in German)
• Conference Travel Programme: This programme supports the active participation of German researchers in conferences abroad. (This page is only available in German)
• Lecture Tour Programme: This programme supports German researchers in giving lectures abroad. (This page is only available in German)

USA:

• German-American Fulbright-Commission: Fulbright Germany supports early-career German researchers undertaking a four- to six-month research project in the USA.
• Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes: The ERP Scholarship Programme supports one- to two-year research and study placements as part of Master’s or PhD programmes at leading US universities.

Israel:

• Minerva Fellowship Programm: These fellowships are awarded to young researchers from Israel and Germany for a research stay at a host institution in the other country. Doctoral students receive funding for between 6 and 36 months, whilst postdocs receive funding for between 6 and 24 months.

Japan:

• JSPS Short-Term Research Fellowships for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers: Funding is provided for research projects at universities and selected research institutions in Japan. The fellowship lasts from 1 to 12 months for PhD students and from 1 to 6 months for postdoctoral researchers.

A joint PhD programme enables a doctoral degree to be awarded jointly by two (or, in rare cases, more) universities on the basis of a single piece of academic work carried out in different countries. The PhD candidate is enrolled at both universities and spends periods of their doctoral studies at both locations in as balanced a manner as possible.

Further information can be found on our website. 

Doctoral candidates from the Faculty of Education who are interested may contact the Graduate School.

Lisa Marie Brinkmann: ‘It is well worth it for all colleagues to take the opportunity to spend some time working and conducting research abroad’ (German Article)