Applicants for a position as a research associate at the Cluster of Excellence "Temporal Communities" in combination with a PhD program at a Graduate School at Freie Universität Berlin (FSGS or GSNAS) must

• hold a master’s degree from a program with a focus on literature, cultural studies or art history (diploma has to be submitted by September 1, 2019);
• have very good knowledge of German and English;
• in case of an application for an individual project, provide an exposé which presents a research project that demonstrates innovative, original and theoretically sound foundations and corresponds to the EXC 2020 research agenda;
• identify a suitable first supervisor from the ranks of Principal Investigators of the Cluster of Excellence Temporal Communities (contacting the potential supervisor in advance is not necessary);
• be prepared to enter a structured PhD program and to participate in an extended interdisciplinary research project.

Please also familiarize yourself with the requirements for the field in which you wish to pursue your doctoral studies, which is generally the one in which your first supervisor at Freie Universität Berlin is active.

Please start by registering on the application platform of the Dahlem Research School: Create new account.

• Indicate here that you want to apply for a FSGS program / EXC 2020 "Temporal Communities" (“I want to... apply for a FSGS program / Cluster "Temporal Communities”).

• Select as future affiliation Freie Universität Berlin and as program Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies / Cluster “Temporal Communities” (this does not preclude a placement at the Graduate School of North American Studies if this is desirable for a specific project).

Upon successful registration, you will receive an e-mail with a “log in” link. Follow this link and click on the button “Log in”.

After entering your account details, you will receive access to the online platform for open positions at the Cluster of Excellence. On the top left of the page you will see a little flag. By clicking on this flag you will be able to access your application for the FSGS/EXC 2020 at any time. You can access, edit and save your application until you submit it by clicking the “Save and Submit” button.

Please be aware that the “Save and Submit” button will disappear once the deadline has passed. You will then no longer be able to submit, but you will still be able to access your application.

Your application for a position as a research associate at the Cluster of Excellence "Temporal Communities" in combination with a PhD program at a Graduate School at Freie Universität Berlin (FSGS or GSNAS) must be submitted through the application platform of the Dahlem Research School. Take the following steps to complete your application:

• Tab "Persönliche Angaben" (Personal Information)

• Tab "Qualifikationen" (Qualifications)

• Tab "Projekt" (Project)

• Tab "Sprachnachweise" (Proof of Language Proficiency)

• Tab "Empfehlungsschreiben" (Letters of Recommendation)

Tab "Persönliche Angaben" (Personal Information)

• Please complete the section with your personal information first. This information will be part of your applicant file and is not identical with the data you entered when registering at the platform. You can only access subsequent sections once you have completed this first section.

• Here you need to indicate whether

  • you apply with an individual research project in one of the Research Areas 1-4 (refer to the page for Job Offers at Freie Universität Berlin from January 14, 2019, reference code EXC TC DOC RA0 2019) or for a

  • PhD as part of a cluster project (refer to the page for Job Offers at Freie Universität Berlin from January 14, 2019, reference codes
    EXC TC DOC RA1 2019: “Petrarchan Worlds”,
    EXC TC DOC RA2 2019: “Extended Audiences”,
    EXC TC DOC RA3 2019: “Premodern Anthologies”,
    EXC TC DOC RA4 2019: “Writing Berlin”).

Tab "Qualifikationen" (Qualifications)

• In addition to copies of diplomas, you have to upload a writing sample, such as a chapter of your master's thesis, a journal article or a chapter in an edited collection. Please do not provide term papers as writing samples. 

• If you have obtained your degree at a university outside of Germany, we will check through ANABIN whether your diploma is recognized in Germany.

• If you have not yet received your diploma at the time of your application, you can still apply on the condition that you submit your diploma by September 1, 2019. In this case, please upload documents that indicate graduation in due time (transcripts of records, statements by instructors or supervisors).

Tab "Projekt" (Project)

• Please select the area of study for your PhD under the tab “project”. Possible areas of study are:

• Comparative Literature (Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft)

• English and American Studies (Anglistik oder Amerikanistik)

• Arabic Studies, Iranian Studies or Islamic Studies (Arabistik oder Iranistik oder Islamwissenschaften)

• German Studies (Germanistik)

• Global History (Globalgeschichte)

• Greek or Latin Languages and Literatures (Gräzistik oder Latinistik)

• Japanology or Sinology (Japanologie oder Sinologie)

• Art History (Kunstgeschichte)

• Latin American Studies (Lateinamerikanistik)

• Romance Languages and Literatures (Romanistik)

• Theater Studies or Film Studies (Theater- oder Filmwissenschaften)

• Philosophy (Philosophie)

• Slavic Studies (Slawistik)

Please note that some of the positions offered in connection have specific requirements with regard to the area of study to be pursued.

