Application & Admission

If you are interested in becoming a BIGSSS Regular PhD Fellow in the CoPoDi Program, please read the following information carefully. You'll find all essential information on open calls, admission requirements, admission procedure, and required application documents below.

Call for Application

We currently welcome applications for the Graduate School Scholarship Programme “Contentious Politics in the Digital Age” (CoPoDi) until December 6th, 2024.

Please download the Call for Applications and the Personal Data Sheet here.

For eligibility criteria and application instructions please see below and dowload the Application Guide and the FAQs.

Who Can Apply?

Applicants for the CoPoDi PhD program must meet the eligibility criteria for the BIGSSS Regular PhD program and for the DAAD Graduate School Scholarship Programme.

Eligibility Criteria

• You are an international applicant, proficient in English language (speaking & writing, proof of C1-level English language skills or equivalent).
• You must not have resided in Germany any time after January 1, 2024.
• Your MA degree must be completed and the validation of the degree must be available by February 1, 2025, which means you may apply before having finished your MA degree.
• At the time of application, your last final exam must have taken place no longer than 6 years ago.
• You have an excellent MA degree (or national equivalents) in Sociology, Political Science, Psychology or related social science disciplines, e.g., Law, Economics or Media Sciences.
• Your dissertation project is in the field “Contentious Politics in the Digital Age” and aligns with the research focus of one or several of our program supervisors.

We particularly encourage applications from the Global South.

General Application Guidelines & Admission Process

The application process is a two-stage process which requires an application at BIGSSS and, if the candidate successfully mastered the BIGSSS review process, application with the DAAD. At BIGSSS, applications will be reviewed by a selection committee of faculty, the program coordinators, and fellow representatives at BIGSSS. Based on the excellence of their applications, candidates will be selected for a nomination to the final decision process of the DAAD.

1st Stage: BIGSSS Application & Selection Period

Application Period

• You must submit your application via email to application@bigsss-bremen.de.
• Please be advised that an acknowledgement email will be sent upon receipt of your application. Should you not receive a response within one week, we recommend that you contact us again to confirm receipt at this address: admissions-officer@bigsss-bremen.de

Review & Selection Period

• As soon as the call is closed, all eligible applications are reviewed.
• Shortlisted candidates will be informed and invited for interviews.
• Interviews are planned for February and March 2025. The interviews will take place online. 

2nd Stage: Nominations & DAAD application

• After the interviews have taken place, BIGSSS will nominate four candidates for PhD to the DAAD. These nomination include two waiting list slots. 
• Successful candidates will be informed by BIGSSS in March.
• Successful candidates must apply with the DAAD again! You'll be guided through that process once you are nominated.

If you have any questions regarding the admissions process, please consult our Frequently Asked Questions or contact our Admissions Officer at admissions-officer@bigsss-bremen.de.

Overview of Application Documents

Candidates are asked to submit the application documents in one single pdf file via email to application@bigsss-bremen.de. You may use a free version of the PDFCreator to create the pdf file with all applications documents. The maximum size of the application file must not exceed 20 MB. Please make sure to digitally downsize picture files (e.g. photos of qualification documents) in order to not exceed the maximum size. Please submit all required documents in your application. To help us to better process and evaluate your application, we ask you to follow the below order of application documents exactly:

• Personal Data Sheet
• Curriculum Vitae (free text - PDF)
• Preliminary Dissertation Proposal (free text - PDF) - consider our Guide on Application Material
• Statement of Purpose (free text - PDF)
• Statement of Skills and Experience with Methods of Empirical Social Research (free text - PDF)
• MA/BA/Diplom/Magister Certificates (scan - PDF)
• University Grade Transcripts (scan - PDF)
• Certification of English Proficiency (scan - PDF)
• Two Recent Letters of Recommendation (to be sent directly to the Admissions Officer from your referee by email (admissions-officer@bigsss-bremen.de) or mail (Noha Mahmoud, Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS), University of Bremen, Postfach 33 04 40, D – 28334 Bremen, Germany)). A template can be found at: https://www.daad.de/medien/deutschland/stipendien/formulare/recommendation.doc

For more detailed description and information, see our Guide on Application Material.

By submitting your proposal and abstract, you agree to have your texts checked for plagiarism by turnitin or an inappropriate use of generative AI.

Always keep in mind: from our perspective, a complete and well prepared application is the first (and a very important) message in the admissions process!