Please note that while there is an online admissions system for Ph.D. and Postdoctoral Fellowships, applications for the Preparatory Fellowships should be sent as pdf-attachment to admissions-officerbigsss-bremen.de.

This page provides a list of what your application should include. If you have questions regarding the admissions process, please consult our Frequently Asked Questions after carefully reading the website.

Please note that the program commences on September 1st, 2012.

All deadlines refer to the date of receipt of the application, not the mailing date.

1. Personal information and statements

Including the following documents:

1.1 Personal Information Form

Please fill in our Personal Information Form and send it in with your pdf-application.

1.2 Curriculum Vitae

This should include information on your educational and work history, publications, language abilities and extracurricular interests.

1.3 Statement of Purpose including a Preliminary Research Idea

This should provide a clear picture of your academic and professional interests, background, and career plans. It should also describe how your interests fit in with the BIGSSS Ph.D. program. It is very welcome if you can indicate a particular BIGSSS Faculty member as potential supervisor. The Statement of Purpose with Preliminary Research Idea should encompass approx. 5 double-spaced pages.

1.4 Statement of Skills and Experience with Methods of Empirical Social Research

Please provide information on your knowledge of research methods (including methods courses taken of approx. one page in total). Applicants from disciplines with little or no standard methods training should provide other pertinent information on relevant research skills.

1.5 Writing Examples

You can hand in either your Bachelor thesis (if written in English) or two shorter examples of your work.

Please provide a pdf-document of each degree certificate earned. If you have not yet finished your BA degree, let us know when you expect to finish (notification by the end of July at the latest) and, if admitted, send the degree certificate then. If you are shortlisted we will ask you to bring a notarized (or officially certified) photocopy of each degree certificate earned. If a transcript is not issued in English or German, please provide an officially certified German or English translation.

2.2 Certification of English Proficiency

Proof of C1-level English language skills or the equivalent. For TOEFL scores, upload a copy of your personal score report – do not use the institutional code. Equivalent IELTS and CAE scores are also accepted. All scores must be officially reported and no more than 2 years old.

Scores:
TOEFL: paper-based 600, computer-based 250, internet-based 100
IELTS: Band 7.5
Cambridge Certificate: pass CAE

Exempt from the English proficiency requirement are applicants who are native speakers of English or who have received either their Hochschulzugangsberechtigung (e.g. passed their A-levels) or earned a higher-educational degree at an institution where the language of instruction is English.

No previous knowledge of German is required.

2.3 University Grade Transcripts

Please provide a pdf-document of your official grade transcripts (for courses attended in Germany: Kopien aller Leistungsnachweise). If work is in progress, you should submit a supplementary transcript at the end of the term. If a transcript is not issued in English or German, provide a certified German or English translation.

If you are shortlisted, please keep in mind that we will ask you to bring a notarized (or officially certified) photocopy.

2.4 Two Recent Letters of Recommendation

Request these from persons qualified to evaluate your academic and professional qualifications, familiar with your academic achievement and in a position to assess your potential for success in BIGSSS. At least one of these letters must be from a professor who has instructed you. Like all other application documents, the recommendations must arrive at BIGSSS by the application deadline.

Please make sure that the referees themselves submit the letters of recommendation and that they include their signature in the scanned in document. Referees should send their letters of recommendation directly to BIGSSS to:

Dean of Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS)

Postfach 33 04 40

D – 28334 Bremen

Germany

or by e-mail phd-appbigsss-bremen.de

If you are shortlisted we may ask you to bring the letters of recommendation in hard copy. The referee should then submit the letter either in hard copy directly to BIGSSS, or in a sealed envelope to the applicant.

2.5 Graduate Record Examination (not mandatory).

Applicants may include a GRE score report in their application to support the selection process, although this is not required.