The Graduate School of East Asian Studies (GEAS) at Freie Universität Berlin will admit up to 9 doctoral candidates to its PhD program “East Asian Studies” again in 2025.

The application period starts on 14 September 2024. Deadline for submissions: 15 November 2024.

GEAS at Freie Universität Berlin offers a structured 3-year doctoral program for 4-year PhD processes with a regional focus on East Asia (China, Japan, Korea). Doctoral dissertations at GEAS are expected to analyze modern or contemporary East Asia in the fields of politics, society, economy, culture, law, or history. 

Eligibility

Successful applicants will have an above-average master’s degree in either area studies (Chinese Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies) or a discipline represented at the Graduate School (Political Science, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Business, Economics, Law, History, Cultural Studies, Humanities) with a focus on East Asia. While applicants are not expected to contact potential supervisors prior to their application, they are highly encouraged to review the profiles of GEAS’ faculty to ensure the compatibility of their project with GEAS professors’ research profiles. The language of communication is English. Successful candidates will also have language skills in an East Asian Language (Chinese, Japanese, or Korean) at a level of B2 or higher.

Scholarship Availability

Applicants are required to apply for institutional funding at the same time as they apply for the doctoral program. Two candidates with Chinese citizenship can be nominated for funding through the cooperation of Freie Universität and the Chinese Scholarship Council through the FUB-CSC PhD scholarship program. Additionally, three outstanding candidates can be nominated for a 6-month Starting Grant from the graduate school.

Further Information

The next application period starts 14 September 2024 and ends 15 November 2024. Please register and apply online through the Dahlem Research School Application Portal. Please do not send applications via email or mail.

For questions about admission and the online portal, please refer to the Admission FAQ on our homepage at http://www.geas.fu-berlin.de/application/faq/index.html.

For guidance on writing a research proposal, please visit http://www.geas.fu-berlin.de/application/Proposal/index.html.

The screening process will take place from December 2024 to March 2025. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed via video conference in February/March 2025. Successful candidates will be notified of their acceptance to the program by March/April 2025.

A place in the program is contingent upon admission to the relevant PhD procedure in the chosen subject at Freie Universität Berlin after being accepted to GEAS. Notifications for university admission will begin in June/July 2025.

For additional information on the application process and submission requirements, feel free to contact us at application@geas.fu-berlin.de.