International Applicants

The IPP strongly supports the internationalisation of postgraduate studies in the humanities. We welcome applications from around the world and encourage our members to find international co-supervisors and acquire bi-national degrees.

Entry Requirements

The IPP follows the guidelines and statutes of Justus Liebig University Giessen. Please note that the statutes for doctoral programmes at JLU are currently under revision. They are being adapted to the requirements of the Bologna process as well as to international standards and may thus be subject to change.

Postgraduate students need to have an M.A. or equivalent university degree with a grade well above average in literary or cultural studies. This degree should have been gained no more than two years prior to applying and must meet international standards. You can find rather reliable information on the equivalence of your degree online at www.anabin.de.

Admission will be decided upon on the basis of the applicant’s academic profile, the quality of the research proposal as well as the compatibility of the dissertation project with the IPP's research profile.

Once admitted, all IPP members must enrol as postgraduate students at JLU for the entire duration of their postgraduate studies. Detailed information on enrolment procedures can be obtained from the university's international pages.

Furthermore, IPP members must register as postgraduate students with the Faculty of Language, Literature and Culture and choose a supervisor from one of its affiliated departments: English and American Studies, German Studies, Romance Studies, Slavic Studies, Comparative Literature and Theatre Studies.

Language skills

The languages of instruction at the IPP are English and German. The language of the dissertation and the dissertation defence is generally German or English.

The faculty’s examination board may accept the language of your respective discipline (i.e. French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese) as well. If the language of the dissertation is other than German, basic skills in German need to be proved. (These skills may be acquired, for instance, by attending German language courses offered by the International Office of JLU. The IPP reimburses the costs of attending these courses.)

In general, applications for postgraduate studies at JLU require proof of at least two foreign languages (one of which can be German), including Latin for dissertations covering periods prior to and including early modernity. For special language requirements in your discipline please refer to the appendix to the Doctoral Regulations in the Humanities at JLU (in German: translation in progress).

Funding

The IPP cannot offer any funding, but provides its members with professional scholarship advice. International applicants are advised to consult the website of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for funding opportunities. Please note that applications to the DAAD need to be submitted about one year prior to the beginning of studies in Germany. At JLU you will be required to contribute an enrolment fee of approximately €230 per semester. This enrolment fee contains a number of benefits including free public transportation within the region.

Here you will find further information on the various extra services and events for international PhD students.