Funded Scholarship for Master's and PhD Students in Politics and Social Sciences in Germany 2018
Applicant criteria
- Both
Opportunity criteria
Opportunity description
Trajectories of Change – a scholarship program by the ZEIT-Stiftung – invites graduate students and PhD students to apply for a number of different scholarships in programs that focus on historical and current transformation processes at Europe. In light of the political and social context, issues of regime change and the transformation of the political systems are of great interest to the public debate. For researchers specialized in these regions, both the events of the last years and the very recent developments represent an important opportunity to formulate new research questions and redefine areas of the social science inquiry.
The topic of the scholarship:
Political and social transformations are currently reshaping the European neighbourhood, as numerous countries in Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, as well as Central Asia, are expecting increasing social conflicts and economic problems. Recently, mass protests have challenged the non-democratic regimes and revealed their inability to fulfil the promise of stability. Tensions between democratization efforts and the persistence of authoritarianism generally polarize societies, deepen the economic crisis and frequently result in an on-going violence accompanied by important flows of refugees and migrants. The long-term objectives of both the Arab Spring and the European protests in Ukraine – democracy, human rights and prosperity – appear today more distant than ever.
Scholarships and grants:
[1] PhD Scholarships:
For PhD students already enrolled in a PhD program at their university
Duration: Up to three years
Monthly stipend of €1,200
Additional funds for participation in academic conferences and for fieldwork expenses
Participation in yearly conferences and field trips
[2] Dissertation Completion Scholarships:
For PhD students in the final stage of their dissertation research
Duration: One year
Monthly stipend of €1,200
Additional funds for participation in academic conferences
[3] Pre-Doctoral Research Grants:
For advanced graduate students
A single grant of a maximum of €5,000 supporting the dissertation project development, including small-scale preliminary research and funds for participation in academic conferences (no living expenses)
Participation in a dissertation proposal development workshop
[4] Fieldwork Grants:
For PhD students already enrolled in a PhD program at their university and partly funded by other institutions
A single grant of a maximum of €3,000 supporting travel costs and research expenses during the fieldwork
Participation in yearly conferences and field trips
About Trajectories of Change:
“Trajectories of Change” addresses historical and current transformation processes in the European neighbourhood. The program offers stipends and fieldwork grants for PhD students in the humanities and social sciences studying the political and social change in Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East as well as Central Asia.