Graduate School of East Asian Studies (GEAS) at Freie Universität Berlin will admit up to 9 doctoral candidates to its program, beginning October 1st, 2023.

GEAS offers a structured 3-year PhD program for 4-year PhD procedures with a regional focus on East Asia (China, Japan, Korea). Doctoral dissertations at GEAS are expected to analyze modern or contemporary East Asia in the field of politics, society, economy, culture, law or history.

The next application deadline will be 14 November 2022. For questions on admission and the online portal, please also consult the Admission FAQ on our homepage or meet us on October 11, 2 PM via Webex for a short presentation and application Q&A.

Requirements

Successful applicants will have an above-average master’s degree in either area studies (Chinese Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies) or a discipline represented at the Graduate School (Political Science, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Business, Economics, Law, History, Cultural Studies, Humanities) with a focus on East Asia. The language of communication is English. Successful candidates will also have language skills in an East Asian Language (Chinese, Japanese, or Korean) at a level of B2 or higher. Doctoral students’ membership in the program is contingent upon a positive evaluation after each year of study.

Scholarship Availability

Two fellowships for international candidates are available upon nomination to the DAAD-GSSP program by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Two fellowships for candidates with Chinese citizenship are available through the cooperation of Freie Universität and the Chinese Scholarship Council through FUB-CSC PhD Scholarship.

Candidates not offered a scholarship can be admitted to the program, provided they apply for and secure external funding from other foundations and sponsors before or at the same time as applying for GEAS. The coordination office will support the applications and assist if necessary.

Applicants are required to apply online at the application portal for GEAS. We would like to ask applicants who apply for FUB-CSC to submit their application to the GEAS portal first before sending their applications to FUB-CSC.

Applications should include

• a CV
• a letter of academic interest
• a brief outline of the prospective dissertation topic (maximum 6 pages)
• a time schedule for the dissertation
• copies of certificates of your high school diploma and relevant degrees (BA/MA) and language skills.

Two letters of recommendation from academic scholars (MA dissertation supervisor and another lecturer) shall be sent or uploaded directly by your referees to GEAS via the online application system before the deadline. For more information and guidelines as well as for applications, please register at the online application portal of Dahlem Research School Booking & Application Site.

The screening takes place from November 2022 to March 2023. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed via video conference in February/March 2023. Candidates accepted will receive notice by March/April 2023 for acceptance to the program.

A place in the program is contingent upon admission to the relevant PhD procedure in the chosen subject at Freie Universität Berlin after acceptance to GEAS. Notice for admission into university will take place starting June/July 2023.

For additional information, please check our website and feel free to contact us at application@geas.fu-berlin.de

No legal entitlement shall be constituted by applying to the program. Reasons for rejections will not be disclosed.