Funding for current and prospective doctoral candidates from abroad in the fields of the humanities and social sciences
There is no funding in 2022
To support and promote the internationalization of research projects in the fields of humanities and social sciences, the Gutenberg Council for Young Researchers (GYR) offers funds for prospective and current PhD candidates from abroad who want to come to Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) for a short-term research stay.
The GYR is one of the JGU’s central scientific institutions for the support and interdisciplinary networking of the younger scientific and artistic generation. It’s the Council’s aim to attract excellent PhD candidates and master students from abroad and to promote the exchange between young researchers from foreign institutions and JGU’s young and established researchers.
Both sides – PhD candidates and master students from abroad and the hosting institution/researchers at JGU – can thereby examine whether planned or ongoing research projects are feasible and transferable on an international scale.
Intended Use and Grant Size
Eligible for funding are:
- Participation in working groups at JGU;
- Collaborations with JGU researchers who are relevant for the ongoing or planned PhD or research project.
Per short-term research stay, travel costs up to EUR 750 may be covered (e.g. train tickets, accommodation costs). If flight costs are incurred during travel to Mainz, the maximum account of expenses that can be covered may be increased according to the DAAD`s country-specific fixed costs for travel (DAAD: German Academic Exchange Service). This is the case, if the actual travel costs exceed EUR 750 and the DAAD provides higher fixed costs for the country of origin.
Meals and congress fees will not be financed.
The funding is not intended to be a cover-all and can therefore be combined with other grants or stipends after consulting the Gutenberg Council for Young Researchers.
Persons Entitled to Apply
Entitled to apply are
- Prospective PhD candidates from abroad who have already contacted a potential supervisor for a PhD project at JGU. (General information about getting the PhD in Germany is to be found here.)
- PhD candidates from abroad who have already contacted group leaders and/or established researchers at JGU.
Please note that you may only apply once per call.
Award Criteria and Funding Period
The funding decision is primarily based on:
- The applicant’s academic aptitude.
- The expected benefit from the stay for the (planned) PhD project of the (prospective) PhD candidate.
- The expected benefit for the inviting working group and/or the inviting researcher.
- The feasibility and transferability of the planned or ongoing research project at JGU.
- The minimum period of a short-term stay is two weeks.
After the application documents have been examined, the applicants will be informed of the award decision per email. The repayment of expenses follows according to the current travel cost guidelines of the state of Rhineland-Palatine (cf. GYR Billing Guidelines for Short-Term Research Stays at JGU).
Please note that funding is limited. Therefore, the funding is only available upon application. Applications are possible for 2018/2019. There is no legal claim to funding. Retroactive applications will not be considered.
Application
Please apply electronically (by email) at the GNK, specifying the subject “Short-term research stay at JGU”. Contact person is Ms Julia Häuser-Huth (
rd_ml('gyr', 'uni-mainz', 'de')
gyr@uni-mainz.de(Maillink: gyr (AT) uni-mainz (PUNKT) de)).
The following documents are to be submitted:
- A letter of motivation (2 pages, 12pt Calibri or Times New Roman, line spacing 15pt, 2.5 cm margins) including
- a description of the ongoing or planned doctoral project.
- an outline of the planned stay at JGU as well as the desired period of the stay.
- a justification of the necessity of the stay at JGU.
- A letter of recommendation from the potential supervisor, inviting group leader or inviting researcher outlining the relevance of the stay at JGU.
- A tabular academic CV.
- Degree certificates (copy).
- An account of expected costs.
- A signed declaration that no other application to cover the expenses has been handed in elsewhere or rather that the costs the grant is meant to cover are not already covered by other institutions or funds.
Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Concluding Report
Those who receive the grant are asked to submit a short report six weeks after their return at the latest (1 – 1.5 pages, 12pt Calibri or Times New Roman, line spacing 15 pt). In this report applicants are meant to outline the course of their stay at JGU e.g. how their doctoral project profited from their stay, whether they established or deepened contacts to scientists at Mainz University.
Contact
For general questions (application deadlines, eligible costs etc.) please contact