The Institute of Anthropology offers an excellent academic environment for writing a PhD Dissertation. We offer intensive and individual supervision or co-supervision by an academic staff member of the institute as well as PhD colloquia, reading groups and workshops. We actively integrate doctoral students into various programmes in central Germany and support Peer-to-Peer Learning as well as international networking. Furthermore, we encourage to integrate periods abroad for research or study purposes and advice career planning.
Timeline
You will pursue your individual research project. In doing so, a member of our institute will accompany you as supervisor.
- In the first year of their PhD program, students write a research proposal, read relevant and state of the art literature and have the possibility to take language classes in order to prepare themselves for fieldwork. You also have the opportunity to apply for a doctoral sponsorship.
- The second year consists of 6–10 months of fieldwork. You also have the possibility to implement a short follow-up fieldwork (2–3 months) during the third year.
- In the third and fourth year, students write their dissertation and begin to write articles for publication. You can present your project at international conferences like the annual summer school “Global Studies” in Leipzig.
- Monthly meetings with the supervisor allow for extensive and detailed feedback.
Structure
Apart from the individual work, PhD students take part in the following group activities:
- A fortnightly PhD colloquium during which students peer-review and discuss each other's texts.
- A fortnightly seminar, in which students read and discuss advanced literature.
- You are invited to apply to the graduate school Global and Area Studies. This program offers opportunities to participate in seminars, colloquia, conferences, as well as exercises for training transferable skills like academic writing and publishing, reference management softwares, or presentation techniques.
- Every semester the Institute organizes a lecture series in which academics from Germany and abroad present their most recent work.
Application
- If you wish to apply for a PhD at the Institute of Anthropology, please contact the supervisor of your choice directly. Our website presents the members of our institute and their research focus in detail.
- Your application should include a project proposal (3 pages) and your CV. Your proposal should include the topic of your proposed research, a discussion of the state of the art literature, empirical and theoretical goals, methodological approach and time schedule.
- After you have been accepted by a supervisor, you can register as a PhD candidate at the Faculty of History, Art History and Oriental Studies, University of Leipzig. This will give you access to the Library, Cafeteria and other university and student facilities. Applicants from Non-EU countries will have to register at the university to apply for a student visa.
- You can address the website about opportunities for doctoral research provided by the university in order to familiarize yourself with the basic information about PhD studies in Leipzig.
Financing
The Institute of Anthropology offers limited positions of funded PhD projects. Usually, these positions are tendered and bound to the participation in externally funded research projects. The respective research project determines the framework of the PhD project.
- We furthermore support students with the application process to scholarships for PhD studies. The following platforms provide an overview about financing opportunities
- Stipendienlotse (BMBF), scholarshipportal.eu and Stipendiensuche.
- International studens from non-European countries can apply for a scholarship by the German Academich Exchange Service (DAAD). You will need a letter of confirmation by a member of our institute to supervise your PhD project in order to apply for the scholarship.