Full PhD Bursary in German Studies

Applications close on 31 July 2024

Applications are invited from suitably qualified students wishing to conduct research at the Institute into any area of the literature and culture of the German-speaking countries.

Sponsored by the Bithell Bequest, this PhD Bursary provides the successful applicant with a waiver of tuition fees at the Home rate (Overseas students may apply but only the Home fees rate will be waived), plus maintenance grant equivalent to that paid by the AHRC. The studentship is tenable for 3 years (full-time) or 5 years (part-time).

Applicants should have a good honours BA degree in German Studies (Upper Second or First) and an MA (or equivalent) in German or a neighbouring discipline.

In the first instance, please contact Professor Godela Weiss-Sussex .

The Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies (ILCS) supports research in the integrated study of languages, cultures, and societies. Apart from German, its strengths are primarily in French and Francophone, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American/Caribbean studies, and it supports the transnational study of languages and cultures while seeking to advance connections with organisations focusing on cultural and linguistic experience in other global contexts. Its expertise bridges literary, historical, ethnographic, digital research, postcolonial and migration studies, and environmental humanities. 

The ILCS has a record of successfully supervising PhD students going back many years. A list of current students and recent students can be found on our graduate study pages.

In the area of German Studies , the ILCS provides expertise in German literature and culture, women’s writing, the literature of exile and contemporary German-Jewish writing, but we are open to applications in all areas of German Studies.

The Institute is home to the Ingeborg Bachmann Centre for Austrian Literature & Culture and the Research Centre for German & Austrian Exile Studies .

Senate House, in the heart of Bloomsbury, where the Institute is based, houses the Senate House Library which is home to the extensive collections that make up the Germanic Studies Library and Germanic Archives .

Students studying at the Institute have the advantage of being part of a vibrant wider research community of the School of Advanced Study , of which the ILCS is a constituent part.

Further details

To apply, please click the 'Apply' button, above.