• After selecting your area of study, you can select your desired first supervisor from the ranks of Principal Investigators of the Cluster of Excellence "Temporal Communities". This selection is not final. Therefore, you do not have to obtain confirmation from your desired supervisor, but it can be helpful to contact them in advance.

• The Supervisory Committee in a structured PhD program has up to three members. In addition to your first supervisor, other professors who are not PIs of the Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School or the Cluster of Excellence "Temporal Communities" can be part of the committee, as long as they are authorized to conduct doctoral examinations. They should, however, be affiliated with an institution in Berlin or Brandenburg to ensure continuous involvement with the supervision of the project.

Tab "Sprachnachweise" (Proof of Language Proficiency)

• Certificates of language proficiency can be submitted after the application deadline has passed. If you do not yet have all your certificates in hand, please upload a statement with your application, indicating the existing and expected transcripts and certificates as well as when they will be available. It is expected, however, that applicants have already achieved a basic proficiency when applying.

Tab "Empfehlungsschreiben" (Letters of Recommendation)

• Please provide the contact details of two referees. These individuals will then receive an e-mail with information as to how to upload their letters of recommendation, as soon as you have completed and saved the relevant section. Ideally, you inform your referees about the process so that they are not surprised by the automatically generated e-mail. If they encounter any problems with the technical side of the process, they can submit their letters of recommendation via mail or as a PDF to the Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School (Dr Rebecca Mak, Rebecca.Mak@fu-berlin.de). The deadline for the submission of letters of recommendation is February 28, 2019.

In order to apply for a position as a research associate at the Cluster of Excellence "Temporal Communities" in combination with a PhD program at a Graduate School at Freie Universität Berlin (FSGS or GSNAS) you must submit a number of documents digitally via the application platform of the Dahlem Research School. Please have the documents listed below at hand as PDFs (maximum size: 2 MB per document). Applications submitted on paper will not be accepted.

The following documents are required from all applicants:

• A writing sample (max. 15-20 pages: a recent academic paper, e.g. a published article or a chapter from your master’s thesis; no term papers, please);
• A list of publications (if relevant; having published is not a requirement for the application);
• Curriculum Vitae (in German or English, max. 4 pages, photo and information about your age are not mandatory);

• A letter of motivation which presents your academic and professional background, outlines why you are interested in joining EXC 2020 / FSGS and what your qualifications are (with regard to preliminary work, methodology etc.).

• Copies of certificates: university entrance qualification, university degrees;

• Language certificates for German B2 GER (TestDaF: TDN 3 in all four components of testing; Goethe-Zertifikat B2 DSD I: Deutsches Sprachdiplom I der Kultusministerkonferenz; TELC German B2–University) or German C1 GER (DSH 2: Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang; ZOP; TestDaF: TDN 4 in all four components of testing; Goethe-Zertifikat C1 or C2; DSD II: Deutsches Sprachdiplom II der Kultusministerkonferenz; TELC German C1–University; degree from a German-language program at a German-language university; university entrance diploma equivalent to German university entrance requirements) if German is not your native language;

• Language certificates for English B2 GER (IELTS 5.0; TOEFL: Paper 500, Computer 170 or Online 80; Cambridge Examinations: First Certificate (FCE), Advanced (CAE), Proficiency (CPE); TELC English B2–University; 7 years of English in German schools) or English C1 GER (IELTS 6.5; Cambridge Examinations: Advanced (CAE), Proficiency (CPE); TOEFL: Paper 585, Computer 240 or Online 95; TELC English C1–University; degree from an English-language program at an English-language university) if English is not your native language.

The following documents are only required from applicants who propose their own PhD research project in the context of one of the EXC 2020 Research Areas:

• Exposé which outlines the research project (abstract, hypothesis, state of existing research, theories and methods, preliminary work, bibliography) and that establishes the project as innovative, original and theoretically sound (max. 10 pages, in German or English). Please also highlight how the project relates to the Research Area (1-4) of your choice.

• Work plan and timetable for three years.

The system does not allow for Incomplete applications to be submitted. All entries to the application platform will be saved automatically and can be edited after login until the application is ready to be submitted.